Project 3, Form

Ex.1 – Basic Shapes

Initially I wanted to explore the idea of seeing the body in ‘simple basic shapes’, as suggested in our course literature.

Having looked through a range of my own Drawing the Human Figure art books this concept of drawing the human body using basic shapes reappears in many of them. Aristides says the ‘…the key to creating volume in a drawing is to clearly express the height, width and depth of the figure. One way… is to treat the head, rib cage and pelvis as simple blocks that can be tipped and tilted in space…[these] purely practice forms… help us see the planes of the body’ (p54).

I followed some of the exercises she suggests within this book. One particularly interesting aspect I was not aware of in this was that according again to Aristides, ‘…in a normal standing posture, the rib cage and pelvis tip away from each other’ (p56).

In this second page I looked at an images of models for myself and tried to draw in the ‘basic shapes’ first. The black body outlines were overlaid. It was a challenging exercise to work out how the shapes worked in 3D. I could see where the 2D shapes were within the figures, but working out how to create the correct 3D angles, and the tilts of the body and pelvis, were much more challenging than I had anticipated. This technique gives me an added assessment tool to use when first look at a model, and then to be aware of as I constantly review my drawing-in-progress and also when I review the drawing again when it is completed.

Knowing that I had a limited time with my model I began by drawing her quickly. I used her head height as a unit of measure and repeatedly checked and double checked as I drew. I marked in the angles of the shoulders, the pelvis, the waist, and the centre line and tried to be aware of relationships between different parts of the body, and negative spaces, angles etc.

I got the scale really wrong on this first attempt with much of the key parts of the drawing ‘falling off’ the page. The head is too big relative to the body and neither the body nor the legs are long enough. It was a revelation to find that drawing a model you don’t know, as in a life class, is very different from drawing a family member in your own home who you care very much for. I was much more nervous and self-conscious, and also felt I did not want to disappoint my model.

I started drawing the figure, but then found it difficult to work out where the chair should be and found that I was compromising some of the angles of the chair to try to make it look visually correct. This drawing does not capture the twist in my models body either.

I found my inadequate drawing caused me to feel embarrassed to share the drawing with my model, and made me reluctant to ask her to pose for me again. I wanted to attempt a much more successful second drawing but knew now I would have to attempt this with photos for reference.

By this time my model was tiring and finding the twisted seated position harder to maintain than she had anticipated.

I took some photographs of my model from all directions and a variety of view points. I wanted to try and rework this image from a photograph, starting with the seat and ‘setting the stage’ for the model to sit on, thinking this would also help me with relationships between the model and her setting and the relative scale and inter-relationships of all aspects of the drawing.

I drew first with a red Derwent inktense pencil and then overdrew it with a purple, blending with water as I progressed. Although it is a good likeness of her in general, I felt her leg lengths were a little too short, despite the foreshortening as the body twisted away.

I decided to redraw it again, hoping that my familiarity now with this third version would make for a stronger drawing. This picture shows the planning lines and checks as the drawing progressed.

I completed this just using an orange Derwent inktense pencil which I then wet. Unfortunately I had used a thinner, less absorbant paper than I should have and the paper has buckled around her elbow. It meant any intention of adding a darker layer on top had to be abandoned.

I do feel this version has captured more of the ‘twist’ in the sitting position.

I then wanted to explore the ‘basic shapes’ of some of these poses and see if I could identify how they would apply to this seated positon to help continue to develop my understanding of representing the 3D model more effectively. I did find this exercise useful to complete in hindsight, especially in considering the ‘tilts’ of some of the 3D shapes, and how this can make something look a little more dynamic. The fourth version where the long legs appear to come towards us, shows a good example of foreshortening, and seems to be particularly effective rendered like this. Even with the few simple lines there is the essence of a ‘twist’ and attitude in the pose.

References:

ARISTIDES, J (2019), ‘Figure Drawing Atelier’, Monacelli Press, New York

Ex.2 – Essential Elements

Draw a sequence of poses with the light just hitting one side of the model…

What was really interesting about this exercise that we did in our Life Drawing classes was that it was done on a dark evening, and the only available light was the one on the model. When the overhead lights were first put out, we were surprised just how dark our drawing table became, and wondered if we would be able to work in such low light conditions.

