How to draw feet

How to Draw Feet

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Feet and hands are likely the two most avoided body parts by beginning artists. Sure, any bit of human anatomy presents a set of challenges, but hands and feet are considered by some to be the «hardest to draw».

Some folks will even go to great lengths to avoid drawing feet. They may purposely leave them out of a drawing or cover them up with overgrown grass blades.

But drawing feet is just like drawing any other subject. We simply need to observe the feet and look for basic shapes and forms to draw. When we find them and draw them first, the contour lines are much easier to draw. With a bit of value and tone, the texture and form of the feet can be developed.

The following video explains a simple approach to drawing feet. This approach uses three basic forms that anyone can draw. When these three forms are recognized and pieced together, the process becomes much easier.

Don’t Over Think Drawing Feet

The human body is a complex subject. The bone structure and muscles underneath the skin play a role in the subtle changes of tone that affect the representational qualities of the drawing. Knowing the anatomical structure certainly helps, but it’s not required knowledge to draw a convincing foot.

We can simplify the process by recognized three basic forms. These basic forms can be found on any foot in just about any position. If we practice recognizing these forms and drawing them, then drawing feet actually becomes a much easier endeavor.

The Wedge

The first basic form is perhaps the easiest to recognize. It is the wedge that exists in the middle portion of the foot. Typically, this is the first form that is drawn since the other two forms extend off from it. This wedge form makes up the bulk of the foot and it helps to determine the angle and direction of the rest of the foot.

This wedge is taller towards the heel and slants downward toward the toes. When drawing these basic forms, you can be loose with the lines that you draw. We’ll refine the edges and the contours once we have all of the basic forms in place.

The Toes

The second form is drawn in the location of the toes. This form connects with the end of the wedge and resembles a flattened, partial cylinder. If the toes are viewed from the front or directly from the side, this form may appear as a simple rectangle.

You may think of this form as the end of a shoe, which makes perfect sense. Remember, at this stage of the drawing, we are only concerned with these simple forms. Be sure that your aren’t distracted by the details. We’ll add the details after these forms are in place.

The Heel

The third form is for the heel of the foot. This forms extends from the opposite end of the wedge. It is a much taller partial cylinder that is flattened on the sides.

Once we have the basic forms in place, we can next turn our attention to defining the contour lines or outlines. If we started with the contours, then we are more likely to run into issues with accuracy.

Basic Forms From Any Angle

These three basic forms can be recognized and drawn when the foot is in any position. The forms may change slightly depending on the specific angle, but they are still easy to find.

Drawing The Contours

The contour lines or outlines define the edges of the feet. These lines can be drawn with added confidence because we now have the overall form of the foot in place. We can pay closer attention to the subtle curves and bumps that occur.

The toes fit nicely in the form that we have drawn for them. The line where the wedge meets the form can also be used as a guideline for where the toes meet the middle portion of the foot. In most circumstances, this line curves slightly. The second toe usually extends out the most. The toes then become shorter making their way back to the wedge.

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Developing the Form of the Foot

The illusion of form is created through the development of a range of value. We often refer to this part of the process as shading. We aren’t just considering the shades though, but also the lighter values. The positioning of these tones creates the illusion of the light source, which informs the viewer of the form.

In each one of these examples, we are faced with dual light sources. (In most circumstances, there is more than one light source.) We have a dominant light source that originates from the right and a weaker one that originates from the left. This produces stronger highlights on the right side and stronger shadows on the left.

We can also consider that in most situations, areas that recede away from the viewer are typically darker in value, while locations that protrude towards the viewer pick up more light and are lighter in value. This means that even on the side of the foot that is closest to the dominant light source, we find some areas of darker tone.

As the graphite is applied to the drawing with a pencil, we’ll need to consider the form of the foot. Directional strokes should flow around the surface in a manner that mimics the form. These directional strokes are not unlike cross contour lines. By adding the graphite in this way, we are addressing not only the tonality, but also the form.

Developing Texture

The texture of the foot is developed by smoothing transitions of tone and value with the use of a blending stump. The directional strokes made with the blending stump should mimic those made with the pencil. As the form changes, the stroke should as well.

