People Sketching

I am not a fan of drawing people. Basically, they never stand still long enough for me to get a reasonable likeness down on paper. But this week in honor of the One Week 100People Challenge, Linda Thompson offered to do a demo on tips for making quick people sketches. And what better place to find loads and loads of test subjects than at the food court in the mall.

Linda’s #1 tip for getting started is to simplify people down to basic shapes – circles for heads, rectangles for bodies, and triangles for hands, legs, and feet. She doesn’t get bogged down with facial features, because they are always changing. A few slashes, dots, or even a pair of glasses on the closest subjects are enough to suggest a face. Clothes are a better way to suggest age, sex, or personality and are much easier to draw.

Tip #2:  Keep the heads of similarly positioned people at the same level. Notice how you can draw a horizontal line through all the people sitting at the table and another line through all the people standing at the counter behind them.

Tip #3:  Add depth to your composition by placing people or structural objects behind the center focal point. In Linda’s sketch, her main focus is the group of ladies sitting at the table, but she created an interesting composition by adding the group of people standing behind them ordering food at the counter. Notice that the background crowd was drawn very simply so as not to detract from the women at the table.

Tip #4:  Don’t be afraid to add color to your drawing; it livens up the composition. To speed up the process, keep the colors simple and paint all objects of a similar color at the same time (ie. flesh tones, hair color, etc) rather than painting one complete person and then moving on to the next person. Be sure to leave some areas white for highlights. It gives the picture a 3-dimensional quality. And don’t forget to ground your sketch with a few shadows under people or tables.

Tip #5:  Linda’s final tip is to “be kind” to the subjects you are drawing – don’t over-exaggerate their bad qualities. You never know when one of them may look over your shoulder and ask to see your drawing. But most of all have fun and enjoy yourself. Remember, urban sketching is all about capturing a moment, not trying to paint a portrait.