The Foot: Know your basic forms!

Like everything else you draw, the foor also consist of basic forms. I break it down into 3 parts.
1) a cylinder for the shin
2) a half a peanut for the front
3) A roundish shape for the heel

Side view

Here you can kinda see those basic shapes beneath the foot.
The shin comes into the ankejoint which then branches back for the heel and forward to the toes. Notice the foot does not sit FLAT on the ground plane..there's an arch between the toe pads and the heel pad.

If the shoe fits...

A shoe is basically just a wrap for the basic foot shapes. Looking at pictures of shoes will give you ideas for styles. Here I chose a modified US Army Jungleboot. Make sure you make the Sole of the shoe go below where the bottom of the foot would be. There's about a 1/4 of an inch to 4" of rubber between the bottom of the foot and the bottom of the sole.

If your stuck...

Draw the foot first. That will give you a better idea on how to wrap the shoe around the foot form.

the Wedge

Notice how the foot is shaped like a rounded wedge the bend IN towards the body's center. The toes are also arced like the fingers of the hand...the middle toe is usually the longest.


The Instep

Okay, this foots a bit wide but you see the important structures. Everyone's seen foorptints in the sand. The heel and Ball of the foot are linked by the outside edge of the foot. The arch of the foot doesn't come into contact with the ground.


Mastering forms in perspective

Once you understand how a foot is put together you can start getting creative with action poses. Take a good look at those basic shapes I drew in step one and see if you can find them in this drawing to the left.

Practice Practice Practice!


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