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How to Draw Teen Bodies

Throughout these lessons I have touched upon how historic period changes things in the body and particularly in the confront. Here we volition await at the total progression of the trunk and face from nascence to very erstwhile historic period.

A Few Preliminary Words

Permit'south get this clear: Everyone ages differently. The diagrams below are not meant to be invariably true to the letter of the alphabet, but to help you draw people that look their intended age. I know for myself that while I was learning to draw, I ended upward with many children who looked eerily earth-weary, or adults stuck in their twenties, before I identified the visual clues of age that I was misusing. They are collected here to save yous much trial and error, but y'all will not need to use them all – as a matter of fact, unless your style is very realistic, you might want to use the fewest possible, just what is plenty to make a character's age articulate.

About the Stages of Life

The stages used here (Newborn, Baby, Kid...) are a compromise betwixt the "official"  sectionalisation (which for instance groups 13- and 20-year-olds together nether "boyish") and the way I experience they can be classified visually. Upwards to adolescence, children change very rapidly, but I can't do a diagram for each passing year so I condensed them into as few stages as possible. Naturally, a 5-year-old doesn't await the aforementioned as a 10-yr-old, and so these portraits are snapshots of a continuous transformation.

Factors That Influence Aging

As I said above, we all age differently. The childhood stages are somewhat compatible, but once nosotros achieve adulthood, the changes to our appearance, whether in the confront or the figure, depend on many factors: genetics, ethnicity, living weather condition, work/life habits, wellness, exposure to sunlight and air current, exercise or lack thereof, usage of cosmetics or surgery, and and so on.

People in poor countries take a shorter life expectancy and no admission to health care, let alone beauty products, so they may look very sometime by the time they're centre-anile, while in developed countries, some people can look barely 40 well into their sixties. In those aforementioned developed countries, in centuries past, middle age was old age and brought with it blackened or fallen teeth, a failing torso and stained peel.

Exposure to the elements will line even a young face: in Viêt Nam I met a woman who worked outdoors in a very windy place, and the many fine lines on her confront made me think she was in her forties, simply she turned out to be just 20. Inversely, the Japanese famously proceed their smooth peel for years and years, and I was shocked to see a "teenager" who turned out to be a mature, married adult female. Traumatizing events can too accelerate aging, visible especially in worry lines.

With all this in heed, it is best to look at the stages beneath non as stock-still values just as steps that are relative to each other. The verbal age is less important than the differences betwixt a stage and another.

Sexual Dimorphism (or Not)

Yous'll notice I just provide separate male person and female diagrams for some historic period categories. This is just because up until puberty, boys and girls are not very differentiated. They are recognizable mostly through socially created factors such as haircut and clothing. You can't easily tell a young kid's gender but from their face. Adolescence marks the offset of serious differences in face and body, and that's when the separate diagrams brainstorm. Then, after menopause, women kickoff losing their differentiating factors again. As they get older, men and women get once more increasingly similar in the face, relieve for the fact women's pilus never recedes quite as much, and women very rarely go bald.

Stages of Life

Newborn (0-1 calendar month)

Newborns can only lie on their belly, retaining the foetal position with limbs folded against their body. Therefore body length = 2.5 heads (legs not counted). Note how short the legs are – call up that in adults, in this position, the knee reaches the shoulder.

Newborn proportions Newborn proportions Newborn proportions

The first week, the caput is elongated. This is called molding and information technology is due to the passage through the birth culvert, which makes the bones of the skull overlap. C-sections don't result in molding.

Newborn face Newborn face Newborn face
  1. Many newborns have a full head of fine, dark hair, but they can likewise exist quite baldheaded.
  2. The ear is flat against the head.
  3. No neck or chin.
  4. The nostrils are very evident in a tiny push olfactory organ.
  5. The line under the optics is clearly defined.
  6. The eye slits, likewise equally the line of the mouth, expect very wide.
  7. The upper eyelid fold may not be yet. At this stage, the eyes are just opened for brief spells and tend to squint.
  8. There is the merest hint of eyebrows, very loftier on the face.

The eyes of newborns only take their final hue between half dozen months and 1 year. The skin also has a "nascency coloration" that soon changes. Roughly speaking, for different types, these nativity colors are:

Newborn birth coloration Newborn birth coloration Newborn birth coloration

  • Caucasian types: Dark blueish-greyness eyes, pinkish to reddish peel (strong vascularity)
  • African types: Dark grey-brown eyes, red-black pare
  • Asian types: Night greyness-brown optics, tea rose pare

Baby (i calendar month - 1 year)

Although babies develop at an individual pace, hither'south a full general guideline:

  • At ii months, a baby can lift its head halfway;
  • At iii information technology tin concord an object;
  • At four information technology tin lift its head and chest when lying downward;
  • At 6 it can hold its caput steady and sit with aid;
  • At 7 it can sit and stand unsupported, and tries to put its foot in its rima oris;
  • At 11 it can stand up up lonely;
  • Effectually i year it starts walking unsupported.

