Warning: This post contains drawings of nude models for academic purposes.
I have been cranking out work lately. I guess that makes sense when I am enrolled in more studio classes at once than ever before. The class that turns out finished drawings most rapidly is figure drawing, because for 3 hours, twice a week, we make finished pencil or charcoal drawings of the nude figure. Below I have two examples of such drawings. These two were done in graphite. We had about 2 hours to work on these. The first one uses line to define the figure and suggest form, while the second one starts to work tone into the drawing. I like working from the figure, and have always been pretty good at balancing the figures so that they look like they have some weight to them. The real challenge when drawing the figure under a time constraint is getting all the proportions correct. It takes a lot of time to measure everything, but the quick gesture is an invaluable way to get yourself started on the right track.
I feel like I have already gotten better at measuring the figure without even trying. I’m seeing editing distances automatically, which saves me a lot of time and allows me the chance to develop the line and tone within the two hours that we have to draw. Two hours might seem like a lot of time, but it really isn’t. I wouldn’t say that the time goes by quickly, more like it just takes a really long time to do a well-developed drawing. There’s a lot of pay attention to, afterall! The human figure is a very complicated thing to try and understand.
I’ll be posting a lot of work from this class, so be on the look-out.
