Issue 49 - Drawing people is so hard!
graphic recorder club is a go go, drawing people, and career paths
Drawing people… why does it feel so hard!!?!
One of the areas many of you struggle with is drawing people. Let’s face it people are complicated; not one of us is the same as the other and as a graphic recorder we know we don’t have a lot of time. If like me you’re also passionate about NOT filling our graphics with lots of bald headed white dudes, then I understand why it can feel tough.
In this month’s issue I want to share my thinking about drawing people in a live session, and hopefully you’ll find this helpful in your practice.
Let’s start with a couple of common things I hear:
Can I just skip drawing people?
Yep, if you really want to, but typically PEOPLE are a huge part of most jobs and including them can have real benefits:
They’re the audience - drawing people helps build a stronger connection to the visual
They’re the participants - drawing the people who are part of the conversation makes the event more memorable. It also makes the people in the room feel heard and valued
More connection = content that is easier to retain and recall after the event
I don’t want to offend people
A quick bit of googling can give you some good reference pictures if you need them. I’ll do a bigger focus on drawing inclusively another day, but for now remember:
By including different types of people in your drawing you allow more people in the room to feel connected to your work
Drawing bald white male looking characters is not neutral
You’re not expected to know everything, or how to draw everything, so make research a regular part of your practice
I don’t have the time (or skill) to draw real people!
Not a problem. Hopefully I can reassure you there are lots of different ways to draw people. Drawing people is tricky and the first few times you try what comes out of your pen will not be what you want, but push through the discomfort, keep trying and once you have something you like keep practising so that you build your muscle memory.
Let me show you a real world example
This is 1 day of a live graphic recording. I’m using my iPad, Pencil + Procreate app.
The event was attended by about 120 people
The topic was about issues impacting communities
Below, I’ve highlighted the people so that you can have a sense of how often people appear on this one page. The number of people varies with each job, but for a mid-sized event where the subject is people-focussed this one feels typical to me.
People, or groups of people, appear 17 times
All of the different ways of drawing people can appear on the same page, and you can mix and match your approach depending on how much time you have and what will best serve the content.
Here is my people pick and mix: 9 different types of people that you’ll find in my graphic (starting top left and heading > right):
Pen portrait - the main person of the day. I don’t always include one but on this occasion it made sense. This person looks recognisably like the real person, but you can see the drawing is very simple.
Person in the room - I like to reference people in the room when I can. You can see this is a quick simple draw but I have included a detail (in this case the head covering) that is particular to the person.
Anonymous groups - I’ve drawn these people with their back to me because it’s quicker. You can see that each person is different and that makes it feel real. People in the room would be able to think I drew them, even though I didn’t.
Simple detail person - This person has clothes on, hair, a nose but have a close look and see how simple this is to draw.
Simple shape person - This person is just a blob, very easy to do, but you can see I have the shape of hair, the shape of clothes, the shape of hands. I also have added the HEART shape, not because it’s what I could see, but because it conveys a meaning.
Simple shape person V2 - Here is another example of this type of person without the extra addition of the HEART.
Simple shape groups - Now I have a group of simple shape people. Compare it with the anonymous group above and you can see how little detail I’ve included here, but still every character feels individual.
People parts - it’s easy to forget that people can be represented by body parts…just a hand, just a foot, just an arm… these simplifications still bring PEOPLE to the page.
Photo people - you can see here I’ve included a photo that I took of the day, which is something I like to do for busy events to capture the vibe of the room. Make sure you have permission to do this.
Now you’ve seen the examples, grab your visual dictionary and have a go yourself!
If you like this type of exploration then you’re going to want to join the graphic recorder club where deep dives and step by step tutorials on how to draw characters are just one example of content coming sooooooon.
Career paths - hear mine on the Twwork podcast
A couple of months ago I was asked to be on a careers podcast to talk about being a Graphic Recorder. Of course I said yes… being a Graphic Recorder can be such an amazing career and yet so many talented creative folk out there have no idea that it’s a path they could jump on to. If you want to hear about the weendy-windy path I forged to end up working as a professional Graphic Recorder, then you can head to the episode here.
How to draw a not so terrible Hijabi
If you’ve been on one of my courses you know how important I think drawing diversely is, so as this issue is focused on PEOPLE I wanted to share a link to this brilliant post How To Draw A Not So Terrible Hijabi from Mona Chalabi (if you’re not familiar with her work then do check it out).
graphic recorder club
The first rule of graphic recorder club is we must talk about it. But not here, because we’re going to send an email about it shortly.
Technically you can already upgrade your Visual Edit subscription to a paid one on Substack, which is how you get club membership. We’re doing a launch offer in the hope of enough people joining us early doors that we don’t look like billie-no-mates at the school disco (again).
Join in May 2025 for just £6 a month or £60 a year for the first 12 months of membership.
Bulletin Board
If you have any relevant visual thinking news you’d like us to share, email Natasha at support@graphicchange.com
I’m currently applying for an Arts Council England Grant for a potential exciting new visual journalism project, and learning a lot in the process about the application process. I’ll let you know how I get on🤞
May 12-18 is National Stationery Week in the UK. I don’t need an excuse to put in a stationery order, but (English brand) Diamine inks have launched Forever Ink, which is waterproof and fountain pen safe (many waterproof inks block up ordinary fountain pens). So I’m looking forward to exploring drawing more with these with watercolours over the top as part of my visual journalism experiments:
If you’re also a stationery nerd we have an affiliate link with Cult Pens, which gets you 10% discount off your first order. You’re welcome.
At the Graphic Change Academy the first cohort of this year’s students are nearly finished. I love seeing the progress people make, not just in their graphicking/facilitating practice, but (maybe more importantly) in their confidence and their view of what they are capable of.
We’ll soon be gearing up for the summer term (winter in the southern hemisphere), so if you want to join us check out our 12 week online courses with me as your friendly and supportive coach:
Be a Graphic Recorder and Be a Graphic Facilitator
