This week I drew a figure from the brilliant animated Star Trek show “Prodigy”. I also worked on some fairly quick life drawings. I used a website called Quickposes which is really useful for this. These were done in 120 seconds…
This was done in 120 seconds too apart from the hair which I added afterwards…
I’ve worked on a number of methods for figure drawing but I find what works best is a mixture of two methods.
- The first is the method I use with every drawing of any kind – shapes. I simply draw the shapes I see, simplifying them at first and then putting in the finer details of the shape later. I start with the biggest shapes I can see and then fill in the details with smaller and smaller shapes. I really like this method because it works for drawing anything.
- The second method which really helps me is a way of looking at figures before drawing them. I look for certain markers to help me. First I look for the head, chest and pelvis. I try to see the size placement and angles between them. Then I look at the shoulder girdle and the pelvic girdle and look at the way they show me where the roots of the limbs are. The rest just follows naturally.
Here is a figure drawing which took about 15 minutes. It’s Dal from Star Trek Prodigy. My drawing…
…and Dal himself…
jo fox - adventures in art 
I’m glad you liked them. I have seen artists work with thick calligraphy brushes to beautiful effect before. It is a beautiful approach. I’m not a fan of Tracey Emin’s work generally but I can see the attraction of watching someone work with a brush in that way. I don’t think I’ve covered that technique in a post. It’s certainly something to think about.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I particularly liked a few of the rapid sketches, Jo, pics 2 to 4 for example. Quick figure drawings have an immediacy and even an authenticity that full-blown studies often lack, I feel, simply due to the drawbacks of time.
Recently I watched a programme about Tracey Emin, not an artist whose work I normally appreciate, but I liked the way she did quick sketches with brush and ink (?); using an almost Chinese or Japanese calligraphic technique it allowed her different thicknesses and densities in the brush strokes which I liked. I can’t remember if you’ve posted about this approach here.
LikeLiked by 1 person