To Pie (and Dorki if possible)! How in the world do you draw hoodies so well??? I tried and just can't do it to save my life!!!
I’m actually not entirely happy with how I draw hoodies, so I’m glad you think I draw them well! I’ll try to explain my process a bit. I don’t always follow these steps in this exact way every time, but for the sake of a small tutorial, this will work. I’m not sure if you want me to get into every part of a hoodie, but I’m just going to focus on the hood, since that’s the hardest part.
First off, let’s start with the character who will be wearing the hoodie. My lovely model shall be Goner.
You don’t actually have to draw the top of the head or shoulders, since they’ll be blocked by the hood, but if you don’t mind erasing, it may help. The first step is the lines above the face and on either side of the neck. I try to make the curves not too round, but not too angular.
Next, add two more curved lines (not too round, not too straight). Their lower ends touch the lines on either side of the neck; they pass around the hood line above the face without connecting to it. I tend to have trouble getting them to look right the first try, so don’t worry if you need to rework them a little. Also, where these new lines connect to the lines around the neck, add two more lines going down.
Now comes the top of the hood, which connects to the top of the lines that form the sides. It should be slightly higher than the top of the head. Once again, I try not to make it too round. While it looks simple enough, this part also tends to give me a bit of trouble (but I am a perfectionist, so I have trouble making lots of things look right to me). Recently, I’ve also been adding lines on the inside of the hood, from the bottom toward the lines beside the face, but they do not connect.
Finally, add a few small lines for depth/folds, and you can move on to the rest of the hoodie. Details like pockets, strings and zippers really depend on style and preference. I draw them differently depending on the character.
Of course, it would look different at other angles, but I don’t really want to get into that. And so concludes my probably horrible tutorial. Sorry if I didn’t explain things well. I’m pretty bad at explaining things in general.
My advice would be (and this goes for anything, not just hoodies) to find drawings and/or photographs of what you want to draw and study them. Practice drawing it the way other artists do, and in the case of photographs, draw what you see, not what you think it looks like—that is, look closely, and don’t just draw it the way your mind says you should (wow, the graphic design teacher I had back in high school explained this way better than I can). Maybe start by tracing or copying drawings/photographs (as long as you don’t try to pass it off as your own original work)—imitation can help you learn and develop your own style.
If you look back through AGS, even though I haven’t gotten far in it yet, you’ll notice that I’ve been changing how I draw Goner’s hood. I’m still trying to improve on it. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try making adjustments. If it doesn’t look good, you’ll learn how not to draw it. Or maybe you just need to practice drawing it that way.
As much as this advice is thrown around, the surest way to improve is with practice. I’ve only gotten to this level after years of drawing.
Okay, I’ll stop there, before I ramble any more. I hope this helps at least a bit!
