DRAW PLUS SIZE FIGURES

As in the “How to draw walking pose” tutorial start by marking how tall the croqui will be. You want to leave a little bit of space from the edges of the paper and pull a vertical Centerline. Use a ruler and divide the Centerline into two equal parts.

Divide the upper part of the body into 3 equal parts. Hipline, Waistline, and Shoulderline. The top section is where the head and the neck of your model will be drawn. Divide the top section’s bottom half in 2.

You need to keep in mind that a plus-size model’s face shape will be more round compared to how you usually draw faces in fashion sketches. Draw a wide ellipse taking ¾ of the top section and add the neck in the last ¼. The Centerline stands right in the middle of the neck.

Under the shoulder, line draw two head size ellipses on each side of the Centerline. Add smaller circles that will help you draw the shoulders correctly.

Next, draw 3 overlapping heads to mark how wide the hips of the figure will be. You can play and experiment with the width of the hips. Just make sure everything is symmetrical! The hips line should stand in the middle of all the 3 heads and that the Centerline parts the middle head in two.

Draw the body silhouette by connecting the shapes from the previous step. Keep everything soft and lush. No angles, no straight lines. Plus size croquis has bigger breasts and hips but you can leave the waist relatively small if you like. Drawing the wait smaller than the head’s widest part will look unnatural – don’t go this far.

Erase all the unnecessary guidelines of the torso and continue with marking the placement of the arm and the legs. The left arm of the figure will be straight and the right arm- bent.

From the center of the little shoulder, circle pull down a line to the hips. Notice where this guideline ends.

For the bent arm find the middle of the waistline-to-hipline area. Mark it with a dot on the silhouette outline. Draw the bent arm using the tip below.

On the Centerline mark the figure bottom half’s middle. Above will be placed the tights and the knees and below- the calves and the feet. To find where the legs of the model are crossing divide the calves and feet area in two.

Next, pull centerlines for each leg. Notice that these centerlines start in the middle of the distance Centerline- hips outline.

Drawing soft curves mark the front leg ankle and both leg’s knees. Notice the placement of the knees! They should not be drawn too high nor too low.

Now is time to add some flesh to the arms. Unlike what you know from “How to draw arms” tutorial the plus size figure won’t have stick thick arms. They are much more fleshy.

Draw the hands of your muse and keep in mind the proportions. Fashion sketches look better if the hands are graceful. Check out the “How to draw hands” tutorial to learn how to draw hands positions from your imagination.

Draw the flesh of the tights and the calves. Keep them soft and curvy. Draw a horizontal ellipse to mark the toes and hide the right foot behind the left one.

Make sure you have erased all the unnecessary guidelines at this point and continue with adding the details. Plus-size bodies are less bony so avoid the hard straight lines. You want to emphasize the size of the breast and maybe draw some tummy.

Now that you have your plus size figure completed it’s time to add the face features, hair and of course put on some fashion clothes.

Drawing fashion sketches doesn’t mean you need to stick to the classic looking croquis. You can have beautiful plus size croquis and create fashion for real women if you like. I hope this tutorial on how to draw plus size figures inspired you for new designs and more creativity!

Happy drawing!