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SketchBook Original: How to Draw Horses

This post has been originally commissioned for SketchBook Blog in 2016. After the site’s migration, the original is no longer available, but you can still access the content here. Enjoy!

In SketchBook Original: How to Animate Horses I showed you how to create a horse silhouette with a few simple lines — plus how to create a moving horse out of them. Today, I’ll show you how you can expand your skills to make that simplified horse look real. You’ll learn advanced anatomy, the coat colors, breeds, and a method to draw the hooves and head. I’ll also show you how I drew these horses step by step, along with coloring and shading them in SketchBook.

Horse Anatomy

We learned how to draw the basic anatomy in the last tutorial, now it’s time to add more detail to it. Short hair of the horse makes its muscles very visible, and drawing a horse without them will make the animal look fat. You can use the diagram below to draw realistic muscles, but there’s also another way.

There’s no need to remember all these muscles, because most of them are not visible most of the time. You can use that diagram for a horse in gallop, or for a shiny, muscular horse, but in most cases you only need to remember these forms. They may look complicated, but give them a try and you’ll see how each of them immediately tells you where to put another one.

Don’t worry if you can’t remember the small parts in joints—you can simply draw the simplified joints you have learned in the previous tutorial.

These lines can be then turned into a subtle pattern of fur all over the body:

To make it all even more realistic, keep in mind the direction of the hair over the body. Pay special attention to the abrupt change of direction before the thigh and on the chest.

How to Draw Horse Hooves

You already know how to draw simple horse hooves, but let’s take a closer look at them this time.

Start with a line defining the general position of the “foot.” Remember about the joints of your finger!

End the line with the length of the hoof.

For a 3D position you need to give the hooves their actual shape. The bottom of a hoof looks like a cut part of an oval. Ovals, or ellipses, can be easily drawn in perspective with one rule: They’re sharp next to the acute angles…

… and flat next to the obtuse angles.

Draw a line above to define the top of the hoof. Be very careful about its position in perspective!

Again, add a shape of a part of an ellipse to the top of the hoof. It’s slightly rotated, so this can’t be just a copy of the bottom.

Draw the intersection of the upper part of the “foot.” You need to use perspective here as well, but it doesn’t need to be perfect.

Close the form of the hoof…

… and of that round part above.

Add the “cap” to the hoof. Notice how it creates two tips behind the hoof—it’s because the hoof is actually a nail with two edges folded to the back (it’s not a closed shape).

Finish the outline of each foot. In perspective, remember to accentuate the contrast between thin bones and the round parts.

Finish the drawing. It doesn’t need to be as detailed as this, especially when you’re not drawing a close-up.

How to Draw a Horse Head

Start with a shape of a flattened teardrop. No matter what perspective you use for this drawing, you need to be able to visualize this form in your head.

This shape includes the cheeks and the tip of the head.

Draw a line to the mouth, and end it with a sphere. The space between both forms should be roughly smaller than the sphere.

Connect both forms with another line to create the lower part of the head.

Create the sides of the head with two lines. This side line should be placed roughly in two-thirds of the head’s height.

Draw space for the eyes and nose over these lines.

The top of the head is flattened and it has a certain shape. Draw it, connecting eyes and nose with it.

Draw a smaller sphere inside the mouth sphere. This will be the space for the actual muzzle.

Cut the sphere in thirds and draw the mouth line, finishing it with round corners.

Eyes should be slightly protruding, so add humps behind them.

Draw two spheres on the top of the head to create the space for ears.

The ears should be shaped like narrow ovals stuck to the spheres.

The ears have pointed tips directed towards the middle.

OK, the general shape of the head is done! Let’s draw the details now, one by one.

How to Draw Horse Muzzle

Outline the mouth with meaty lips. There should be a prominent chin under them.

The nose can be drawn with one line. This shape can be narrow when the horse is relaxed, and very round when the horse is running or being angry.

Then you can add some fleshy nostrils around.

How to Draw Horse Eyes

Start with an oval placed quite close to the forehead.

Cover the oval with an eyelid. This shape is very characteristic for a horse.

Add the lower eyelid.

As I mentioned before, the eyes are protruding, so add some form above them. It should look like excessive skin folded over the eye.

Add the curtains of eyelashes.

Finish by defining bone structure over the eyes.

How to Draw Horse Ears

The ears are made of thin skin, but it still has some width. Draw the edge of the ears using this width.

