Tips and Tricks: Feet

How to Draw Manga! Feet Introduction

Like hands, feet are an important part of drawing a full body of any character. Whether the feet are in shoes or just free the basic shape of a foot can vary for any given person. The anatomy of the foot is the same, but the shape, width and length varies. Even toe length can be variable of each foot!
See Tips and Tricks: Hands

Basics

Feet, like hands are also are made up of segments, muscles and skin over the bones. Feet have a basic blockish shape that is then used to form the circle model of the shapes a little more. This is shown the in the following example, using these basic shapes help define the aspects of the foot. Toes whilst not as expressive as fingers can splay out in a similar manner and the amount of variation in individuals comes down to their toe shapes and the height of their arch.
The size of the contact points the foot makes with the ground varies from person to person, as a result foot prints can vary greatly between people. Use the vast number of tutorials and feet studies to help define your characters foot step and foot shape. A foot is typically the same in length (heel to tip of the longest toe) of the crook of the elbow to the base of the palm (try it out!). As children get taller their feet get longer and in some cases also wider. Here are some example tutorials and studies on this subject that explain in greater detail:

Feet in Perspective

Like hands feet can be used as part of perspective. Their shape and form change based on how much the foot is being flexed. Your character may be leaning back on their heels, shifting their weight back or they could be balancing on the tips of their toes or standing up to reach that tall shelf on the balls of their feet. When flexing the front of the foot, the inner arch can become elongated and make the foot seem taller as a result of stretching. Here are just a small selection of examples of feet in different positions:

Shoes

Shoes come in as many varieties as a hat would. To add shoes to your character, outline their foot shape and perspective then design the shoe based on the generic shape of the foot and experiment from there. Some considerations are that sandals and ugg boots tend to make characters drag and shuffle their feet, whilst heels boots and heavier shoes force the user to lift their foot a little more. Another consideration is that high heeled shoes generally make the character stand on the balls of their feet and not their toes. This also creates tension in the character's calf muscle.
Do consider your character's action and their shoes; if they are walking all day, their shoes are likely more flat soled, covered and have some kind of support to make the constant movement less awkward. Here are just some of the fantastic tutorials and examples of shoes:

Video Tutorials

Stock Resources

Here are some of the excellent feet and shoes stock that is found on deviant art. Don't forget to credit the stock provider and follow their terms of use when using their work!


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