Cool Stick Figures to Draw

There is no design without bailiwick. There is no subject field without intelligence.

— Massimo Vignelli

Y'all know, it'south ane thing to make marks, it'due south a completely dissimilar thing to make those marks interesting to look at.  How exercise you brand what you put down look pretty, attractive, absurd, appealing?

Have you noticed that when you lot draw a stick effigy, information technology looks like...well...a stick figure. But when a professional draftsman draws a stick effigy, it'south kinda cool looking? Why IS that? What do they know that YOU don't?

That's EXACTLY the right question. They DO know something you lot don't.

Lucky for yous I'M going to tell you exactly what it is.

It's not even that difficult to understand either.

It'southward design. Very basic design principles.

Design is a big topic and it means a lot of unlike things, to a lot of unlike people. I'm going to give you a small introduction to blueprint as I was taught design.

This will be the view point of pattern, as it is seen from the eyes of the animation manufacture.

One time you learn these bones principles, you'll know enough so that when you draw stick figures or anything else from this point on, you will exist able to do this with purpose -- With  a goal in mind by which you can judge your drawing.

You'll be able to expect at your drawing and say, "It needs more than 'this'", or, "a niggling more 'that'," or ,"I call up I should  do 'this' and it will make it amend," or, "Let me try 'this' and run into what  it will look similar...ah aye, much amend."

You'll too know enough so you will be able to look at, say, a cartoon graphic symbol, and say,

"That's a practiced design because of ____," and you can actually acquire just past observing a skilful pattern.

You'll Actually start seeing the world  through the optics of a designer.

Are yous ready to begin? Let'southward do information technology!

Harmonizing Contrast and Residue

Blueprint is pretty much any purposeful drawing you lot put downwardly on paper.

Usually, when the word blueprint is used, that'south what is meant. This is fine. I'll besides use the term this way.

BUT what we're interested with hither, is not simply putting purposeful drawings down. We're interested in putting INTERESTING and Highly-seasoned drawings down on paper. In other words, GOOD design.

THE underground to GOOD pattern is harmonizing contrast and residue <= CLICK TO TWEET

What does that hateful? It sure SOUNDS lofty.

Okay, let's pause information technology downwardly.

What is dissimilarity?

When talking about drawing, contrast is:

• Dark against lite values or lines.
• Straight lines against  "c" bend or "S" curve lines
• Big against little shapes
• Uniform patterns against chaotic marks.
• A color against it's opposite color on the color wheel (more on that in a later on lesson)

Dissimilarity is proficient because it adds interest and dynamism to a drawing.  Information technology gives a drawing tension that draws the eye. But information technology can also be unnerving and simply evidently ugly.

What is residual?

When talking most cartoon, balance is almost what y'all'd recollect it is:

• Making things seem even
• Placing things on a page so that it doesn't seem off kilter
• Making things uniform.

Our instinct is to make what we draw balanced and uniform.  Counterbalanced, compatible drawings are automatically appealing to us.  A perfectly uniform and balanced cartoon is often seen as an ideal. They can also be VERY wearisome and uninteresting.

Good pattern is when y'all deliberately have contrasting things, and you place them together in such a balanced mode, that they seem like they BELONG together. In other words, you've managed to harmonize them. This causes them to not but be appealing, but interesting besides.

A adept design works well when you end up with the appeal of balance, and the interest of dissimilarity, without keeping the dullness of balance and the ugliness of contrast.

In music, the correct balancing of tempo, loftier notes, slow tempo and low notes creates a harmonious piece of music.

In Kung Fu, the right balance of slow independent movement and stops next to quick snappy controlled action, creates the harmonious execution of a Course.

In lodge for this to brand Any kind of sense at all, I have to Evidence yous.

Let's have for case, a stick figure:

Effigy 1

The  stick effigy pattern in Effigy 1  is an "idealized" stick figure. This is the type of stick figure you will see if yous Googled "Stick figure" online.