Draw the back of the ears, wrinkling the skin where necessary.

Draw the fur inside the ears.

How to Draw Horse Head Muscles

You can draw a horse head without any muscles, but they make a drawing more realistic. Let’s learn how to simulate some anatomy in a simple way.

Outline the cheek. There’s a bony protrusion on top of it, very important for a realistic look.

Draw an oval between the cheek and muzzle. It’s a complex of various muscles, but it usually looks like one thick muscle and it’s easier to remember this way.

Connect each nostril and the eye with two interconnecting muscles.

Draw two stretched muscles under that oval in the middle.

Accentuate the flat forehead. There’s no muscles here, so its form should be very clear.

Close the outline of the head.

If you want, you can add more details to the muscles this way:

You can now finish the drawing! Keep in mind that horses have a horizontal pupil in their eyes just like goats. In most cases it’s not visible because the eyes are brown or black, but remember it if you want to give your horse blue eyes!

How to Draw a Horse Mane and Tail

Horses are unique not only because of their proportions, but also because of beautiful mane and hair that’s different than hair on the rest of the body. They’re not hard to draw, but you need to understand how they “work” to create a correct drawing.

The actual tail is quite short and thin, but there’s long hair attached to it. It’s more like a broom of loose hair than a furry tail. The mane grows from the middle of the neck, and usually falls on one side of it (or “breaks” to fall to the other side as well, creating an effect seen in the first image). Some of the mane hair can land on the forehead.

The length of tail and mane in nature is quite set for practical reasons: the mane covers part or all the neck, and the tail doesn’t come to the ground. However, if the horse is specially cared for, the hair can grow far longer than that.

Horse Colors

Horses have very diverse coloration, with a complex genetic rules behind all the beautiful coat colors. In theory, there are only two horse colors: black or not black (brown). The other ones are created by additional genes that strengthen, weaken, or mix the actual base colors. You don’t need to become a specialist of genetics to draw a realistic horse; just use this chart for the most popular combinations (I’m sorry if I didn’t include your favorite one—there’s too many!). If you want to know more (or remember it better) I’ll tell you a few words about each color:

Horses can also have colors combined in a special pattern. Tobiano horses with black base are called piebald, and the others—skewbald.

Of course, regardless of the color combination, horses can also have white markings on the body that make them look unique. The skin under them is usually pink.

How to Draw Horse Breeds

I’ve shown you how to draw a “general horse,” but horses come in many shapes. Let’s learn how to modify that general recipe to create a few different types of a horse. Keep in mind that my diagrams are slightly exaggerated to accentuate the differences between breeds. You need to study the breed using photos, videos, and real horses if you want to create a perfect image.

Quarter Horse

This is “typical horse” number one. Harmoniously built and visibly strong; this is a horse you would imagine working on a farm or carrying a knight to war. Quarter horses come in almost all available colors.

Thoroughbred Horse

This is “typical horse” number two. You can imagine it as a quarter horse modified for racing—its silhouette is slimmer, with longer legs and sharper muzzle. Thoroughbred horses are usually chestnut, bay, black, or gray (roan and palomino can occur as well).

Arabian Horse

These beautiful horses look like an even slimmer, more elegant version of a thoroughbred horse. They have a characteristic round forehead and large eyes, and keep their tail high, even when relaxed. This makes the rump look flatter than in other horses. The neck is arched, though it’s not visible in every pose. Arabian horses can be gray, bay, chestnut, roan, or black.

Shire Horse

Shire horses are draft horses, which means they’re bred for heavy work on the farm. They’re very strong, which shows through their silhouette. They’re big and heavy, so the hooves are noticeably larger and flatter than in other breeds. The head is huge, with the eyes looking small in comparison. Shire horses come in many colors, usually bay, chestnut, gray, black, or roan.

Shetland Pony

Ponies are horses as well, just with quite different proportions. Most pony breeds have a proportionate body with shorter legs, but Shetland ponies take this feature to extreme: their legs are often shorter than their torso. If you cover the legs, you’ll see other subtle differences you need to pay attention to. Shetland horses come in all the colors, but are usually chestnut, bay, gray, black, dun, or roan.

How to Draw a Horse Step by Step

This was so much information! Let’s use it now in practice. You can draw from imagination, but it’s better if you use a few references and draw them step by step. This way you’ll understand the process faster. Don’t copy me—analyze what I’m doing and why I’m doing it instead.

