Part 4 Project 4 Structure Exercise 2 Three Figure Drawings

For these three poses, I decided to use photographs of my daughter and her closest friend from university.

I tackled drawing the lying down pose first in my sketchbook trying to get a feel for the overall proportions. I fancied working big, so picked an A2 format for my final sketch. I smeared charcoal over the surface of the paper concentrating the darker smear in the area of the background that is darkest and the area of the figures chest which is in shadow. Using a 6B I lightly sketched in the general position and stance of the pose.

Fig. 1 Preliminary Sketch for lying down figure

Areas which needed tweaking were the position of the head and arms in relations to the angle of the feet. As I started with the feet and legs, I used the size of the feet to work out the relative positioning and proportions of the rest of the figure. There is still evidence of my needing to move the head and shoulders closer to the feet a few times before I was satisfied with their placement.
I used my eraser to pull of the highlights and worked the shadows in 6B pencil. I did not feel it necessary to add details to the foreground as I felt that this would make the sketch a bit cluttered and over-bearing. As cautioned in Drawing Projects “for is important to try and create an opportunity for the eye, whilst exploring the drawing, to discover, and make the metaphorical equivalent of ‘eye-mouth’ contact with it. Out of focus, and in focus areas of a drawing can be created, by giving more, or less attentions to selected parts of the drawing.”  (Mick Maslen and Jack Southern, 2014) I tried to do this in this sketch, not providing 100% of the information available.

Fig. 2 A2-size pencil and charcoal study

After this initial sketch, I read the WeAreOCA article on Susan Askew (Cowan, 21 June 2016). I absolutely love her use of mixed media and blue uni-ball pen. Once again, I am inspired to try to push beyond the confines of what I know. It is hard to determine at what stage this is appropriate when I am still trying to get my figural proportions.

I decided for this sketch to use mixed media: watercolor fine markers, watercolor pencils and various graphite pencils. I experimented a bit with working the markers in my sketchbook. I particularly liked combining the more permanent sharpie blue marker in the shirt with the water-based media. My first sketch did not turn out as I had hoped, so I cut this down and included it in my sketchbook. The final sketch I did has the pose interpreted correctly, but overall, I find this a rather forced and stilted drawing. My pencil sketch has a bit more personality and life to it.

Fig. 2 Preliminary Sketch

Fig. 4. Preliminary Sketch

Fig. 5 Final large study of seated figure

After this I tried to do some preliminary sketches of my daughter in a twisted standing pose. These sketches really did not convey the stance or movement in the gesture.

Fig. 6 Walking pose

As I felt dissatisfied with my ability to get vitality into my poses. I read on a fellow student's blog that she uses Croquis Café to simulate the life drawing experience. I have never really drawn nudes before, but decided to put my prudishness aside and to give it a try. I really love the structure of these drawing sessions. The one-minute poses forced me to concentrate on the main stance of the pose. Initially I was more caught up with the contours of the model, which surprisingly caused the pose to look unnatural and awkward. The more I tried to work with the time restrictions, the more I was able to focus on the main feeling of the stance and to get a better sense of the figure in space. I have often taught gesture drawings, but have often been stuck to contours.

After completing a session, I went back and repeated the exact same poses with the same time frames - a benefit of working with a computer life-drawing session. On my second time through, I was able to get more information down within the time frame and the figures are starting to look more feminine and curvaceous.

The following morning I once again complete a whole drawing session. With each session it seems to get better. I am not convinced that this is something I need to do on a regular basis if I am going to be able to get to the place where I am satisfied with the energy and marking making that captures the expression of the pose.