kinsara:

kinsara:

A simple archery tutorial for all of you artists out there. Lately I’ve seen a lot of bad archery form in art, and even in stock used for reference, so please pass this tutorial on so that people can see it! Check the captions for information to go with the pictures.

Here is some extra advice on stance and draw:

Gripping the string: Modern form is to hold the string with your first three fingers, with the index finger placed over the arrow. You always use this if you have a “sight”, or a small circle to help you aim, on your bow. These weren’t developed until the 1900’s, so your character will probably not have one.

In movies, you might see archers “pinching” the bowstring to draw. This form is actually alright as well, but you have to have very strong hands to do it.

Form: If your form is good, you will probably be using the muscles in your back more than those in your arms. To maximize draw power, archers will keep their back and neck straight and chest up, but not puffed out. 

Anchor: This is very important, especially for barebow archers! The anchor is basically the point to which you draw back your arrow. The anchor will always be on the same side of the face as the hand drawing the bowstring. Most archers position their anchor somewhere along their jaw and almost never past their ear because this makes it hard to aim. Please don’t depict archers drawing their bowstrings too far away from their faces— not only is it impossible to aim this way, but if the bow isn’t drawn back far enough, the arrow won’t fly with enough force.

On a similar note, archers almost never tilt their bows sideways to shoot. I don’t know how this trope started but it’s incredibly difficult to shoot like that.

Posting again for the night crowd, this time with a couple of edits. Thanks for the advice from those who also do archery! Please keep passing this around for all the lovely artists to see <3