There is nothing wrong with information technology per se. It'south a perfect "symbol" and it's got it's own appeal in beingness a symbol.

It'southward also not very interesting as a design.

Why? Well, let's take a look:

Figure 1a

I drew these figures in a grid so I can clearly point out where the stick figures are balanced and where they are not.

As you can see here in Effigy 1a, all the main parts of the figure are evenly spaced.  The neck, torso and legs are all the same proportion as the head.

The figure is all even, all balanced and all boring.

A very dull blueprint.

As I mentioned before, as man beings, nosotros tend to naturally get for the counterbalanced and arcadian. This is not a bad thing. There'south a time a place for the ideal, merely the ideal doesn't always make for the most interesting designs.

Okay so let's take a look at a slightly better blueprint:

Figure two

This blueprint is much amend the the outset one.  Again, this is another example of a stick effigy that you might discover if you googled "Stick figure".

But why is this better than the Figure one version?

Permit'due south take a look:

Figure 2a

Notice that considering the effigy doesn't have a neck, and information technology's non split upwardly evenly, that the body portion is much longer than the caput and the legs. The effigy is much more interesting to look at than the one in Effigy 1 because information technology'south parts contrast more.

I'm not also sure about its appeal though. Information technology doesn't accept a neck and the legs are still the same length every bit the head.

Still, do y'all run into why one is slightly better than the other? This one has both Contrast and Balance, but it'south not as highly-seasoned, which means that it'southward not very harmonious.

Let's have a await at another figure:

Figure 3

This figure is a LOT better.  Sometimes you see this blazon of figure if you Google "stick effigy."

This figure, seems "right" somehow.

Let's take a wait at its proportions:

Figure 3a

In Figure 3a you can see that every part of the figure is a different length. Although, to be honest, you lot can probably make the argument that the line of the body from the bottom of the head to the start of the legs, and the legs themselves are the same length. I wonder if that'south why it also feels balanced?

In whatsoever case, information technology's a decent looking stick effigy.

At this point, personal sense of taste steps in. I'm looking for something even more than interesting. I want to come up upward with something dynamic, so I'1000 gonna start REALLY messing effectually with the proportions to see what happens:

Figure iv

Right...uh...Figure iv is a footling tiptop heavy. Not exactly what I was looking for, merely interesting.

Allow'south run into how it was broken downward:

Figure 4a

The caput is not quite one-half the size of the rest of the body. The body itself is still bigger. The neck is short, the torso is a niggling longer and the legs are longer still.

I similar the body proportions simply the caput is too big. Maybe it would have worked better if I'd thinned out the caput into an oval.

Lot's of contrast but not balanced.

Let'due south attempt something else:

Figure five

Okay, wow. Effigy 5 tin exist an alien or a very skinny alpine guy. Foreign that I call up of this equally skinny since, IT'S A STICK FIGURE.

Permit'due south accept a look at the proportions:

Effigy 5a

As we can meet in Figure 5a, very long body and everything else is small-scale.

I'd accept to play with the length of the artillery. If you notice, they're exactly half the length of the body and it makes them look a little unnatural (if a stick effigy Tin be natural looking).

Okay, final ane:

Figure six

I thought I'd try a dissimilar caput shape this time. I kinda like this one. It takes some getting used to though.

Let's cheque the proportions:

Figure 6a

Yup, Figure 6a shows a squeamish variety of contrasting shapes.  I'd however play around with it a bit. Mayhap raise the "shoulders" upwardly a tad and reduce the length of the oval of the head a touch.

Then you see, you can do a lot with a little if y'all only play around a bit.

You can use the principle in more than just torso proportion. Below I'll bear witness y'all how information technology can work on a simple happy face:

Figure seven

Here in Effigy vii, we have a standard, well balanced happy face.  Just like the stick effigy in Figure one higher up, there is nada inherently wrong with information technology.

It is in fact very appealing.