Around iii months old, the body length is closer to 3 heads (legs still not counted). Although the proportions have barely changed, the body and limbs are noticeably chubbier.

Baby proportions Baby proportions Baby proportions

Around 10 months, nosotros start thinking in terms of height, every bit the baby starts continuing on its legs. Height = 4-5 heads. The features are less crumpled than a newborn's, actualization very open to drink in the world.

Baby proportions and face Baby proportions and face Baby proportions and face
  1. The little pilus present is very fine, and tin exist calorie-free then get darker as baby grows.
  2. The ear starts sticking out.
  3. A babe'south eyeballs are nigh their adult size, but the centre slits are not, so the iris appears much larger than an developed'southward.
  4. The lips become more than visible, cartoon a tiny oral fissure.
  5. The eyes are wider apart than an developed'southward.
  6. The eyebrow ridge is inappreciably present, there'southward simply a very gentle curve.
  7. At that place's no cheekbone to speak of either, but a round cheek.

Toddler (one - iv years)

The body begins to slim down a chip, losing the rounded tummy,  simply retains an endearing awkwardness. At age 4, a child'southward height is at least double its birth length. Elevation= 5 heads

Toddler proportions and face Toddler proportions and face Toddler proportions and face
  1. We can come across the starting time of a neck
  2. The legs are short relatively to the body.
  3. The hair is thicker, darker, and now hides the head.
  4. The eyebrows are now virtually half as nighttime as they will exist in adulthood (so they'll even so be very light in off-white children).
  5. The cheeks are total and oftentimes pink.
  6. The mouth is small and puckered, looking pouty.
  7. Double chin
  8. Toddlers withal have their baby fat, especially in the face.

Child (5 - 11 years)

In commonly-fed children, all baby fat is gone, but the muscles are still infantile, then the torso looks skinny. Torso proportions change from v.5 heads in early childhood, to 6 heads between 7 and 9, bearing in mind that the speed of growth is unequal – some children look younger than their age and some grow then fast they look like teenagers. This balances itself out before adulthood, with a growth spurt for the one-time and a slowing downwards for the latter. Note also that in children, the face occupies a smaller area of the head than in adults.

Child proportions and face Child proportions and face Child proportions and face
  1. The neck grows out of an nigh horizontal shoulder line (instead of the trapezius of adults – see Basic Body Proportions) because these muscles are not developed.
  2. The eyebrows however appear high.
  3. The ears grow before other features so they looks large for a while.
  4. Sparse cervix
  5. The chin becomes defined, but not nevertheless strong.
  6. The nose looks short because it's still upturned.
  7. The nose bridge gains dimension.
  8. The face contours start to announced, but are still soft.

Adolescent (12 - 17 years)

Females actually brainstorm puberty betwixt eight-thirteen years of age, with males starting betwixt 9.five and 14 years. Meridian= 6.5 to 7 heads (males are taller).

  1. In males, shoulders augment.
  2. Hair appears on the body, legs, artillery and confront.
  3. The anxiety, artillery, legs and hands may grow faster than the rest of the body, leading to the gangly look and feeling of clumsiness.
  4. In females, the development of the breasts is the first sign of puberty, but they don't attain their total size until machismo. First the breasts grade small-scale mounds, then the areola gets larger. The breast keeps growing from there.
  5. The waist gets smaller and the hips get wider.
  6. Fatty may increase in the buttocks, legs and breadbasket.
  1. The eyebrows are full and lower on the eyes, attenuating the wide-eyed look of childhood.
  2. The most noticeable difference with developed faces at this indicate is the size of the eyes, which are nevertheless big.
  3. The bone structure is in place only all the same softened by a full face.
  4. As the olfactory organ take its adult shape, it looks longer.
  5. In males, the neck is thicker, the Adam'southward apple tree appears.
  6. In females, the neck remains slender, with NO Adam's apple.
  7. Eyelashes tin can be left out to convey adolescence, as their presence in a drawing tends to make a female expect older.

Young Adult (18 years - 30's)

Machismo is when growth stops: this is the tallest one gets in one's life. The body achieves maturity, with fully adult muscles, and in women'south instance total breasts. Summit= seven.5 heads (Note that we use 8 heads when learning to draw people, as explained in Basic Body Proportions). The full details of adult female and male bodies are described in Advanced Torso Proportions, but note the most obvious differences between them at this indicate:


Grayness hair can start actualization in i's thirties or even late twenties, though most people (especially women) will remove or dye them. Female eyebrows at this stage are oftentimes styled (at least, in parts of the world where that is done) and then they look neatly drawn, while male eyebrows retain a natural look than is rarely as crisp.

