【Idea】Let’s draw a person looking back!

“I can draw a character facing straight but drawing them facing backwards is difficult…”
Have you ever had this type of struggle?

Actually, you don’t have to think too hard about this.
The basics are the same as a regular drawing for a standing character!

In this tutorial, I will be introducing tips to draw a character looking back.

★ Pay attention to the proportions

The first tip is to think about the basic balance of the character’s body.
I often draw characters who are 7 heads tall but regardless of the character’s height (2 heads tall or 8 heads tall), it’s always important to pay attention to the body balance.
Take a look at the following and match with the characters you usually draw.

① Proportion

When I draw bodies, I always pay attention to the four points:

(1) The head size and the chest length are about the same
(2) The elbow and the belly button are placed at around the same height
(3) The knees are at the center of legs
(4) The upper half and the lower half of the body are equal

★ Pay attention to the dimensions
Try turning your head around right now.
Did you feel your body tilt a little bit ?
When you draw a character looking back, think of a tilting box to replicate the three dimensionality of the body.
If it’s too difficult to imagine a tilted box, take a look at an empty box of snacks etc.

② Three Dimensionality

Keeping in mind the two tips from above, I will be drawing a character looking back.

③ Rough Sketch

As I introduced earlier, I will keep in mind that

・the head size and the chest length are about the same
・the knees are at the center of legs
・the upper half and the lower half of the body are equal
・imagining a tilted box allows to replicate the three dimensionality

when drawing the body.

When you find it difficult to draw with the right balance, draw in equal lines for the proportions or keep a regular standing drawing side by side.
Now, to keep it easy to see the dimensionality of the body, I will draw the arms at the end.

④ Arms

I kept in mind the following when drawing the arms;
・”the elbow and the belly bottom are placed at around the same height”
Since the body tilts backward on the right side, the tip is to hide the left shoulder.

⑤ Sketch

⑥ Sketch

Draw in the design of the characters based on the rough sketch.
Keep adding more details to the sketch as you dress the character.

⑦ Complete

Lastly, clean the line drawing and add colors to the sketch.

He has that teasing look as if he’s telling us “You must be jealous of this, I won’t give any to you!”.

I think the finalized illustration came out really attractive!

（Text・Illustration／梅沢かな）
Twitter 梅沢かな(@hijiki39bomb)