Start with the main body. It’s fairly similar in all the breeds, so you don’t have to use any special measurements here.

Notice how I use curved lines to define perspective

Now add the neck and head. This is the part where the proportions matter a lot. Roughly, the head should be as long as the shoulders, and neck shouldn’t be much longer than that. However, this proportion is not so clear and it’s good to practice it from references to grasp it.

Time to find the final proportion: the distance to the ground. It depends on the breed, but in most cases this distance is equal to the height of the main body plus some more distance for the hooves.

Again, the lines on the ground define the perspective—they shouldn’t be random!

Let’s add the legs now. You should be able to imagine the default position of them, with all the hooves on the ground. Then you can find a correct position for the joints in motion using this default position as a reference.

Start with simple lines for the legs…

… then add the lines for the joints. Notice how you can quickly draw the hooves in perspective without measuring anything.

If your horse looks correct in this simplified form, you can now build on it, adding more elements. First you can add width to the legs by sketching the shape of the joints.

This trick lets you see the shape of the body without drawing all the lines

Then you can add all the simple forms in the horse’s body.

Once the body is properly constructed, you can add the details: muscles, facial features, and mane with tail.

The sketch is done! Now you can create the actual drawing using it as a base.

Time for the most fun part. Color your horse using the diagram with popular coats, or create your own fantastic color combination.

You can shade the horse to accentuate the 3D form of its body. Use this image as a reference, but adjust it to your own lighting conditions.

In SketchBook you can paint the shading on a separate layer…

… and then change its mode to Multiply to affect the colors underneath.

Finally, you can make the horse hair shiny to make its form even clearer. Keep in mind this is stylization—horses are not so shiny in nature, especially when they’re covered with warm fur.

The pattern of shine depends on the position of the light source, but in general it accentuates the hips, chest, and elongated muscles in the shoulders. Little dots on the joints may make them look more “bony” and detailed.

That’s All!

But your job is not done! To draw horses from imagination you need to understand the rhythm of their body and make it intuitive for you. In order to do it you need to draw a lot of horses: from photos, videos, and life. Use this tutorial as a set of tools to draw quickly and purposefully, but learn from real horses to translate my simplifications to the real life.

How to Draw Legs, the Easy Step-by-Step Guide with Simplified Anatomy

Drawing legs is a complex endeavor. So why is this the Easy Step-by-Step guide to drawing legs? This guide will take you through simplified skeletal and muscle anatomy of the legs with easy to understand explanations and illustrations!

As with my previous drawing tutorials, we will break down a complex task into a series of smaller and simpler steps. We will first cover the shape of the leg and major landmarks, then look at the skeletal structure, then the muscles, and finally will go over drawing examples, step-by-step.

Here is a summary of the drawing process for drawing legs:

Establish proportions and angles with skeletal guidelines, then work on identifying and drawing the rhythms of the shape, then fill in the muscle groups, and finally rework the overall drawing correcting for any errors.

Skeletal structure study by Gvaat

In preparation for this guide, I created many leg drawings, three step-by-step examples are at the end of this guide. Here is what we will cover:

Table of contents:

1. How to Draw Legs – General shape of the leg

Before we go over simplified anatomy of the leg, let’s look at where we want to end up. Below are the muscle groups we will go over.

Major muscle groups of the leg, front, back and outer side view.

Note these are not all the muscles of the leg. I took measures to simplify anatomy and I edited out a lot of smaller muscle groups, to get us the minimum we need to draw the legs.

Let’s look a bit at what we need to know about the shape of the legs:

A great leg drawing is greater than the sum of its parts, that is to say, – greater than just all the muscles slapped together.

The position of the legs can define a pose in figure drawing. Let this section serve as a reminder that after you learn all the muscles of the leg, when you draw, you should do not lose sight of the overall.

The shapes in your drawings of the legs should instantly read properly. If the shape does not read correctly, something went wrong along the way – even if you think the muscles are where they should be – I would go back and check.

With that said, let’s go over important landmarks when drawing the leg.

Major landmarks for drawing the leg – front view

On the sketch above, (illustration on the far left) we see that the calf muscle (gastrocnemius) is positioned higher on the outside and lower on the inside of the leg.

It is the opposite with the lateral (outside) and medial (inside) malleolus areas – the sections where tibia and fibula meet with the foot. In those areas, the outside is lower and the inside of the leg has the bony bit higher.

