How do you draw a realistic person?

Answer 1

The short answer is practice, practice, practice.
The long answer is...
Start with a picture of someone. (a picture is easier to work with because it is already two dimensional, and doesn't get tired sitting while you work) It is better if this is not someone you know. (your feelings for the person will make it harder for you to draw them - you will be too worried about getting it right).
Work on inexpensive sketch paper to begin with, you will need to do a lot of practicing before you will start to get good results. Work in pencil and do not push too hard, because you will be doing a lot of erasing in the beginning.
Draw the person in the picture as accurately as you can. Once you have a good outline, start shading your picture. Your first attempts may not be very good, but as you do more and more sketches you will get better.
Remember to date each of your drawings and not to destroy any of them... you need to see how your talent progresses in order to stay enthusiastic about drawing.
And here is a hint - if you are getting frustrated because you just can't seem to get things right, turn your source picture upside down... that way your brain only sees the shapes and you can get a more accurate drawing. However, do not do this all the time... when you progress to working with a live model you won't have this trick to rely on.

Answer 2

Okay, to start off I draw just for fun, and I'll give you a few tips just from drawing normally.

The first step is to PRACTICE! The more you do it the better you'll get. Like learning anything, practice makes perfect. I draw specifically for FUN, don't draw unless you WANT to. It should be a fun activity you enjoy.

Second, There are tons of ways to draw people. You can do it by looking at photo, by memory, by lesson, you can draw by how you picture it in your mind, or you can doodle some and get a main idea of what you're drawing before you do the main art. Something I've been working on is finding shapes within the picture it's self. I've been told it's an easier way of drawing, we'll soon find out. Finding shapes. Let's say... you want to draw feet, but you don't know where to start. Well, look at your own foot. If you turn it where you can only see the side it has an arch. Look, you can draw straight lines and then later smooth them out and curve them.

Another way is drawing almost a skeleton. Now, I don't draw a detailed skeleton. You know, with the bones and such, but I'll give you an idea. Let's say you want to draw a head. Well, you draw a circle and and a triangle. So, it almost looks like and upside down egg. draw like a cross on the face to line up where you add the eyes, mouth, eyebrows, noes, etc... This should help with the lining up. REMEMBER, if you're going to draw like this, draw the skeleton very lightly. You want to be able to erase it easily.

If my ideas are too hard to imagine or understand you can look up "how to" videos and it'll help you some too. Sometimes if I get stuck, I look at pictures and other drawings people did to help scan mine out.

DON'T get frustrated I get plenty irritated when I can't seem to get it right, and my tools don't want to work with me. Don't get too worked up. Don't OVER work yourself, you don't want to burn out of ideas or steam. Don't GIVE UP, never give up. If you really want something you have to work for it. DO it for fun, nothing else. And do it for you.

You can sketch, portrait doodle, draw it out, anything. If one art piece doesn't turn out exactly like you wanted it, than it's the way it goes. JUST keep practicing. Have fun with it. It's your chance to create anything you want, anything at all. There's nothing holding you back.

Easy way to draw, there are tons. Look them up, find the right one for you. I'm still looking, but I'm getting closer and closer. Hands and feet are weakness for me. So, work on those. Work on your weakest points and strengthen your strongest points.

I know this isn't a straight answer, and I'm sorry, but I at least hope I helped you some.

P.S look for books that teach you, videos, other drawings, older drawings you did. I look at older drawings I've done, and look for mistakes and what I can improve on. Keep trying.
Happy sketching. I really hope I helped.

Answer 3

if you are copying a picture, you should make sure that you always start with the eyes or to make it easier, you can draw a grid on the picture.

See the related answer below for detailed instructions.

Answer 4

Your best best is to buy figure drawing books or perhaps find online video guides.

You can't teach someone how to draw in this kind of forum.

Answer 5

with lots and lots of practice. try tracing a person from a photo just to give you the feel of the proportions of the body parts.

Answer 6

its not hard so do it yourself