Let'south take a expect at why:

Figure 7a

If  I have a line and connect both eyes together and I take a line from each eye to the center of the oral cavity, we get an equilateral triangle. It's every bit well proportioned face and completely balanced.

Information technology'south besides REALLY generic.

Only I want to play around and create a unique face. To that end, I'g gonna outset messing with the spacing of the features.

Figure viii

Ha ha, I like Effigy 8. It makes me laugh.

I didn't really exercise to much with it and it's already interesting. Allow's accept a look at the spacing:

Figure 8a

Aye, Effigy 8a shows a far less perfect triangle.

Let's do some other:

Figure ix

Okay! Trying to play more than with imperfection in Effigy nine. Dissimilar center sizes and a slanted mouth.

The eyes are not only closer together merely they're as well tilted and pointing to the mouth:

Figure 9a

In Figure 9a, we see the eyes betoken to the mouth. No equal spacing hither, and whole lot of contrast.

Permit'due south get a little crazy and change the head shape as well:

Effigy 10

Figure 10 looks like a character that is in demand of some "Adventure Time".

I did this, to testify yous that it's not just about doing things with standard shapes. Y'all tin can play around and experiment.

Effigy 10a

Effigy 10a shows how extremely compressed the features are. And they are NOT in the eye of the face but a little fleck above eye.

I liked ALL the faces I drew. They where all unique, total of contrast, balanced and appealing.

I think the stick figures needed  a little flake more work, but I remember you lot get the idea.

Too, when it comes to the final pattern, the ultimate gauge will exist personal taste. You take the principles of expert design and you play with them, til you become something YOU like.

It's a little bit like a recipe that mode.

Here'due south an Case of These Principles in Activeness

There'southward this artist I'grand aware of named Robert Valley. His piece of work is really far out and can sometimes exist very odd. He often draws "adult" things as well, so beware when looking him up. That said, his designs are fantastic.

He's washed a lot of work in blitheness equally a designer and storyboard artist, only his influence has really been felt in two shows that have taken his mode and used it as their "expect": TRON: UPRISING and MOTORCITY.

Since I'm going to be publishing these posts in book form eventually, I can't straight take the art from these shows and post them here for analysis.

What I CAN exercise is synthesize the style and intermission information technology down so you can see it in action. Which, mayhap, is even improve:

Okay so here we have my Robert Valley style Black Terror and (my own creation) Lady Terror. This was really fun to draw. Robert Valley has a fun crazy style.

So let'due south take a look at the style these character'south proportions are broken down based on what we've learned and so far:

Okay so first, lets take a expect at the ruby and blue brackets on the left of each character.  Detect I didn't split the characters perfectly in half. The top half of the characters are smaller than the bottom one-half.

Information technology was hard to tell with The Black Terror's blue bracket then I made a copy and put it adjacent to the cerise. We can see information technology's evidently smaller.

Adjacent, we take a look at the head, neck, trunk and legs breakdown.  Run across how none of them are the same length?  All the proportions of these parts vary and dissimilarity against each other.

Finally, allow'due south take a look at the limbs. I've colored them dark red and orangish.

Even the limbs are non evenly broken downward.  The Black Terror's upper arm is longer than his forearm. The same tin can be said with Lady Terror'due south arm.

Also, both characters have longer lower legs than upper legs.

You see? This is how these principles are applied in a more than professional setting.

I hope this makes the importance of these principle clear.

Now it's Your Turn

Practise ane

Your exercise this time around is to simply come up up with interesting looking stick figures using the principles explained above.

In society to make this easier, I've posted a blank version of the grid I was using:

You lot tin can download it to your computer, print it out or trace it off your screen. You don't have to use it, but information technology helps.

That mode yous don't take to go along measuring things by hand to see if things are likewise fifty-fifty.

I've besides created two stick figure "model sheets" for you to work off of:

Model Sheet 1

Model Sheet 1 is the the stick effigy from Effigy 1 with a face.

