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I have next to no experience drawing figures, as the output from last night’s participation in the life drawing exercise can attest. But, rock bottom makes a great baseline from where to improve! My goal is to improve my ability to draw lively human figures that have realistic proportions. I will focus on line work rather than rendering, as that seems to be the foundation.I just started watching the “Fundamentals of Figure Drawing Workshop” with Steve Huston, so hopefully that will point me in the right direction.
My goal is to invest at least 15 minutes daily (at least, 5 times a week) to sketch figures from reference pictures, and to take advantage of live drawing opportunities as they present themselves.
Day 1. Used one of the Jennifer reference photos. First focus on gesture resulted in a torso that was too long. The legs and lower torso were rather easy, but the head and shoulders with shortened upper arm gave me some trouble. I think the head is too big. Initially I didn’t want to add any shadows, but without them, the legs seemed rather two dimensional. Off to watch some more lectures!
Ugh I don’t really want to post today’s sketches… I switched to the Beginning Figure Drawing course away from the workshop, as the workshop didn’t seem to offer enough specifics or exercises. I did two sketches, twice – once in a timed attempt of 5 minutes each, before I watched all the relevant lectures, and then untimed, after the lectures. The timed exercise left me a bit panicked, and I have no idea where the time actually went – thinking about my plan of attack, I think. I got too far into the details on the second attempt while perhaps not focusing enough on the essential. Tomorrow is another day
Hi, Vera,
These are not bad. I think maybe you’re too hard on yourself. As you say, if you’re starting from scratch, you have nowhere to go but up. I think the timed exercises are good at building the discipline to look for the gesture line and the main shapes first. But, once you get in the habit of doing that, the “timed” aspect isn’t as important. This is what most of the instructors say. I look forward to watching your progress in all things art! 🙂
Day 3. Making peace with the fact that this is supposed to be a learning environment and not Instagram. (There is is this part in me screaming “it’s not finished!!!”) No eraser today. Sketched some poses with 5 minute time limit, just going with the main curves I saw. Then, watched Steve’s approach, and then sketched some poses without time limit, this time exploring the geometric forms underneath, and finding enjoyment in the processDay 4 Watched the head and torso lectures and did some sketches around that. Only posting the best two of the evening. I need to sharpen my pencil.
Day 5. I’ve switched course yet again – Steve’s new anatomy course. Love that the exercises are more frequent, and like the reminders to draw along. It always takes me a few poses to get into the groove (today’s space aliens not depicted). Feel like I need to get a better handle on form and proportions
I know what you mean when you said it takes a few attempts to get into the groove. Have you tried the daily sketch session in the image section? It seems like it would be a good warm up.
@ianball58 thanks for mentioning the daily sketch! I wasn’t aware of that feature.
Day 6 Feeling a bit frustrated with the lessons. Not sure I’m able to translate any of it into results. Did some of the shape warmup exercises and was reasonably content with those. But when it comes to trying to capture the shapes of a figure, 2 minutes disappear in a snap. I draw slowly and hesitantly. My proportions are wonky – I’d feel better if I had some guidelines setting bounds for proportions I think
Day 7. Oh the emotional stages of following an art challenge! I’ve to the conclusion I need to relax, cut myself some slack, trust the process and drop this performance anxiety. It’s funny, really, these desires: “I want instant results! I want to be able to draw a master figure within 5 minutes!”. I participated in today’s live drawing session, and it made me feel better to see Vilppu’s 2 minute sketches – not complete, not always “life like” on first try. He made a comment about proportions, that it comes down to sight drawing. I think daily form drawing and sketching would do me good. He also said many beginners draw their initial lines too thickly. Guilty.
Day 8. Felt stagnated doing a similar practice for a week, so changed it up a bit. Did some dynamic sketches of my boyfriend as he moved about the house, and then did some form sketches. Switched to ballpoint pen today for quicker line moves and to eliminate any idea of preciousness or perfection
Still day 8. Rewatching some chapters from the first lesson; sketching along, taking notes. I was so impatient, looking for “the big reveal”; the trick that would unlock my abilities. But I think progress will be subtle; two steps forward, one step back, and that’s OK.
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