Figure Drawing
You will create a figure drawing from images of art models that I will supply. While students in college work from live models, you will be provided with printed reference materials, which contain tasteful artistic poses.
I believe this is an essential art project for many reasons.
1. Figure drawing is the traditional cornerstone of all art training and has been a staple of art education for more than 2000 years. The human figure is one of the most enduring themes in the visual arts and offers every challenge an artist could require -perspective, proportion and composition.
2. Working from the human figure is important preparation for college art courses, as well as careers in the visual arts. Figure drawing can be applied to animation, portraiture, cartooning and comic book illustration, sculpture, medical illustration, fashion design and many other fields that use depictions of the human form.
I believe this is an essential art project for many reasons.
1. Figure drawing is the traditional cornerstone of all art training and has been a staple of art education for more than 2000 years. The human figure is one of the most enduring themes in the visual arts and offers every challenge an artist could require -perspective, proportion and composition.
2. Working from the human figure is important preparation for college art courses, as well as careers in the visual arts. Figure drawing can be applied to animation, portraiture, cartooning and comic book illustration, sculpture, medical illustration, fashion design and many other fields that use depictions of the human form.
Life drawing classes in college often intimidate beginning artists. However, it’s only awkward until the minute your pencil touches the paper. Then it becomes an artistic exercise no different then drawing a still life of a bowl of fruit. You must concentrate on getting the angles correct, the proportions, shading etc. At that point the model is an amazing tool for learning how to draw. Life drawing classes teach far more than drawing from photographs and I encourage you to take them when you can.
Once students have mastered drawing the human form, it becomes so much easier to draw clothed figures. However, if the figure’s proportions are off, the piece will not work no matter how well the clothing is rendered. This is why students will do figure drawing and drape/fabric study before they’re ever asked to draw a clothed figure in an assignment.
Great Site to Practice Figure Drawing
An excellent Figure Drawing Timelapse video
Student Examples
Student Examples in Color