Model Sail 2

Model Sheet 2 has a more "advanced" stick effigy blueprint. I gave it shoulders and joints and then you lot'd have more to "play" with.

Both stick figures are in fact designs, only they're boring. They're your standard, no dissimilarity, dull, stick figures. Utilize the stick figures in the model sheets equally your starting off betoken.

Have them and play with their proportions. Yank them, pull them, push them, as if they were fabricated of rubber. Change their head shapes, brand them a foursquare, a rectangle, egg shapes, or  triangles. Motility the face features around. Like I did in Figures 1 - 10.

You know, like this:

Make certain yous have an eraser handy. If yous're anything similar me, you'll be doing a lot of small adjustments.

Accept fun (because it is) and play with these things. Run across if you can detect a way to push the contrast or its proportions and shapes but still finish up with something that looks okay or interesting.

If you lot REALLY want to get ambitious, replace some of the trunk lines with shapes and see what happens. Make certain to utilise the same contrast and rest principles, if you lot do.

Like so:

Information technology'due south very like to doing the exercises in Lesson two. You're merely putting shapes together in a type of pattern or symbol, merely it has arms, legs and a confront.

Remember, harmonizing Contrast + Balance = Good design.

Don't expect to similar what you lot terminate up with the beginning time. Simply play and explore.

At some point, you lot'll striking that ONE cartoon that seems to work. You'll know it when it happens. When it does, you'll be i pace closer to being a professional graphic symbol designer.

Practise 2

Once you've done this, take the stick figure off the grid and depict information technology on it'southward own. Have fun and play with information technology. Ship it on adventures. Have it do your math for you. Whatever. Have fun.

Trouble?

Q: How practise y'all measure proportions when yous DON'T take a grid?

A: Okay, this is a adept question because I exercise this all the time. I don't draw my characters in a filigree.

Then here'due south what I do. When I'm cartoon and I demand to check the proportions of parts of my character, I have my pencil or pen and place information technology on the drawing, just like the film below:

I line up the top of my pencil (I marked information technology in red) to the acme of what I want to measure.  In this instance the tiptop of the caput.

Then I accept my finger and put it on the pencil to marker the length of the proportion I desire to measure. In this case the crotch of the character.

Now I have the length from the top of the head to the crotch.

Next, KEEPING MY FINGER EXACTLY WHERE IT IS on the pencil, I motility my hand down:

I so line upwardly the meridian of the pencil to bottom part where I last measure my finger. In this case the crotch. Then I check were my finger actually lands.

Because I didn't move my finger on the pencil and only moved the pencil, I even so accept the actual measurement of the tiptop proportion of the trunk.

As you can run across, it'southward not evenly spaced. My finger doesn't quite go to the bottom of the anxiety. This is what I wanted.

Here'due south some other example:

I measure from the crotch to the top of the articulatio genus.

Then, without moving my finger from where I placed it on the pencil I move my hand down...

...and line upward the pencil with the height of the knee and look at where my finger is. The measurement tells me, the upper leg is much shorter than the lower leg.

You can measure everything you desire this mode. This is how I check the proportions in my designs equally I become.

I promise this is helpful. You got to learned something new and I got to write crotch a lot. Crotch crotch crotch crotch...

Pro Tip

This is IT! A lot of what I've written about here is  foundational to good cartoon. These principles volition exist applied over and over and over again in many different ways as you lot grow equally a draftsman.

Become used to them. You'll get better at doing them and seeing them practical as you lot practice.

Questions?

I can't help you if you don't enquire.

What'due south your burning design question?

Is there something you lot've always wanted to know about blueprint? Ask.

I'll give y'all my best answer and, who knows,  probably write a post about it.

Leave any comments and questions in the comments beneath.

Or better yet, sign upwards to receive more information via e-mail. You lot'll become extra tips and advice.  You can ask me questions that way likewise.

mengeshalm1954.blogspot.com

Source: http://www.thedrawingwebsite.com/2012/10/10/stick-figures-with-style-basic-design/

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