You know what I say when someone tells me they “can’t” draw?
Pshaw.
Even those who’ve yet to discover the transformative effects of Lynda Barry’s wonderfully corrective Picture This know how to draw something. Very few children make it to adulthood without picking up some simple geometric formula by which a series of ovals, rectangles and lines can be configured to resemble a doggie head or a brave astride his cantering pony.
A couple thousand renderings later, such magic still satisfies, but you might want to consider branching out. May I recommend the teachings of artist and visual storyteller, Karl Gude? This laid-back former Director of Information Graphics at Newsweek can – and will! – teach you how to draw “great butts” with just five lines.
Gude’s command of posterior essentials is downright heady. (I say this as a former artist’s model whose rear end has been misrepresented on paper more times than I’d care to mention.) Who knew that capturing this part of human anatomy could prove so simple? Gude’s easygoing online instruction style may be traceable to some sort of adult beverage (I’m not casting stones…), but his methods are easy enough for a child to master.
Speaking of which, if you want to make a friend for life, share the above video with an actual child, preferably one who claims he or she “can’t” draw. Put a Sharpie in his or her paw, and within five minutes, Gude will have the little twerp cranking out butts of all shapes and sizes. After which, pride of accomplishment may well lead to some of Gude’s more advanced tutorials, like the detailed human eye seen below.
If that proves too challenging, there’s no shame in sticking with the glutes. To my way of thinking, the mindset that allows the artist to keep going when his pencil snaps mid-demonstration is lesson enough.
Related Content:
Join Cartoonist Lynda Barry for a University-Level Course on Doodling and Neuroscience
Saul Bass’ Advice for Designers: Learn to Draw, and Create Beauty Even If Nobody Else Cares
The Anatomical Drawings of Renaissance Man, Leonardo da Vinci
Clever Animation Brings Figure Drawings to Life
Ayun Halliday‘s personal motto is Dare to Be Heinie. Follow her @AyunHalliday
Forgot to mention that Karl invites you to scan and share by tweeting with the tag #DRAWABUTT