I came across a video on quickly hashing out a croquis pose from a photograph. I wanted to make sure to share it with you but have managed to lose the link. Ugh!…the dangers of blogging and idea storage mishaps. Once I rediscover it I will post the link.

Since this is the method I use for quick sketches I will do my best to reiterate the idea. First I have created a Croquis drawing guidline sheet for you to use. I draw by eye on a blank sheet of paper keeping mindful of the body proportions. But the template helps in the beginning.

In Croquis II I went over the basics to creating the croquis figure. I talked about the average person being 8 heads tall. My tutorial talked about creating a 10 head figure. But as this illustration by Aciele shows you can make your croquis as small or tall as you desire. The process is the same so create them at your whim.

But for the purpose of this exercise you can use my new 10 head figure template. I made it a little lighter so it won’t compete with your pencil lines. I suggest you start with a simple pose like this one.

The center line on the template now serves as the plum line. Start by defining the angle of the shoulders, waist and hips. Then connect the shapes creating an outline for torso and hips and draw in the crotch. Next you will draw circles in for the elbows, wrists, breasts, knees, and ankles. Then connect these dots.

From here you can add in the neck, head and feet and flush out the figure. Once you are happy with how it looks ink the lines you want to keep and erase the pencil.

Like everything practice, practice, practice. Then you can move on to more challenging poses like this one of Veruschka by Richard Avedon, 1967

Hope this tutorial was helpful. Enjoy!

Images: Aciele / Frida Gustavson for Neiman Marcus / DCTdesigns