Lighter values and highlights can be pulled or lifted from the surface with a kneaded eraser. The combination of smoothing graphite applications and removing bits of highlight with the kneaded eraser often leads to a convincing illusion of skin.

Strengthening The Contour Lines

After the tones and texture have been addressed, we can strengthen the contrast and refine the edges with a sharpened graphite pencil. Around the edges, only the areas of darker value are reinforced with additional lines.

Edges of the foot that are highlighted are left open with implied lines defining the edge. These last few lines complete the drawing.

Summing It Up

Drawing feet doesn’t have to be difficult. We can remove many of the complexities by just learning to recognize the basic forms that are present. By drawing these forms loosely in the beginning stages of the drawing, we are free to focus on the contour lines with confidence. With the contour lines in place, all that’s left to do is add a bit of value and texture.

Human Anatomy Fundamentals: How to Draw Feet

The foot may well be the most neglected part of the body, largely because it’s so often hidden inside a shoe, or simply left outside the frame of the drawing – out of sight and out of mind. This unfamiliarity is, I suspect, what makes feet confusing to draw when they do come up, because as we’ll see below, they have relatively simple forms and very little motion. As with the hand, you should not hesitate to take off your shoes and use your own feet as references, when possible!

Basics of the Foot

Let’s look briefly at the structure of the foot: The tarsals or ankle bones in blue, the metatarsi or instep bones in purple, and the phalanges or toes in pink.
Very little of the foot can move, so we can simplify it as shown on the right:

Although the first joint of the toes is back where «actual base» is indicated, flesh covers the foot up to the «apparent base» line, which is why they appear so short (that and the fact they are curved at all times, as we will see.)

The bones of the foot are arranged to form 3 arches that give it the strength to support our bodies. The first two arches shape the bottom of the foot and the third shapes the upper part. Squeeze the sides of your foot and note how rigid they are: the bottom of the foot is not soft and does not deform under pressure. This means that in any position, the indentations of the arches will always show in an adult foot.

The Lateral Longitudinal Arch:

This is the barely marked one outside the foot. It shows as a slight indentation from the heel, both below and outside the foot.

This arch means that the outer contour is not a flat line (except in flat feet), and similarly the line from heel to ball is not a smooth curve but marks the arch.

The Medial Longitudinal Arch:

This is the large one inside the foot. It’s a very noticeable indentation. The part of the sole that’s behind the arch (under the red curve in the diagram) would be lost in shadow when the foot is on the ground, so we’d still see the arch, but since we usually see feet from above and not from the ground level, we see it really emphasized:

The Transverse Arch:

This arch shapes the top of the foot.

The toes:

Note the direction of the toes: while the big toe is parallel to the ground and points straight ahead, the other four bend towards the ground, and point down.

Drawing the foot

A simple way to draw feet is to begin by drawing the sole of the foot. No toes, no arches, just the basic shape. It’s shaped like a long egg, flattened on one side (below left).

The advantage of this is that this flat shape is simple enough to be drawn in perspective and under different angles. This part of the foot doesn’t bend in any appreciable amount, so this flat shape doesn’t need to bend either, saving us a level a complexity. Anatomical accuracy is not a requirement at this point, we’re giving ourselves a guideline to build on.

If you have trouble with the perspective, draw the basic shape, on a sheet of paper and place that paper under the angle you need. It’s also a useful observation exercise, to become familiar with how this shape changes under various angles.

The next step is to make a small adjustment to the shape, cutting off a corner to get closer to the foot’s natural shape. If you’re comfortable doing so, you can start directly with this step:

Now to give it dimension. As you can see, it’s a flattened, curved pyramid, with the apex closest to the heel: the circle is the section of where the leg joins with the foot and forms the ankle. The dashed lines are to help you see the contour. Only the black outline is needed for the drawing.

Finally, add the toes. Adding the toes separately means you can draw their movement independently from the basic shape, which as mentioned above bends almost not at all. If needed, sketch a guideline to define the general shape of the toes (see shapes further down) before drawing them individually. They are pressed together so, from almost all angles, they overlap. Note the position of the little toe: its base is positioned between 1/4 and 1/3 of the total foot length (here the lines divide the foot in 4, so it’s 1/4th).

Finalize by carving out the arches and adding the ankle bone and Achilles’ tendon.

