Preparation

• 1). Study human anatomy. Take a high school or college level anatomy course to learn how the bones and muscles of the body interconnect and control movement. Alternatively, obtain an anatomy book and practice drawing the figures in it to gain a basic understanding of human anatomy.
  
  
• 2). Learn the basics of proportion. Study each part of the human body and how it relates in size to the other parts. Hands will never be bigger than feet, a wrist is never larger than the upper arm and so forth.
  
  
• 3). Practice drawing people from photographs. This immediately removes the pressure of dealing with a live model and allows you to take your time and improve your technique before you progress to drawing live people.
  
  

Drawing

• 1). Draw a stick figure using a light stroke to block out the pose and basic proportions of your model.
  
  
• 2). Sketch geometric figures to fill out your stick figure. Draw in cylinders for upper and lower legs and arms, a sphere for the head and other shapes for each corresponding body part.
  
  
• 3). Draw in contour lines to connect the groups of cylinders that represent the parts of the body. Use gentle curves, flowing lines and sharp angles wherever necessary to duplicate your model's image.
  
  
• 4). Erase all unnecessary lines as you complete each part of your drawing, so you're left only with those lines that are integral to the piece.
  
  
• 5). Use shadowing and highlighting techniques to ensure that the body has a three-dimensional appearance and attains the realistic look you desire.