How To: Draw a girl

Drawing a woman is a lot like drawing a man, only curvier. You can use triangles to sketch the basic form of a woman, giving you a guideline to sketch in more and more detail until you've given her the look you want.

Sharpen your pencil, grab some sketch paper, and learn how to draw the girlish charms of the female species.

You Will Need

* A graphite pencil
* Paper
* An eraser

Step 1: Draw body and head shapes

Draw an upside-down triangle to represent her shoulders to her waist, and then a right side-up triangle whose top point overlaps the bottom point of the first triangle by about a third to be her waist to her hips. Add an oval on top of the shoulders for her head.

Step 2: Add legs and feet

Add two legs extending from the bottom of the lower triangle and attach small elongated ovals for feet.

Every girl has an individual shape and proportion with thinner arms and larger hips than men.

Step 3: Add arms and neck

Add a thin rectangle extending from each shoulder. For bent arms, divide the rectangles into upper arms, elbows, and lower arms. Connect the head to the shoulders with a small, thin trapezoid.

Step 4: Refine the form

Round your shapes and refine the contours of your drawing, adding two half circles on the chest for breasts. Erase the unnecessary guidelines.

Step 5: Add face and hair

Divide the face oval in half vertically and horizontally, and draw eyes along the center horizontal line, one on either side of the vertical line. Add a nose along the vertical line, and a mouth below the nose, bisecting the vertical line. Then erase your guidelines and add outer and inner hairlines.

Use sweeping strokes when sketching hair, following the natural direction of growth.

Step 6: Add clothing

Give your girl style by adding clothing, jewelry and shoes.

Step 7: Add shading

Add shading to shadowed areas to create a realistic look.

Did you know? In the 19th century, Sioux women decorated their clo