As an alternative to the above method, you can also draw the foot as a wedge, and then add the toes and carve out the final form:

Additional Details

Here are more advanced details, small things that make the foot look right. You’ll notice that some are the same as in the hand.

How the toes look when the foot is bent depends on how much weight is on them:

Foot A below is relaxed. Even though the toes bend a little, there is no real weight on them. In this situation they preserve their gentle curve to the floor (1).
In foot B, most of the weight is on the toes (note that this is only possible when pressing against a surface, this can’t happen in a foot in mid-air). The pressure makes the second joint stick out, as shown in (2). Bend lines appear in the other joints (3) and the big toe goes even straighter and it is completely flattened against the ground.

When not pressed against a surface, the range of mobility of the toes is limited to the 2 extremes of curled vs. splayed (with, literally, wiggling room in-between.)

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Front View:

A shows the foot seen frontally when it’s perfectly level, such as from ground level.
From this angle the toes look like peas in a pod, and you can simply draw them as balls before connecting them to the foot. Usually however, our frontal view of feet (when they are on the ground) is from a higher point of view, as in B.

Where the Foot Joins the Leg:

Considering the line of the tibia, which is the straight line running down from the knee, a relaxed foot (A) forms an angle with this line, while a fully extended foot (B) causes this line to run down all the way to the toes. Some people can point the foot until it bends even further than the line (C), but this isn’t common. Note the skin folds above the heel!

Diversity

No less than hands, feet are quite individual and have their own small range of shapes. Unlike hands, they can be permanently affected by non-genetic factors, namely the wearing of shoes. Note that in a given person, hands and feet work rather like a set. If someone has big hands, they’ll have big feet as well; thick fingers are reflected in thick toes, and so on.

Male and Female Feet

Female feet are not a smaller version of male ones, but have a slightly different structure. In a female foot:

Arch Types

These show most in the foot’s imprint. A normal foot shows, in print, a pronounced inner arch and slight outer arch. In flat feet (aka low arch or pronator) there are no arches, all of the foot sole touches the ground. In a high arch foot (aka supinator), only a narrow band connects the heel and the ball of the foot. Flat and high arch feet can cause aches in the muscles and back (note however that infants commonly have flat feet, the arches developing in early childhood).

Foot Shapes

The overall shape of the foot is created by the arrangement of the toes in two ways:

Which toe is longest:

Contrast between the widest part of the foot and its «tip»

Shoes vs. Barefoot

It makes a big difference to the shape of the foot whether one has been made to wear shoes from childhood or not. In cultures where closed shoes are worn most of the time (such as in Western cultures), the feet are narrower and the toes squeezed together. The big toe tends to point inward and the little toe can be permanently curled up under its neighbor.

In parts of the world where people go barefoot or wear thongs (which is probably the majority of the world population!), the foot shows its natural form: broader and flatter, the toes splayed for a better hold on the ground. The big toe points straight, even slightly out, and there is space between the toes. As they are not squeezed, they are rounder and broader. This is shown a bit exaggerated below.

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How to Draw Feet

Welcome to this drawing tutorial! Make sure to grab the free worksheets below and take time to practice. Drawing is a skill that requires hands-on practice so make sure you spend more time making art than consuming tutorials.

Simple Forms

Drawing feet can be quite challenging because they are usually in positions that are difficult to draw. To make it easier to practice we can break the foot into 3 major parts. Draw a box for the heel, sphere for the ankle and a tapered box (slightly triangular) for the front of the foot.

When you first start practicing I would recommend skipping the toes as we did on the worksheet. Focusing on the 3 major parts will make the learning process smoother.

Drawing the triangular box in perspective can be difficult so practice from reference and do some tracing if you can, this can help you see how the basic forms map onto a real foot. Stay at this stage of practice until you feel comfortable drawing these forms at multiple angles

I also have a tutorial on basic forms that you can check out here (Opens in a new window) if you want more help with drawing forms in perspective. This method of drawing is very versatile because you can construct very complex objects from these simple forms.

