Hi everyone! Here’s a how to draw tutorial on mesomorph and ectomophic body types, focusing on arms in particular. These body types go along with the endomorphic body type covered in the last how to draw tutorial. The mesomorphic body type is generally associated with more muscular characters, though mesomorphs do not necessarily have to be muscular. Their bodies are compact and curvy, with muscle hanging well on their bodies. When learning how to draw the male version of these types of characters, imagine the football players and boxers of the world. For female characters, they are very curvy. When they become emaciated, you can still see the muscles stubbornly clinging on to the bones, which can be difficult to learn how to draw. When they are more chubby, their bodies are a synthesis of muscle and fat.

The other body type to learn how to draw is the ectomorph, which is most commonly defined as a tall and frail individual. These characters are typically all skin and bones. As these characters become more emaciated, the bones can actually start to seem visible. If the character attempts to put weight on, they typically end up with larger guts while the rest of the body continues to appear slim. These characters have a difficulty developing a lot of muscle and often appear more toned than muscular. These characters would be great on the basketball team if they are tall enough.

How to Draw Mesomorphs

Women have a tendency to be curved, but curviness is especially an aspect with mesomorphic women. Mesomorphic women have the hourglass shape with many dynamic curves. Another distinct feature of the mesomorphic body is tighter shoulder muscles that are raised higher than usual. These robust and athletic characters appear as if they are about to spring into action at any moment. They are stereotypically athletes, though that doesn’t always have to be the case.

The arms of these characters is the most defined of any female arm. The difference between the upper and lower arm is very distinct and easy to point out. When these characters bend their arms, their elbows stand out very well. Both the biceps and triceps bulge slightly, unless the female character is heavily into weight lifting, which will give her even more pronounced muscles. The forearms are thicker near the elbow than near the wrist.

How to Draw Ectomorphs

Ectomorphs can be easy to learn how to draw as soon as you learn to resist the temptation of drawing thicker arms and legs. I noticed that most artists have a tendency to draw rather ectomorphic or mesomorphic bodies, so remember that the other body type exists if you want to expand your diversity as an artist. The character above is a tad bit exaggerated because she’s not supposed to be a human species, but she is a good example of how the ectomorphic body type looks. When the character has no muscle mass or fat on the body, which is really common, the character is mostly consisted of straight lines or even lines that curve inwards and towards each other, like on this character’s body.

Unlike the mesomorph, the different parts of the arms on the ectomorph are often hard to distinguish. With most characters, The elbow can only be pointed out by a slight depression of the lines when the arms are straight. However, when the arms are bent, the elbows are very pointy.

That concludes this how to draw tutorial. I have no clue what the next topic will be, though I’m thinking about doing a shading or folds tutorial. I decided to leave these characters unshaded in case I decided to do a really in-depth tutorial on shading. Stay tuned.

Alex

Tags: arms, draw, lines