On the illustration on the far right, we can see I indicated the tibia (shin bone). In fact, you can feel this bone right under the skin on the front-inner side of the leg as it is mostly uncovered by muscle from the knee to the foot. Later in this tutorial, we will also cover the knee cap in more detail.

In the middle illustration above, the great trochanter is indicated – a section of the femur bone very important to drawing the leg as it will help to properly situate the glutes and other muscles around it. We will also cover it below.

Major landmarks for drawing the leg – front view

On the left, you see how the sartorius muscle separates the adductors from the quad muscles of the leg, notice the change in direction. Notice also that the sartorius appears over the adductors from the front. We will cover the quads and the sartorius in the muscles section.

In the image on the right, notice that there are numerous muscle groups that connect to the medial (inside) condyle of the tibia over the muscles of the calves.

All of these details are important to making your drawings of the legs more believable. Now, without further ado, let’s go over the skeletal structure of the leg.

2. How to Draw Legs – Simplified skeletal structure of the leg

Legs function similar to arms, in that there is one large bone from the hip to the knee and two smaller ones from the knee to the foot. Muscles of the leg (quads and hamstrings) also function similarly to triceps and biceps muscles of the arm.

The quads are like the triceps muscles and help extend the limb, while hamstrings are like the biceps and help bend the limb.

For now, let’s try to get a general sense of the skeletal structure. We want to know the skeleton because in the next steps we will start studying and attaching muscles to this structure.

Kneecap or Patella bone articulates together with the femur and protects the knee joint. (indicated in purple). Tibia bone indicated Fibula indicated Pelvic bones indicated Wondering what to remember from all of this? Remember the Great trochanter and Iliac Crest locations – both very important landmarks for drawing the leg. Front 3/4 view of the pelvis (left) and back 3/4 view (right). Anterior superior iliac spine at 1, and anterior inferior iliac spine at 2. We will attach muscles to these points below. Here is the location of Great Trochanter, you can palpate it on your hip in a standing position. It is an important landmark that will let you find and identify muscles around it as you draw the leg. Front view. Back 3/4 view

3. How to Draw Legs – Simplified muscle groups of the leg

Before we cover the quad and hamstring muscles. Here is a simple anatomical tip about those muscles that should save us much time:

All of the quad muscles have a common insertion point at the kneecap. And all the hamstring muscles have a common origin point, at the ischium.

You should also know, that we use the terms ‘origin’ and ‘insertion’ when discussing muscle anatomy for a reason. The terms define more than just attachment points.

The origin portion of the muscle doesn’t move during muscle contraction, while the insertion portion does move. Usually, origin points are medial, or closer to the center of the body. Knowing the difference gives artists an advantage when creating anatomically correct drawings.

Quads (Quadriceps) and Sartorius

There are four muscles in the quads. We will look at three because the forth is found deep in the leg, not visible in the drawing of the figure.

The quad muscles extend the leg, similarly to how the triceps muscles extend the arm.

Vastus lateralis. Vastus of the outer side of the leg. Front view on the left, and outer-side view on the right.

The origin of vastus lateralis is at the greater trochanter area (just below), at the front (anterior) surface.

The insertion of vastus lateralis is at the common quadriceps tendon enclosing the kneecap (patella). This insertion point is the same for the other two quadriceps muscles we will cover!

In fact, all of these quad muscles connect into a tendon that then moves down and connects at the kneecap.

Vastus medialis. Vastus of the inner side of the leg.

Origin of vastus medialis is starting at the top of the femur and down along the medial section of the femur.

The insertion of vastus medialis is at the common quadriceps tendon enclosing the kneecap.

Rectus femoris, this muscle sits higher on the front of the leg than the vastus muscles on each side of it.

Some muscles originate in multiple places, like this one. Rectus femoris originates at anterior inferior iliac spine, and groove superior to the acetabulum. In the image above, it is simplified to connect just to the anterior inferior iliac spine which will work fine for our purpose of drawing the leg.

The best way to remember this origin (for simplified anatomical drawings) is to remember that it connects right above the hip joint at the front.

The insertion of rectus femoris is at the common quadriceps tendon enclosing the kneecap (patella) just like the other quadriceps muscles we discussed.

Here are the three quad muscles together. Front view on the left, and outer-side on the right.

What is really important for the quads group, is to keep in mind that the fullness of the rectus femoris is situated above the other two muscles surrounding it to the left and right – it is the higher sitting muscle on the leg, keep that in mind as you draw the leg from the front.

