How to Draw Legs Part II: Understanding Anatomy

Hello there!

In today’s post, I want to address how to draw standing legs by following five simple steps. Let’s dive in:

1. Draw rectangles to position the quads, knees, calves, and feet. We will not go deeper into the smaller muscles in this particular tutorial, as I mostly want to cover the larger muscle shapes commonly found in legs.

2. In step two, we will slightly shift the rectangles that represent the calves and feet towards the center of the body. Often, there's a little inclination to the bottom side of the legs starting from the top, but for this example, we will adjust to the middle and bottom.

3. Draw five curves that will shape the outside and inside of the leg, targeting the quad and calf shapes. These curves are meant to break the rigid aspect of the rectangles, making them look much more organic.

4. Erase the rectangular lines that are positioned behind the curved lines.

5. Refine the silhouette by creating curves out of the last rectangular lines. Don’t over focus on the feet rendering; I did it mostly for aesthetic purposes, as drawing feet by themselves is hard work already.

As for how you can approach legs with perspective, I think that’s a subject for a future post along with feet. In the meantime, have a look at this article in which I approach legs in a more chaotic yet organic way.

Anatomy Tips! - HOW TO DRAW LEGS (Process Video of Legs and SEXY FEETS Included)

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If you find this helpful, try this tutorial and post your results in our Discord group! I’d love to see your take on it. Perhaps give some SP!

Halloween is here, and I thought it would be nice to start the month with a related theme. In a few days, I'll be sharing the process behind my new illustration called 'Catcher'. Be sure to upgrade so you can access the sped-up process video with my commentary on the execution, the full-length process video, and the PSD file for a more detailed look at my technique and approach during this piece.

Thank you for your support!