Composite’s 100 Days of Figure Drawing

[Composite]

Day 48. I began by drawing objects in 3D space to exercise my imagination. I then did a 25-minute figure drawing session with model Jean.

I aimed for clean lines, intending to express the essence of the gesture, trying to capture it’s character.

Also, I wanted to try my best to get my lines to work towards a common goal, which continues to be difficult for me. I think I need better control over my pencil to do this well.

Since I was going slowly, trying not to rush, trying to make the best possible quality lines I could, I didn’t end up being able to draw all that much of each figure.

I don’t like a messy look with zillions of lines, searching for something approximating the form. I want to think carefully about where I intend my line to go, then execute it cleanly and confidently. I’m still working on it!

I want so badly to be good at this. I will keep putting in my best effort every day to get there.

[Composite]

Day 49. I feel like I’m starting to see actual progress after doing this for a while! There’s a couple of these that turned out relatively well (compared to usual)!

[Composite]

Also day 49: I decided to do another 25-minute session because I liked how the first one went.
I think I draw much better when I’ve had a good day.

[Composite]

Day 50. I redrew the same poses as day 1. I think there’s somewhat of an improvement overall, but still a long way to go. I’ll try this again on day 100.

[Composite]

Day 51. I’m finding describing form in the 5-minute sketches to be difficult, so it’s something for me to work on. Anyway, more bad drawings down.

[Composite]

Day 52. I’ve lapsed in my commitment, no figure drawings for almost two weeks, and I want to get back on track. It’s all too easy to make excuses to myself, but that doesn’t produce drawing experience.

[Composite]

Day 53. I want 2022 to be a “year of drawing”. I want to see how far I can get by dedicating myself seriously to learning art. I will track my total time, but I know it’s more about the quality of my drawing than just hours alone. 10 minutes of very careful drawing is better than 60 minutes of mindless mark-making.

I’ll be trying to complete the Beginner’s Guide to Drawing as well as finishing off my 100 day figure drawing challenge. I’m not sure if I was really “ready” for figure drawing when I began, and I there’s other, very important skills I need in order to do better figure drawings.

Regardless, I will continue the commitment I began in 2021 and do my absolute best! I really want to see how far I can go in 2022!

[Kevin Dobler]

Hey composite, I just went through all of your pages of drawings and I think you’ve got some great progress happening.

I’ve got a few comments that you can take or leave, but I know it’s rough to not get a lot of feedback. I’m a “professional” artist but no where near the instructors on the site so definitely follow the videos.

The two main “problems” I see are your general proportions and anatomy, and the way you are using the cross-contour lines.

The main growth I see is in your mark making and overall artistic ability. It seems as if you are feeling frustrated with your ability but there are some definite jumps in quality over this challenge.Some key examples I saw were:

On day 21 where you said you were going to try to be more intentional with your cross contour lines. From that point on the difference is notable.

Day 26 the foreshortened arm of the third image. This has everything I suggested we’re problems – your arm anatomy and proportions are stronger, the cross contour lines define the form rather than just look like sketching.

Day 28 the middle figure on the third image is also a strong gestural figure

Day 51 1 minute pose. Very elegant drawing.

Day 53 5 minute on the second page. This is my favorite drawing of all the ones I see. It has a nice loose gesture, some really nice and varied mark making, and the fading in and out of focus of the drawing is nicely artistic.

Suggestions :

It looks to me like you are trying to draw what you know more than capture what you are observing. Try to spend as much (teachers say more, but I could never do that) time looking at the subject you are drawing as your paper. Compare the angles and lengths of the parts to one another. Focus on the negative spaces to help see the shapes. In 1 minute gestures it is tougher for most people. But I had a teacher early on who convinced me to start a drawing the same whether you have 30 seconds or 30 minutes. I always start a life drawing with the quick gesture, then it’s just refining till I run out of time. Again – if you are following a class that says otherwise ignore what I am saying, it’s just what has worked for me.

Cross contour doesn’t have to be the same throughout the stroke. Try varying the pressure, lightening up the stroke as you come to the highest point of the form. Or try using the angle of your pencil/charcoal to get a different quality as you move along the form.

Try and think as if you are running your pencil over the form with your cross contour lines. A leg isn’t just a cylinder for example, there are dips and rises in musculature that you can capture. It’s easier if you do the next suggestion.

Draw bigger, try to do only a single figure on a sheet of paper rather than cramming a series on one page. I know when you are starting out “wasting” paper like that hurts, but you will see improvements when you can draw more with your arm and shoulder than hand. Buy the cheapest paper you can find for these studies. In art schools the brown butcher paper is drawn on cause it’s dirt cheap and large.

Hope some of that helps and keep going on your challenge. It will definitely help, and the habit of daily drawing is a great one that I always wish I built up as a younger artist.

[Composite]

Hi Kevin, thank you so much for writing such detailed feedback and critique, I appreciate it very, very much! Thank you for spending the time to look through everything I’ve posted so far for my 100-day challenge. I looked at the pictures you mentioned to see your comments in context.

I would love to improve with my general proportions and anatomy, so I think I will try to keep those in mind. I feel like the problem I’m most aware of right now is an inability to describe 3D form in the level of clarity I want, so I want to focus on that. Keeping an eye for proportions will surely help me with the overall drawing too. I am interested in studying anatomy however I feel like I will get more out of studying it once I have a better grasp of describing 3D form in space.

I will keep your comments on my cross-contours in mind! I haven’t really thought about varying those lines or changing pressure or darkness, or varying the angle.

Drawing bigger is something I could definitely do! I have been trying to draw with my shoulder, and maybe that’s an obstacle to my accuracy when I’m drawing small. It’s difficult to make those fine movements when starting all the way back at my shoulder.

Thank you again for the comments, they are very much appreciated!

[Composite]

Day 54! It’s been 48 days since I did my last page of figure drawings, but that’s because I was doing the Beginner’s Guide to Drawing live class and putting all my time into that, so I didn’t have the time or energy for my 100-day challenge.

I’ll wait until the next batch of live classes starts before doing another one, as I was playing catch-up after starting the Beginner’s Guide too late, and I only *just* got the assignments submitted by the due date.

I would love to finish the 100 day challenge, and I’m over halfway, so I want to go for it!

Still such a long way to go (in terms of skill), but I’m just as keen as ever! 2022 is my “year of drawing”.

[PaulDidier]

Seeing a lot of progress in your figure sketches. Looking forward to following your progress!

[Composite]

Day 55! I am back. I went over to the USA for a while, and then my life got a derailed so I didn’t do much drawing, but now I’m doing Dynamic Sketching! That’s taking most of my drawing time, but I thought I might start warming up each day with a bit of figure drawing (again). I only have about one hour of usable drawing time per day, so I have to make the most of it.

Anyway, I am keen to finish this 100-day challenge! I’m not sure if I’ve made much improvement between my last post and now because I just haven’t done figure drawing, but I still want to get really good at this.

And thank you for your comment, Paul, I I’m glad you see it because I don’t *feel* much improved, but I will just keep going! I think skill is a function of time so even if I feel like I’m no good right now, I will just have to keep at it and push past the low-skill area and get more experience and level up.

 

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