Fantasy Art Storytelling Through Rhythm and Render

In this lesson, Patrick emphasizes the importance of storytelling in figure drawing, encouraging you to focus on narrative before style and technique. Using Rajiv’s “Perseus Betrayed” pose, he demonstrates how to lay in and build rhythm in your work while balancing contrast and highlights. You’ll continue refining your rendering skills as Patrick revisits an earlier Amanda drawing to demonstrate motifs and advanced techniques. By the end of this lesson, you’ll understand how to integrate story, rhythm, and rendering into a cohesive artistic expression.

This lesson belongs to Figure Drawing for Fantasy Art. In this 12-week course, renowned fantasy artist Patrick Jones will guide you through the essentials of fantasy figure drawing and its crucial role in his painting process. You will learn to capture dynamic gestures, simplify complex anatomy, and develop compelling characters that drive narrative art. Patrick will demonstrate how foundational drawing elements—structure, rhythm, and composition—directly influence his painting decisions, from color selection to lighting. Additionally, you’ll delve into bonus content on directing models for reference shoots, where Patrick shares his techniques for capturing emotion, action, and storytelling through live poses. By the end of this course, you’ll possess the skills to create powerful fantasy figures and bring them vividly to life.

Throughout this course, you’ll have access to the NMA community for feedback and critiques to improve your work as you progress.