Figure Drawing for Beginners

This course is designed for absolute beginners who feel intimidated by drawing the human figure.

You’ll discover that drawing people has much in common with drawing inanimate objects: many of the same foundational principles apply—like using light and shadow to express form, understanding perspective, shaping limbs through rotation, and paying attention to negative space and silhouette. These core ideas, taught in the Essential Drawing Course, are now applied specifically to the human body.

But drawing people also introduces unique challenges: conveying character, understanding anatomy, capturing movement, and interpreting what’s hidden beneath the skin. You’ll learn how to represent skeletal structure and muscle form—even when they’re not visible—through visual cues and simplified shapes.

This course breaks everything down into reliable, approachable steps. Through warm-up sketches, live demonstrations, guided practice, and clear examples, you’ll gain the confidence and knowledge to draw the human figure with ease.

You'll Learn:

• How to begin a drawing: mapping, simplifying forms, using negative shapes, and establishing the background
• Proportions of the human body
• Shading techniques to show volume and depth
• How to apply perspective—drawing limbs and body parts using principles from tree branch exercises
• Using grayscale to express color and tone
• Managing edges: push and pull with linework, light direction, and value contrast
• Finishing techniques with highlights
• How to express both static and dynamic poses

Each class begins with a warm-up sketch to help train your eye and loosen your hand.