Figure Drawing

Facility in drawing the human figure is like any other skill that an artist needs--it takes directed and self-critical practice. My own practice has involved daily drawing or sketching of various subjects in rotation, so that recently it came back to figures. As part of my daily routine my digital work lately has explored facial expressions and figures. Part of the exploration has been to use a three-value system which is basically a near-black, a middle value background and white for lights and highlights. Doing these digitally facilitates that system and makes for less fuss and quicker results.

I chose this figure (right) for the motion and the pose. The real purpose of most of these drawings was to study figures in motion. Nonetheless I worked hard on line and hatching as well. The first figure here is a ballet dancer in her studio. The most interesting aspect of her figure for me was the lower legs and feet and her up swept arms. I wanted the drawing to show grace and imply movement.

In the figure drawing on the left my purpose was study of the model's bulky muscle groups. In this particular image the model was posed for a figure drawing session. Some artists mostly use photos for practice rather than live models, given the cost of professionals. But many do use models when a specific pose and lighting are called for. This model is clearly a bodybuilder.

The next drawing is a posed model whom I saw on an art video. The things that attracted me most about this pose were the overlapping arms and the light and dark patterns on the torso. In the other digital drawings above I used a dark and warm color for the line work and hatching, one against a warm background and one against a cooler and darker blue-grey. The contrast makes for a considerably different effect. In this sketch the line work is done with a cool dark color in the same family as the background, which deepens the values.

Finally, this pose of another bodybuilder (left) is from a photo set for artists. He is seated on a stool covered by a cloth so that it resembles a boulder. The play of light across his torso and legs was critical to rendering the form as accurately as possible.

Anyone who wants to extend their skills and facility in figure drawing--or any drawing for that matter--should remember that masters of the past worked very hard to perfect their skills. Daily practice helps a lot.


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