  1. The eyelids get more visible, toning down the gaze and conveying maturity.
  2. The optics expect slightly smaller.
  3. The line of the nose is chiseled.
  4. The confront contours now show more bone and muscle construction than soft mankind.
  5. The ear size stabilizes at the mensurate that is roughly the distance from the pinnacle of the eyes to the tip of the nose.
  6. Males take a strong squared jaw.
  7. Dark-haired men often accept a shadow around the jaw even when they're shaved. At this historic period, facial pilus would exist at their strongest if grown.
  8. Female lips at their virtually fleshy (and frequently look much redder or assorted, due to the use of cosmetics).
  9. The eyelashes are now emphasized.

Eye Historic period (xl's and fifty'southward)

The body doesn't alter all that much, but muscle density decreases, and female breasts outset losing firmness. Elbows and knee caps evidence wrinkles. The tendency to accumulate fatty increases. Men and women store it in dissimilar places, indicated in blue:

The changes in the face are generally in the lines, no longer in the construction:

  1. The eyelids become heavier.
  2. Crow's anxiety begin to appear.
  3. A downward fold shows up at the corners of the mouth, giving a bit of a wry expression. It is now safe to depict more expression lines that would have made the face look too old otherwise.
  4. Lines may also announced at the root of the nose.
  5. In males, the hairline is likely to start receding.
  6. The hair shows more than sign of aging, the "salt and pepper" look.

Menopause happens in a woman's fifties. The drop in estrogen levels has many effects on the body, the most visible ones existence:

  • The basic lose density so the body starts getting shorter.
  • The breasts dry up.
  • Weight gain is redistributed to the abdominal area, then the waist starts disappearing.

Early on Old Age (60's)

  1. The hair turns incomparably grey. It thins, and its growth is at present limited, so women wear information technology shorter.
  2. Worry, frown and grinning lines become permanent.
  3. The eyebrows may stay dark longer than the hair (if they were dark in the beginning place), merely grow sparser.
  4. Pockets appear nether the optics.
  5. The pare loses elasticity and starts hanging at the jaws, resulting in a less house jawline.
  6. The male hairline recedes to a varying, but noticeable caste.
  7. Female eyelashes are no longer prominent.
  8. The lips go thinner. The face in full general starts losing femininity.

Centre Old Age (70's)

People who keep exercising into old age keep a younger body longer, and may not slump or lose much muscle mass. Slumping makes the neck look shorter and the arms fall lower than usual. Male person pectorals droop visibly.

In males, hairline recedes considerably or all pilus is lost. Women'south hairline recedes niggling: this is the main difference between male person and female person faces at this stage.

  1. The skin becomes thinner, showing veins, blemishes and historic period spots.
  2. The hair is thin and wispy, nigh transparent as all pigment is gone.
  3. The upper eyelid may droop to permanently cover the outer corner of the eye, giving it a triangular shape. This happens to populations of Western and Northern Europe and to people heavily exposed to the elements.
  4. The earlobe droops (mostly noticeable in people who wore earrings).
  5. The pare adheres to the os, hollowing the cheeks.
  6. There is a jowl effect as the pare on the cheeks sags.
  7. The corners of the mouth run down.
  8. The folds join the chin to the neck pit.
  9. If there is any facial pilus, it'due south getting sparser and weaker.
  10. The lips lose color, with vertical lines running up and down from them.
  11. Loss of cartilage makes the nose tip droop.
  12. The eyes become watery and their iris less intense in color.
  13. Sparse or scraggy eyebrows.

Very Old Age (80's and upward)

The advent of conveying the burdens of the world that old people usually have is mostly due to the physical changes of their face – the "sad" eyes (shaped this way past the drooping eyelid in Caucasian types), permanent "worry" and frown" lines, corners of the mouth drooping... We read these as expression lines even though at that fourth dimension of life, they are just always there. When drawing an elderly face, we need to exist aware of the expressive power of these lines and balance or attenuate them co-ordinate to the facial expression nosotros wish to convey.

  1. More age spots.
  2. The eyes sink back, letting the orbits prove through the skin.
  3. Crow's feet can become actually long and arable.
  4. People who spent their lives exposed to the elements can have abundant lines on the cheeks as well.
  5. The jaw line is lost.
  6. Double chin.
  7. The oral cavity puckers in if lost teeth are not replaced by dental work (simply affordable or bachelor to a portion of the industrialized world)
  8. These lines deepen.

Practice time:

  • Discover people on the street, on the bus, etc. On get-go impression, what age would you give them? Endeavor then to deconstruct the visual clues, picked upward unconsciously, that led to that impression.
  • Consciously sketch age groups that y'all don't normally draw or that you lot have trouble portraying, both with and without reference.
  • Play effectually with imagining your favourite comic volume grapheme (or your own graphic symbol) at different stages of their life.

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Source: https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/human-anatomy-fundamentals-drawing-different-ages--cms-21905