Quads and Sartorius, front view.

Now let’s add the sartorius muscle to quads group.

The sartorius muscle, separates the quads from the abductor muscles at the front of the leg.

Its origin is at the anterior superior iliac spine, and the insertion is at the top of the medial (inner) surface of the tibia bone. (It inserts at the top of the insertion of the semitendinosus muscle of the hamstring group – see below).

let’s quickly recap what we learned so far, we have rectus femoris that sits on the front of the femur bone, vastus muscles on each side of it, and the sartorius muscle that we just covered above.

IT band

Before moving on to the muscles on the back of the leg, we need to cover one more item, the IT band.

IT band indicated in violet

The IT band (iliotibial band) also known as the iliotibial tract, is a long piece of connective tissue, or fascia. The IT band stretches across vastus lateralis on the outside of the leg and helps to extend, abduct, and rotate the hip.

It stretches from the tenser muscle (covered below) and inserts at the lateral (outside) condyle (ending) of the tibia bone (shinbone).

The IT band is thin, and not easily visible, and it not visible in most stylized drawings of anatomy. However, it is often visible in old master drawings and in very detailed anatomical drawings in general.

I mention it here in case you find yourself wondering about extra definition on top of the vastus lateralis muscle (the section of the quads on the outside of the leg). Now you know what it is!

Hamstrings

Hamstrings are on the back of the leg. They function like the biceps muscle of the arm, when you bend your knee, hamstrings flex.

Semi-membranosus. This muscle sits underneath the other two major muscles of the hamstrings.

The origin of the semimembranosus is the same as the other major muscles of the hamstrings – at the ischium (the curved bone forming the base of each half of the pelvis).

The insertion of the semimembranosus is at the medial condyle of the tibia (a condyle is a rounded protuberance at the end of some bones, forming an articulation with another bone).

Biceps femoris.

The origin of biceps femoris is at the ischium (the curved bone forming the base of each half of the pelvis). This origin is the same for all three of the muscles we will cover for the hamstrings, making this group easy to study for drawing.

The insertion of biceps femoris is on the lateral (outer) side of the head (top) of the fibula.

Semi-tendinosus.

The origin is at the ischium as with the other hamstring muscles we covered. The insertion of semitendinosus is at the medial surface of the superior shaft of the tibia (inner surface of the upper portion of tibia).

Hamstring muscles together. Notice that they all share a common origin point at the ischium.

Let’s quickly review what we have covered so far with the hamstring muscles. There are three we need to know, one – semimembranosus, sits underneath the other two – the semitendinosus and the biceps femoris.

Calves

The origin of the gastrocnemius muscles is at the posterior (back) surfaces of femoral condyles. (so back sections of the bottom tip of the femur bone!).

Insertion is at the back of the heel via the Achilles tendon. I won’t discuss the anatomy of the foot in this guide since we have enough to discuss with the legs. However, if you are curious about how to draw the foot, check out my tutorial here.

In the image below, let’s look at all the muscles we discussed so far:

As you can see, I added three muscles in pink on top of the diagram in addition to what we have already covered. Two muscles of the glutes and the tensor, let’s discuss them now.

Glutes and Tensor

Tensor fasciae latae (Tensor)

The origin of the tensor is at aterior superior iliac spine and insertion at iliotibial tract – (IT BAND) that attaches to the lateral condyle of the tibia (remember we covered the IT band above? yes, it is the same one).

This muscle latches on to the IT band that moves all the way down to the tibia (right on top the vastus lateralis). The IT band is not shown above since it is thin and vastus lateralis is what will show through most of the time.

While the tensor muscle seems small, do not overlook it, it is one of those muscles that if omitted will provide for a leg drawing that never looks correct.

Gluteus medius

The gluteus medius has an origin at the posterior section of the ilium (Gluteal surface of ilium ) with insertion at the lateral surface of the greater trochanter (femur).

Gluteus maximus

The gluteus maximus has an origin at sacrum and coccyx, and the gluteal surface of ilium with insertion at the Iliotibial tract (IT band), and gluteal tuberosity of the femur.

Adductors

There are multiple muscles at the adductor group, they generally originate from the pelvis and insert at various points at the femur. This muscle group helps bring the leg back towards the middle of the body.

Most are visible on the inside of the leg. As you see in the diagram above, I am simplifying this entire section. But why?