Complex Forms

Drawing in the organic forms becomes a lot easier once we have the simplified version as a guideline. To connect all the major forms, the front of the foot will connect up towards the sphere (almost looks like a tent attached to the ball) & we add in a rounded form for the toes. When drawing the rounded form for the toes make sure that the shape is longer towards the center of the body (where the big toe is located)

One thing you will notice as you practice is that the gap between the box and the triangular box is where the feet will bend the most. When drawing the inner side of the feet you will draw in the arch of the foot between these forms.

I hope that this tutorial was of some use to you, if you want further practice with drawing the figure I have a set of worksheets below that you can grab and I also have tons more tutorials on the site that you can check out

How to Draw Feet – the Easy Step-by-Step Guide

So you want to know how to draw feet that look like actual feet, AND you want to learn the easy way to do it. You are in the right place, this is a tutorial on how to draw feet, the easy way with a helpful step-by-step method.

Drawing the feet involves breaking up the foot into three basic geometric shapes, drawing in the arch of the sole, and then further refining the drawing with organic lines.

We will go over this method with multiple exampels, and there are some demo videos on this page to help you get it right. Remember to keep checking proprotions throughout the entire drawing, if you see that something is wrong, fix it before moving on.

Why are feet hard to draw? Feet are hard to draw for two reasons:

However, this four-step method makes drawing feet much easier. In my drawings, I noticed that I can now draw feet much faster and with much less effort than before. I am confident it will help you in your drawings! Let’s go over it now.

Drawing the foot: from simplified form, to drawing to a refined drawing.

Step One – Break Down the Foot Into Three Simple Parts

Break up the heal into a separate section, it steps out from the leg as it descends down. Breaking it up into a separate section will help remember to watch out for the change in angle.

Takes pictures of your foot or look in the mirror, the heel does not continue straight down from the leg, it extends out. This is an important feature to get right and will help you draw more believable looking feet.

Drawing of the sole of the foot: 1) abstraction, 2) simplification and finding the arch (shaded in) 3) drawing 4) refining the drawing.

Why break the foot up in three parts for drawing? This divides the foot into movable sections with various shapes as the foot moves and twists.

Let’s focus on understanding and representing the shape of the foot correctly when drawing. To do that, we break the shape down into simple smaller parts so it is easier to analyze. We can then focus on the shape of each part before drawing in the details of the form.

Step Two – Add the Arch to the Middle Section of the Foot

The arch slows and distributes the amount of force applied to the foot from your weight as the foot lands on the ground. The arch allows the foot to stretch, thereby distributing transfer of force from your weight to the sole. In this way the arch functions as a shock absorber.

When drawing in the arch of the foot, carefully observe where the curve begins and where it ends on your reference. Then refer to your drawing and compare it to the reference.

Step Three – Draw in the Bony Pointy Bits on Each Side

The bony bits that stick out on each side of the foot are the base of the tibia and the fibula of the leg. They are important landmarks, find their placement and indicate them on the simplified geometric drawing that you made in step 1.

On the inside of the foot (medial side and also the thumb side), it is the pointy base of the tibia that sticks out, and on the outside of the foot (lateral side and also the little finger side), it is the pointy base of the fibula bone. Fibula’s pointy bit is lower than the tibia’s, so draw it in that way.

Indicating fibula’s pointy bit on the outside of the foot, and tibia on the inside, creating an easy to memorize shape.

A good way to remember which bony bit is lower is to remember that when the feet are brought together in a normal standing position, a line drawn through the bony bits creates a roof. So the bone on the outside – the fibula (lateral), is always lower than the bone on the inside, tibia. (medial).

Step Four – Use the Underdrawing of the Foot as a Guide

Now that the basic structure of the foot is drawn, and you worked out where the arch is and sorted out the bony bits, it is time to go over the drawing with organic lines. Doing so will make the drawing appear more natural.

Pay attention to how shapes wedge into each other by looking at references of the foot, you can indicate those connections with overlapped lines. If you are looking for references to draw from, I collected some drawing references on my Pinterest page here.

Check out the step-by-step process implemented in the video below. In the lateral view, the arch of the foot is often hidden and therefore should be drawn subtely.

Additional Examples of the Structure of the Foot

Pay attention to the rotation of the foot

Pay attention to the shape of the foot

Remember that on the medial side (the big thumb side) of the foot, the form of the foot extends further outward. A difficult angle of the foot is first simplified into basic shapes to make the drawing of the foot easier. Rhythms of the foot Remember that the shape of the foot is narrower at the heel (1) and wider at the toes (2).

