Some days, I wonder why I even bother to wake up; today is one of those days. The coffee pot died, the washer is dying, and the basement toilet is getting worse thanks in part to Alex for flushing the toilet paper holder thingy. To top everything off, I have a load of homework and articles to do, and my beloved best friend hasn’t spoken to me in four days and I don’t understand why. Alex and I have yet to receive an explanation. I texted her and called, but she won’t answer her phone at all, let alone kindly acknowledge the fact that I text messaged even though it costs me a huge sum of money. So, another weekend and more money out the window.

Once upon a time, when I was little girl in old country…

I don’t know where that came from. There’s way too much noise here today and I can’t think straight. My parents are fighting and I’m sitting right in the middle of it all. Why? I have nowhere else to go currently. My computer desk in my room is all cluttered with a lot of stuff that doesn’t even belong to me (spring cleaning, so my room is a storage depot), it’s freezing in my basement (the heater is on the fritz, too. Burning hair anyone?), and my niece is in her room. Sometimes, I just wish I could b*tchslap them all, scream “shut up,” and go on my merry way. I want a car BADLY, then I can escape.

How about a tutorial, guys? I think a tutorial would work; I need to keep my mind off things. Alex did an arm tutorial yesterday, which I was going to do today, but I will shelve that for awhile. How about we work on the lower half of the anatomy and create legs? Legs are fairly easy to draw, so this will be a simple tutorial. We’re just going to draw straight legs today, no bends or movement yet. Ready to begin? Since I’m short on time and have a lot of things to do, I’m going to use an art tutorial I created for another website last summer.

First, create a base from which the legs will stem from. You can create a simple square, a circle, or a shape that looks like a pair of underwear. For me, the underwear-shaped piece is easier because it really shows where the legs should be and how evenly spaced they should be. Once this is completed, move on to the next step.

Create two downward columns that stem from the left and right of the base. If you created the underwear-like base, the space you need to fill is already indicated (that’s why I prefer it).  An easy way to determine the length of these two columns is bend your index finger. The space between where the finger bends in the center and where the finger bends at the tip is about an inch long. Make your upper leg columns about two inches long (adjust for the size of your paper).  Now the image I’ve included really makes me realize how crappy my scanner truly is. The other day, I scanned a chapter for someone in my linguistics class; my scanner sounded like Chewbacca with acid reflux. My scanner is twelve years old, I guess I should get a new one. *Ehem* Anyway, back to the tutorial.

At the bottom of the columns, draw smooshed circles (maybe I should just say “draw ovals”). These are the knee indicators. Now, don’t make the circles as wide as the column.

Now add two more columns below the knee indicators. The columns should also measure about two inches long (again, adjust for paper size). The lines on either side should bow out sightly, creating the illusion of calves. Once you get down to the bottom of the leg columns, taper the ends to create ankles. As you can see, the legs already have definition although they’re just guidelines at this point.

Now trace over the outside of the guidelines. Now you have defined the legs. Erase the guidelines. Where the knee guidelines were, add parenthesis lines to show the kneecaps.

Now finish off your legs by adding embellishments and shading. Now, this was a simplistic leg tutorial, there isn’t any true definition. As you can see, my legs aren’t perfect (and they were drawn a year ago) and they look rather uneven. That’s okay because there’s always room for improvement. For my next attempt, I’m going to add muscle-tone and better defined definitions. I’m going to practice my leg drawing and I will do another tutorial involving legs that will hopefully knock your socks off! So until next time, happy creating!

Marisol

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