To add a greater personal challenge, I had lost my varifocal glasses on my walk with our puppy earlier in the morning. I really do need them for anything to see anything within a two metre range particularly! Consequently, this meant that additionally my close up vision was very much reduced. However, quite amazingly, after an initial burst of anxiety about the prospect of undertaking this task, I came to a state of ‘lets just see what happens’.

The A2 and A3 poses were about 15-18 minutes duration and we were encouraged to use a combination of sepia ink, water, brush and a stick, charcoal and some hard brown pastels.

I was keen to indicate background in these images after one of the earlier exercises. The cast shadows brought an additional interesting dimension to them.

I loved how the directed light really helped me to see the forms of musculature and skeleton differently and with more clarity. Our model was a tall, long-limbed willowy young lady. This particularly helped to suggest skeletal forms. I think this helps to indicate the form more effectively.

Of course, not being wholly able to see what I was drawing meant that it was hard to differentiate the tones I was applying. As the drawing progressed, I recognised where tones needed to be darker. The poor light meant I was ‘stabbing in the dark’ with my mark making on top of already dark tones. However, I was really pleased with how loose, fluid and expressive these lines proved to be.

The model was set against a white background. I wanted to try and create the edge of lit surfaces of her body, without being dependant on line. I used a darker, contrasting tone in the background to help the highlighted form stand out and be more defined. I made these areas darker than they were in life.

In this drawing I was quite sure I had spoiled it by going too far and making the ink I was applying too strong and using too much of it. The brush was also a big chunky one which meant the mark making from it was going to be quite bold and possibly harsh. It was also hard to recognise the strength of the ink that was on the brush before applying it to the evolving drawing. Nonetheless, for the sake of ‘experimentation’ I drew over it with compressed charcoal. It is a new discovery how this medium works when painted over with water, and I really like it. However, it wasn’t until the overhead lights were put on, that I recognised that these tones and their application have worked well in this.

Whilst this first drawing of this lying down pose took about 15 minutes, the second, brown, hard pastel drawing was one squeezed in in the last 5 minutes of the class. Having drawn the figure once helped compose the second sketch. I was also excited to discover the brown hard pastels respond well to an addition of a water wash. I am keen to experiment further with these, and have ordered some.

For each of these drawings I was conscious to look for the central axis was as I drew, and in drawing 3, the line can still be seen in the figure.

I prefer this third drawing because the range of tones feel more dynamic, and where they ‘fell’ does help recreate the posture and give a sense of form. The combination of the compressed charcoal and water is very effective for this context. I do believe that I would never have made such bold ‘scribble’ marks on my drawing if I had my glasses and if the light to see my drawing had been better. Maybe I should further experiment by not wearing my new glasses once I have got them, and working in lower light conditions at times!

Ex. 3 Stance

When I saw the model adopt this pose on Croquis Café, I really liked it and was keen to draw it. Before starting I did take note of the line of balance and how her left heel aligned with her head. I used her head as a measurement to plot the rest of her body. This drawing took about 20 minutes. I chose to use nitram charcoal on a smooth card, but was disappointed to discover that it didn’t really adhere to the paper and I could not get any dark tones. I do like it as a preliminary sketch and I would be keen to work up this image perhaps in a later exercise, using media that worked better together.

This second sketch is a timed 5 minute drawing made with compressed charcoal on a rough buff paper. The firs mark I made was the central line of balance, again running from her head to the heel of her right foot.

Before setting the 5 minute timer, I did use her head height as a measurement and plot those marks on the paper. As I drew I was conscious of relating and checking each part of her body angles to other parts to try and get limbs in the right position and the right length. I find standing life drawings are often harder to do as it is harder to find these relationships and angles and there are often less negative spaces to help create the form.

For the third drawing I wasn’t sure what media to use. I have a wide range of charcoal-like materials and conte-crayons but wanted to use a dark compressed charcoal that would work with water, and create wonderful darks where needed, like I had used in my last Life Drawing class. Not sure which of the materials would achieve this effect I wanted to do some quick experiments. Rather than just making indiscriminate marks on paper, I had a magazine photo infront of me that I used as inspiration. I thought it would also continue to help loosen my drawing style up. Working quickly, and spending no more than 5 minutes on each sketch, I was determined to focus on the media than any particular likeness.  Disappointingly, none of the media achieved the effect I was after which really puzzled me as some of these materials are also called ‘compressed charcoal’. However, in this third whole body figure drawing, which took about 10 minutes, I wanted to try to create tone and highlights so opted for nitram charcoal and chalk.

