Week Starting 1st Feb – Figure Drawing Part 1

Last week we looked at some tools to help us begin figure drawing at home. This week we will look at figure drawing in more depth and consider how we approach it.

Why figure drawing?

There is no correct way to approach figure drawing. For the moment we will look at some warm up exercises to help when drawing the human figure and getting body proportions right, but your ultimate aim will probably not be just to create an anatomically convincing drawing. If you are drawing a portrait for example, you might be looking to capture something of the character of that person. This requires more than just technical skills and observing measurements. It is clearly useful to understand the human anatomy, but that is a larger subject that we can tackle now.

In previous sessions we have looked at some basic drawing exercises. Now is a good time to review several of these, particularly gesture drawing. Creating quick sketches of a figure allows us to practise putting down on paper the general proportions of the figure and capture the pose. Not only is it a good warmup exercise, but it can also give us a framework to begin a more detailed drawing. It is preferable that we have captured the general proportions to start with, rather than jumping into a detailed drawing which falls apart later on as proportions begin to go awry.

Depending upon the time of the pose, you could try the following exercises.

15 – 30 Second pose. Stick figure.

30 – 60 Second pose. Silhouette.

30 – 60 Second. Searching line.

1 – 2 Minute. Organic line.

3 Minute. Contour line with tone.

5 – 10 Minute. For longer studies, suggested exercises include: Anatomical gesture. Manikin. Toned paper.

To help get proportions correct you can use the pencil or brush as a measuring tool (or some other straight object). You can also use it as a plumb line.

It is quite common to start by drawing the basic shape of the head and then filling in the other proportions. Maybe checking the angle of the collar bone. It may help to draw a centre line following the curve of the body. It is a good idea to build up the various parts of the body simultaneously. Some different approaches to starting a figure drawing can be found here.