Sketchnote Lab Live Replay: May 2026 - Foundations: Drawing People w/ Alejo Porras

A full video replay (for Lab Partners), where Alejo Porras and I taught how to draw people simply, with movement, fluidity, and dynamism. 20% off paid memberships!

Hey, I’m Mike Rohde, founder of Sketchnote Lab. I’m celebrating Summer arriving with 20% off paid Lab memberships through June 30, 2026.

Special link: sketchnotelab.com/summer20

Saturday's Drawing People session was a blast! We worked through how to draw people, starting with the simplest shapes, and then Alejo took it further, showing how to add gesture, movement, and energy to your figures. Attendees drew along live, which made for an active, hands-on session.

“It was a very helpful instruction session with Aleja Porras.
He should publish a book.” — Regine T.

A lot of information, but really well presented. Quite a few good ideas I can put into practice straight away. Thank you. — Fred Z.

Fun, helpful, and inspiring. Thank you! — Rebecca

Here’s a little taste of Alejo on what people get wrong about drawing:

What We Covered

• The 5 Basic Shapes for people - how squares, circles, triangles, lines, and dots are the building blocks of recognizable figures.

• Heads, bodies, and proportion — practical rules of thumb for getting figures to look right quickly, without overthinking.

• Live drawing demos — I walked through building figures step by step, from stick-figure basics to more structured forms.

• Movement and gesture with Alejo Porras — Alejo showed how to add fluidity and dynamism to figures, so they feel alive on the page rather than stiff or static.

Sketches from the session

Below are sketches I created during the session:

How to use the 5 Basic Shapes to create 3 simple types of people.

Dave Gray method, adding details, and exploring other poses.

Star People, proportions of people, and exaggeration of people intentionally.

Sketches from Alejo’s portion on dynamic people.

Here’s a sketchnote of the session by Jatin_infosketch you can see on Instagram:

Resources

• Alejo Porras on Substack

• Alejo’s Website

• Alejo on Instagram

• Lamy Studio Fountain Pen

• TWSBI Eco Fountain Pen

Watch the Full Video Replay

If you aren’t a Supporting or Founding Lab Partner, watch the full video recording by becoming a Lab Partner. You’ll also get access the Partner Vault that has recordings from evertthing I’ve done here from December 2024 onward.

Get 20% off paid Lab memberships through June 30, 2026.
sketchnotelab.com/summer20