As I was studying the muscles of the leg for drawing, it became clear that it is difficult to get a grasp of all the muscles all at once.

I suggest studying anatomy for drawing in passes. If you are studying the anatomy of the legs for the first pass, know that the adductor group is there and is important. Once you are familiar with the rest of the muscles in this guide, the group can be revisited.

Inside (medial side) of the leg

I will leave you with this drawing that shows the gracilis muscle, a major adductor, together with semitendinosus (hamstring group covered above) and sartorius (covered above). As I mentioned above, there are more adductor muscles to study, and there are more muscles to study at the knee-to-foot section as well.

Muscles of the leg – simplified anatomy review, Origin and Insertion

Kneecap overview

Drawing the knee is a large topic and, so I created a separate tutorial going over drawing the knee in detail. However, let’s touch on the basics of what is happening at the knee joint for drawing the leg.

Gvaat’s notes

At the knee joint, condyles of the femur bone and the tibia come together. A condyle is a rounded protuberance at the end of some bones, serving articulation with another bone. The condyles on both of these bones are massive and often some of the bone of the condyle can be seen on the surface.

Gvaat’s notes

The patella (knee cap), connects the tendons that unify the quad muscles – all of them wrap into it, and then the patellar tendon moves down and connects at the to top of the tibia.

The place where the tendon connects is a pointy bony bit, which sometimes can make it seem like there are two kneecaps, one on top of the other. Well, the one on the top is the knee cap, the stuff underneath is its tendon that attached on top of the tibia – the patellar tendon.

At this point we discussed at length the bones and muscles of the leg. Let’s now review the functions of the muscles, and then move to drawing the legs step-by-step.

4. How to Draw Legs – Muscle Function

Muscles of the leg – simplified anatomy review, Function

5. How to Draw Legs – step-by-step examples

Drawing legs – Example 1:

Let’s take this drawing of the legs step-by-step together:

When I draw-in these first marks on the canvas, I am measuring proportions, relative position (of one leg to the other), and angles at which the legs appear to the viewer. I try to do this all at once in this first step.

Often it is a lot to think about, especially when drawing something complex like the legs, so take your time with this first step. Measuring things out, go back if you have to.

Feeling confident with the pose, I start to block in shapes.

At this time I focus on orienting the main muscle groups, the quads show up the most in this drawing, so I focus on placing them. Remember the anatomy of the leg as you are drawing – this is where our anatomy overview (see above) really starts to become useful.

I know that at the front, three muscles of the quads are visible, vastus medialis on the inside, vastus lateralis on the outside, and rectus femoris in between the two.

I know that the belly of the femoris muscle sits higher on the leg. It is much easier to spot all of this on the model when you know what you should see when you draw.

Using this knowledge I place the muscle groups accordingly, not only based on the information I see in the model, but based on my framing of this information given the anatomy background I now have.

After placing the quads, I also added placement for the sartorius muscle, that divides the quads from adductors on the front of the leg.

The sartorius is most visible and easy to identify as a diagonal line running from the knee to the to of the hip.

It may be worth looking at this diagram again to see what is happening in our step-by-step drawing of the leg. Adductors indicated in pink.

I decided to draw over what I built so far with cleaner lines in this step.

With structure and placement out of the way, I can begin to shade the muscles of the leg to give our drawing of the legs some volume.

Shading is another topic, but you see me adding some more here, I also (as you saw in the previous step) added a neutral color to the entire image so that I could place white highlights.

Here I separated the drawing of the legs from the background by placing in a half-tone with a value closer to the shadow areas.

Although the drawing is not finished, I added some highlights to see where I am with volume. I now have the darkest darks and the lightest lights on my canvas and will work within these parameters to finish the drawing.

Finally, I added rendering detail and tried to define separate muscle groups by defining the volume of each.

Knowing the shape of the muscles will define how you approach rendering them, the placement of shadows and lights. While good reference can provide this information, combining it with your knowledge of muscle anatomy should produce even better results.

Here is video process of the legs drawing above:

Drawing legs – Example 2:

Same as in the first example, I start with simple skeletal draft that defines the pose, angles and proportional relationships. I am thinking about the position of the feet, and identifying landmarks.

Happy with the placement and angles in the original sketch, I move the drawing along with some rough outlines of the shapes I am trying to develop.

Try to imagine the lines on paper before you draw them.

