That perfect drawing spot...

[SinOfAugust]

I've been toiling with this dilemma for a while now. What is the best place to draw people, in your opinion?
Finding a location, where people are in relative abundance and variety, and actually *stay* in that location long enough to have any chance at drawing them turned out to be quite a dilemma.

I've read some previous threads somewhat related to the topic, and I've seen that mall seems to be rather popular. Any specific places?
Also, can you share some insight on the sketches in 30-40 seconds? I've seen it being mentioned in these threads, however that's not nearly the amount of time I usually need to finish one.

Thank you.

[MidgardSerpent]

Not trying to be a wise-ass, but have you tried drawing in front of a mirror?

[Matsign]

drawing from life isn't always about getting long poses, it isn't at all. It'll increase your speed and confidence with a line if you're pressed to absorb as much of a figure as possible in whatever time you have. I use Panera Bread bread and starbucks often. People in more mom and pop coffee houses and such are usually don't care as much.

[alti]

i'd like to draw sitting on top of a tank. not a moving tank, or an old tractor. maby in a tractor booth but thats location wise. how do you get the tank or tractor close to people and not freak them out..

the train is good but you have to draw depressed people sitting down . the museum is great for more interesting passers by.

[MCImaginary]

The first thing that I thought of was simple enough: an airport. There are loads of people. You will find them in all moods: happy, sad, exhausted, angry. Many of them won't be moving for a while, and they will all be in different (all natural) positions as they wait. There will be all ages:kids, elders, mid-life, teenagers. There will be all different types of people: gangsters, grandmothers and grandfathers, sports fans, maybe some homeless and more. They will most likely all have props whether it be a suit case, a book, a game boy, a laptop, a sketchbook and pencil, hats and coats and teddy bears and waffles. Maybe not waffles. Unless you're next to a place that serves waffles. Yuck, airport waffles. If you don't have an airport anywhere near you, or don't want to go there (I can't blame you) I would visit somewhere else where people are bound to sit down and wait. Most likely at the mall everyone will be moving and people will block your view often.

[Wooly ESS]

You are talking about life drawing, and life drawing is about capturing, with a line or two, the essence of your subject. It is not about drawing finished portraits.

A good exercise is drawing people on the street corner waiting for the light to change. They stand still for the period of time the light is red then they are gone. Wait for the light to turn red again and start on a new person. Pretty some your page is full of quick sketches of all kinds of people.

The trick is not to look for places where people will stay still, but look to capturing your subject in as few lines as possible, as fast as possible.

I am currently taking a figure drawing class. One of the techniques we covered was gesture drawing, where you scribble a few lines, as quickly as possible that suggests the movement of the subject. Focus on the subject, not your page. Finished portraits are not the result, but with practise you can capture the general sense of movement and activity.

[Grief]

in a studio, in front of a model who knows what they're doing.

[Meloncov]

I've had good expierences in libraries. People tend to stay in the same position for a long time.

[SinOfAugust]

Wonderful suggestions, every single one. And I thank you for it.

I definitely need to practice on the quick life sketching.

More specifically on this, this rapid sketch is effectively a rough outline of the sort? I want to be sure what am I aiming for.

[Alan1213]

There are a lot of good ways to practice figure drawing even if you don't have (or can't afford) a model.


You can go to a train or bus station people are always sitting still
Cafes or diners
The beach (careful, people may think you are a creep)
I used to practice just by getting a magazine flipping thru the pages and doing quick sketches


Good luck.
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