Again the centre line was the first mark I put in. I double checked and plotted the head height body ratio. The dark tones are not as dramatic as I was hoping for, so I still need to find the way to achieve this for these quick drawings as this unit continues.

However, for the last set of quick drawings in this exercise, I wanted to include several figures in quite similar poses and I also wanted to use a male model using different media altogether. I was keen to try some ‘instant’ brush work and see how this would work.

I drew two three minute sketches for each background figure (4 altogether) in two colours of pencils for each of the figures in Derwent Inktense pencils. The ink drawing on top was applied with a brush and took 5 minutes. It also intentionally lifted some of the watercolour inktense pencils underneath in an attempt to unite the imagery created by the drawings.

Whilst I did not draw any centre lines in for any of these sketches of the man, I did briefly stop and look at the figure for a few moments before beginning to draw to consider where the line of balance would be for each version of the figure. For all of them the line went very firmly between his spread legs. For these drawings I did not use the head as a measurement at all, I just ‘went for it’. I think the proportions are reasonably accurate.

The model was of Asian heritage and was not overly tall, but was fairly stocky and very muscular.

I did find that having drawn some warm up Figuary/Croquis Café sketches and a few large sketches on the same day, prior to working towards these male drawings, that I was more comfortable and willing to just get on and try to draw this without any preparation other than a few moments to look at the model first.  I think the lines and mark making are more fluid because of this.

Ex. 4, Energy

These A1 drawings were done in my Life Drawing class. In the first, the model constantly moved and then when the instructor said, she stood still in that position for about a minute and then moved again. This was repeated a couple of times. It did mean that there was no complete figure rendered, just the suggestion of some. We were also encouraged just to keep our eyes on the model as they moved and not to look at our paper. I did keep to this until the model paused for us to draw them more completely.

The second exercise was similar, although when the model was asked to stop, it was for a longer period of around 4 or 5 minutes. It allowed me to complete a whole figure.

The purpose of this exercise at the start of the lesson is to physically warm up and loosen up our drawing style and to help tune ourselves into the proportions of the models. It is a really effective exercise as long as the model moves slowly enough whilst moving, and the exercise doesn’t go on for longer than necessary. Of course, it was also a practical way of helping the model relax into the class environment. It also results in a pose that the model would not chose themselves, it just captures a pose mid-movement, which allows for more spontaneity for the artist.

The next poses were drawn directly with a brush and palette ink permanent watercolours. Every brushstroke counted and was not changeable once applied. These are drawn on A3 white card. Each pose was just a 5 minute pose, so they were drawn very quickly, the initial marks invariably being made looking only at the model, and not the marks that were being made, as in the previous exercises. Then, once the initial marks are made there are repetitive good looks at the model to determine the angle of each brushmark before it is made.

In this first drawing of the girl perched on the little stool, the first mark I made was her arm. My brush was overloaded with paint and it came out much darker than I would have liked. However, there is more control with the application of ink for the remaining marks. The stool is hinted at in a lighter wash.

For the second drawing, the line of movement was the first mark made. Again, this was much darker than I had intended but it did help me as the drawing progressed. There was sufficient time to indicate the essence of a shadow to help contextualise the image a little. This feels a very dynamic pose, and I think the presence of the ‘through line’ helps add to that sense.

I had intended ‘grounding’ the third figure so the viewer would know what way up the drawing was intended to be, but I ran out of time. I was pleased with the variety of line widths and even broken lines, achieved in this drawing to highlight where the bright light fell on her body.

The requirements of this exercise of a model holding still for ‘5 minutes’, against making ‘lines repeated and close [to] give the impression of movement’ seems like an oxymoron. However, the first two drawings do certainly suggest movement and the last three are of a model in a ‘dynamic’ position, as asked. I know there are subsequent exercises that look more specifically at representing moving models so I am happy that the challenges of representing a moving model will be more completely addressed through those future exercises.