Having the foundation of the drawing finished, I added detail with a bit more confidence. You can already see the adductors on the inside of the legs, as well as the sartorius muscle and some indication of the quad group.

Here I drew in all of the muscles of the upper leg. Can you identify the quad muscles? Vastus lateralis, rectus femoris and vastus medialis? Can you see the hamstrings or the tensor? If you can’t identify these yet, don’t worry, review the muscle section and come back to this sketch.

In this step, I added some shadows to try to separate the form from the canvas.

Here I added the mid-tones to the drawing, as well as the darker darks.

And finally some highlights to identify the forms of this sketch of the legs.

Drawing legs – Example 3

Let’s look at one more example:

I start this drawing like I did the other two, with a very basic skeletal outline of the angles and proportions. You should be asking yourself things like – where is the knee on this leg in relation to the knee of the other? What are the angles of the feet in relation to one another? – Always draw in context to other landmarks already on the page.

Once the basic angles and proportions look fine to me, I create a sketch shape outline noting major landmarks.

In this step, I added a stronger outline to better read the shape. I also separated the quads from hamstrings in the leg closest to us.

Here I added a bit of shading and some drop shadows to situate the legs. If you are curious about light and shading, check out my tutorial on exactly that at this link.

This concludes my step-by-step guide to drawing legs. For me, leg anatomy has been more difficult to study than the other parts of the body, I hope I made it a bit easier for you with this guide!

Remember that drawing legs is like drawing anything else – combine knowledge of the subject with drawing skills for best results. We spent a lot of time going over how to draw the legs, it is now time for you to put what you learned to practice!

For my other anatomy tutorials, visit this link. As always, you can provide feedback on this guide by contacting me here.

How to Draw Legs

In this instruction, the team of Easydrawingart.com will show you how to draw legs. This instruction, like the article about arms, is necessary if you want to learn how to portray a human.

Step 1

So, as in the instruction about arms, we begin to depict the legs from their base, that is, from the “skeleton.” Use the two lines to portray the top and bottom, and use the three circles to depict the joints.

Step 2

Now let’s start adding volume to the leg. Let’s start from the top, that is, the thigh. The thigh should taper gently closer to the knee.

Step 3

So, let’s portray the knee joint as a simple ball. By the way, if you want to portray a more powerful and pumped person, make the details wider and more massive.

Step 4

So, let’s now depict the lower part of the leg, that is, the shin. This part first expands from the knee, then tapers very smoothly closer to the ankle.

Step 5

In this stage, we will complete adding volume to the leg. Depict a foot as the artists of the Easydrawingart.com did in the image below.

Step 6

So, let’s now make the leg drawing detailed and voluminous, for this, trace all the details from the previous stages with smooth lines. Be sure to depict the feet and toes.

Step 7

Now use an eraser to clear the leg drawing of all auxiliary lines. Add muscle and knee lines. Next, you can trace it with a dark pencil or ink.

Step 8

So, now take the skin colors and paint the leg. To make the leg drawing more voluminous, you can add some shadows and highlights.

So, just above the team of Easydrawingart.com showed you how to draw a leg from the front, and below we will show you eight stages on how to draw a leg from the side.

Step 1

So, as in the examples above, we begin to depict the leg using simple lines. Depict the joints with three small circles.

Step 2

Let’s start adding details to the leg. As we have already said, the thigh should gradually taper closer to the knee.

Step 3

Now depict a spherical knee. We portray the joints in the form of balls so that the limbs look more mobile.

Step 4

So, let’s now depict the lower leg. As already mentioned above, it first expands in the calf muscle, then narrows in the ankle.

Step 5

So, now with a few simple and smooth lines, depict the foot, as did the artists of Easydrawingart.com in the image below.

Step 6

As in the first example, trace the leg details with smooth lines, gently highlighting all the muscles and portraying the foot, ankle bone, and toes.

Step 7

Armed again with an eraser, clear the leg drawing of the remaining auxiliary lines. With a dark pencil or ink, you can trace the leg drawing so that it looks more voluminous and clear.

Step 8

Take skin colors (i.e. shades of beige and brown) and paint the leg. With the help of shadows and highlights, make the leg sketch more voluminous and aesthetic.

So, was the instruction on how to draw legs useful for you? Write to us about it, because your opinion is very important for the team of Easydrawingart.com.

Also, try to apply this instruction on how to draw legs in order to depict a full-fledged human body.