Arch of the foot indicated at 1 and circled at 2 is the tibia bone.

How to Draw Feet Well – Final Thoughts

Drawing the foot is made much easier by first simplifying its irregular form into simple geometric shapes. In addition to drawing in this way, find good reference to draw from and you will be on your way to drawing feet well!

How to Draw Feet from Any Angle

If I draw legs, I will be bad at them!

I think many people are worried about it.

You don’t have many chances to draw legs, so when it comes to drawing, it should be difficult to understand how to draw.

In this article, I will explain how to draw basic feet.

If you want to check the contents of this article on YouTube,

please watch this video.

A basic way to draw feet

When drawing feet, you can draw a well-balanced foot by thinking with simple figures.

The feet this time are drawn by combining triangles, rectangles, and circles.

Thinking of the ankle as a circle is very convenient when drawing shadows around it.

Also, the ankle is asymmetrical.

The best way is to look at and imitate the actual feet of photos and images.

That way, you can draw more realistic feet!

The line of the side leg is not straight but bent.

The feet of men and women

Men’s and women’s feet are different.

Other than the feet, the physical structures of men and women are also different.

Therefore, let’s firmly understand the difference in the structure of the male and female legs.

The top of the man’s foot is slightly curved.

Also, if you make a little space under the foot, it will get a more three-dimensional effect.

Drawing more wrinkles and shadows on feet will make them more masculine.

Especially, emphasize the ankle.

On the other hand, women become more feminine by reducing wrinkles and shadows overall.

It is also important to draw without emphasizing the ankle and to make the heel smooth.

Tips on how to draw feet

First of all, let’s draw the shape of the feet.

I found it more difficult to draw front-facing feet than any other ones.

So I’m redrawing them many times to get the balance right.

It may be easier to draw if you divide the front-facing feet into 3 blocks:

Also, if you draw the toenails, it will look more realistic.

The instep on the side will look a little more realistic if you draw it with a bulge rather than straight.

When the feet lie down, you often cannot see all the toes, so be careful when drawing them.

Also, as with any angle of the feet, the toes are not straight.

They draw a fan-like curve.

I think it’s the most difficult to draw toes, so draw them carefully.

Finally, I would like to introduce some tips for drawing the soles of the feet.

The soles of the feet are not symmetrical.

Also, the fingers go inward.

The thumb has a triangular shape, and the other four fingers are round.

Feet of various angles

From here, I draw feet from various angles.

The feet have fewer places to move than the hands, and the heels cannot move.

Also, since the range of movement is not wide, you can easily draw feet if you remember the shape as they are.

There is also an article about how to draw hands, which are more complicated to draw than feet, so please check it below.

How to Draw Hands and Hand Poses for Beginners

It is written for those who want to know the basic way of drawing hands. I will explain how to draw hands in order so that anyone can draw easily!

As a point when you draw the front and back of the feet, the ankles are low on the outside.

Give the outer and inner ankles a slight bulge and tilt them.

When drawing the sole of the feet, make sure that the sole is soft and that you are aware of the ground area.

When drawing sideways feet, be aware of the curve.

Also, when drawing the feet with bent toes, you can draw it neatly if you are aware of the angle.

The feet are parts with little change, but you can draw the dynamic feet by moving the toes to make a change.

Also, by changing the appearance of the toenails, you can make them more realistic.

If you want to show a lot of toes with sideways feet, you can make the feet more dynamic by showing the soles a little.

How to draw various feet

The best practice is to look at a picture of the actual foot, divide it into blocks, and imitate it.

This time I drew the draft carefully, but it’s also good that the draft can be a little rougher.

However, it will be easier to draw in the line art later if you draw in detail at the draft.

If you are confident, you can draw directly without drafting!

I think it’s easy to draw because there is little movement in the parts other than the toes.

Also, pay attention to the position of the ankle bulge.

The part I was careful about when drawing feet was fingertips.

You can draw better if you draw fingertips finely and carefully.

On the other hand, it is better not to draw too many wrinkle lines on the feet.

For those who want to learn more about moving poses like Japanese anime,