Drawing Kids

Chibiartstudios · Post by **Chibiartstudios** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 11:32 am

OK, My comic calls for a character who is a kid. The problem is I have rarely tried to draw them and when I do I have only moderate success. Things just seem "off" proportionately.

Does anyone have any advice on this or know of any tutorials?

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 11:48 am

The heads need to be bigger in comparison to their body. I think realistically the average kid head is 1/7th of their total height, but I'm not positive. I deliberately try to make their faces rounder than my adult characters in an attempt to give them a more youthful appearance. I don't know much about the technical terms of drawing, so that's about all I can give you at the moment, but you could say I've had enough practice drawing kids. I think I've only drawn one strip ever which didn't have a kid in it.

Simbrie · Post by **Simbrie** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 11:49 am

Kids' bodies are underdeveloped, so their head would be bigger in proportion to their bodies than an adult's head. Girls and boys' torsos aren't too different, depending on the age of the kid. Also, there is a stage where the kid is all gangly like, long limbs as they begin to grown upwards.

And please excuse my english, it's not exactly my first language. ><

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 12:15 pm

No worries. You're writing better than your average American...

Simbrie · Post by **Simbrie** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 12:20 pm

Heh, I know that isn't saying much, but thanks!

Warofwinds · Post by **Warofwinds** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 3:18 pm

Much larger, rounder eyes. Stubbier arms, narrow shoulders, lack of muscle tone (unless you're drawing Gohan from DBZ as a kid, in which case he's buffer than his dad, but let's not go there). Small feet. Feet are really important, I noticed. I can't wait until the kid in my comic grows up a little, gah. Luckily, as a character he won't stay around for too much longer. Mweh.

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 5:14 pm

I'd say softer muscle tone actually. But you're right on the bigger eyes.

And really big ears.

But that's just me.

Caduceus · Post by **Caduceus** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 6:47 pm

Big foreheads help. Make the eyes lower.

Chibiartstudios · Post by **Chibiartstudios** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 1:28 am

*nods* Good advice all. but what about things like # of heads high/wide at various ages? Any advice on that?

Maybie I should just draw something and get criticism.

Dutch! · Post by **Dutch!** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 1:46 am

For an adult figure it's...what...two horizontal heads wide at the shoulders? I haven't got the old drawing book I had when I was ten in front of me (not that I used it all that seriously anyway) at the moment, but that sounds familiar. Can't really remember what it was for kids though.

Okay...I've just taken the picture of last year's grade off the wall and given it a close look. I reckon the ratio is pretty much the same. Two head widths across the shoulders like adults. It's just that the head grows a little as you mature. Unlike the eyes, which are the same size from go to whoa.

That might help.

Here's another piece of advice. Whatever looks good.

Caduceus · Post by **Caduceus** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 10:33 am

http://saveloomis.org/FigureDrawing/29.htm

http://saveloomis.org/FigureDrawing/26.htm

But yeah, whatever looks good.

Chibiartstudios · Post by **Chibiartstudios** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 12:02 pm

Wow. You never notice how wierd human legs are until you look at them from the side.

That was perfect. Thanks all!

Grey_the_angel · Post by **Grey_the_angel** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 5:09 pm

your all lucky : I have to do an entire development stage with my character. >.<;;

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 6:45 pm

For FAUB I've had to draw body types from 3 to 80. It's a challenge and it's good practice. If you stick to drawing what you know then you'll eventually find that everything else is hard to draw. If you draw a little of everything then you'll have a good base to draw from.

Hiye · Post by **Hiye** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 7:05 pm

Some general principles to remember - children have larger heads with larger eyes and a shorter nose and forehead, rounder cheeks, rounder shoulders and stouter limbs in general, and they look stockier - as in, lower height/width ratio. Proportions are similar as that of adults, but length/width will always be lower. This is considering the kids are under 12. Around 12 they go through a pubescent metamorphosis and become either taller and equally fat or really lanky.

If it's possible, watch neighbour kids playing or go to an elementary school during recess and just draw from life. If they don't mistake you for a paedophilic stalker and call the loonie cops on you, you'll have an excellent real-life base for observation and modeling.

Dominic · Post by **Dominic** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 12:25 pm

Any kids I ever drew looked like tiny adults until I figured out how important it was to round off the faces. Go for less detail and definition, more contour. Remember to keep the chin tiny and the eyes big (proportionate to the head). Watch out for the mistake of giving them too mature a hairstyle and style of dress.
I tried googling for some good tutorials on drawing kids, but came up mostly blank. The tutorial on drawing heads over at BakaNeko is somewhat useful, if you can work with the anime approach.

Sopheia · Post by **Sopheia** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 9:14 am

*gets some drawing books and goes through links*

Wellllll... uhm, the wrists and ankles should be on the thick side... All the rest has been said already, I think.

Proportion-wise...

Bastiaan Zapf wrote:As you may note, I measured the figure's size in head lengths. That's the best way for doing it, since the head/body ratio is almost the same in all adult humans. Plus, most artists start with the head. The head/body ration of an adult is about 1:8, that means the whole body is eight times as long as the head. If you have a look at old comic books (everything of Jack Kirby and all the Superman comics come to mind), you will notice that there the body is bigger in comparison to the head, there the ratio is about 1:9. This makes a body look somewhat impressive and heroic, but that's not what we are looking for. Some books state also ratios of 1:7 or even 1:7.5 (then the neck is usually measured as 0.5). I always found 1:8 works best, but you have to work out what's best for you.

Young humans have larger heads than adults. With babys, the ratio is about 1:3, it grows to 1:4 in small children, 1:5 in early teens and then rises to 1:7 with the growth of adolescence.

((Source: FARP, Proportions and muscles))

I hope that helps!