Life Drawing Woop Woop

[Stephen Mason]

Heyyyy,

went to my first life drawing session today was really cool. I am sad to say that there isn't any tuition so we are left prity much to our own devices. i was wondering if you could recommend any exercises/things to think about/suggestions in general to help me get the most out of it without a tutor. Im gonna upload what i drew tomorrow so you guys can see what i done. xx

[Jem'ennuie]

To get the most out of the classes? Eh, idk, but what I notice is that people always take life drawing classes so god damn formal.

I usually throw away the first page on life drawings if there's a mistake and start again, and again, until the base is good. Often I don't even go past the base.

Some people start out with a mistake and go "looks good" and keep refining and refining and their final drawing is obviously very detailed but completely wrong either anatomically or just has nothing to do with the gesture the model was making.

I don't know what it is with some life drawings but there's usually a lot of formality which is kind of annoying. Also a lot of the classes are with female models, now I'm not sure why this is but ..... there's obviously a reason why 90% of the life drawing classes are female instead of male, just weird. I much prefer drawing from life.

[cdejong]

To get the most out of the classes? Eh, idk, but what I notice is that people always take life drawing classes so god damn formal.

I usually throw away the first page on life drawings if there's a mistake and start again, and again, until the base is good. Often I don't even go past the base.

Some people start out with a mistake and go "looks good" and keep refining and refining and their final drawing is obviously very detailed but completely wrong either anatomically or just has nothing to do with the gesture the model was making.

I don't know what it is with some life drawings but there's usually a lot of formality which is kind of annoying. Also a lot of the classes are with female models, now I'm not sure why this is but ..... there's obviously a reason why 90% of the life drawing classes are female instead of male, just weird. I much prefer drawing from life.

So far I've taken 4 figure drawing classes with different models, and 3 of them were dudes. It must just be an isolated case. Fortunately my class comes with a great teacher (super talented realist painter and charcoal drawer) and he has helped me a lot and critiques some of my stuff that doesn't even have to do with the class! Finding a teacher who really loves art and wants to help others learn is the kind of guy you want to find.

However if you don't have a teacher, then yes, just focus on getting the base in. Start with making big, light strokes. Don't be afraid to make marks, just make them light. You need to set up the positioning of the torso, legs, and head before moving onto the rest of the body and details. The worst thing you can do is screw up the anatomy and/or pose but have a beautiful render... it's a real waste of time and a possible portfolio piece.

Get the life drawing bibles from Loomis and Bridgman and you should be in good shape. They are masters and great teachers.

[J]

There is also a great book by mike matessi on life drawing for animators but it covers a lot of great stuff on how to get "rhythm" in your drawings. It's called "force", helped me a lot when I started out. It has various exercises to try while drawing. Another if you want to get into charcoal that I strongly recommend is "Henry Yans Figure Drawing : Techniques and tips" you can get it through amazon, this book opened my eyes up to a totally different way of approaching life drawing. It's filled with amazing drawings done in incredibly short amounts of time and has a whole load of walkthroughs and ideas that were new to me.

Books aside I think the best way to get the most out of life drawing is to just concentrate on one thing per drawing. It could be line, value or rhythm etc. This way you don't get over burdened by trying to do everything at once in a short amount of time.

Also I find if I think something will turn out crap it turns out crap, if I think somethings going to be good it turns out good. Positive thinking is actually a big part of of the battle. Don't get down on yourself if you think you did a "bad" drawing. Enjoy yourself.

Check out my sketchbook if you want to see some of my life drawings. I only started life drawing last year.

J

[Stephen Mason]

i have a couple books by bridgemans books and i have the force book. Thanks for the other suggestions. i think i will try to concentrate on one thing in every pose. might take a minute to write down what i want to achieve. (suggested in the force book.) Cant wait till Monday, :D :D :D woop woop. x

[nonie]

I second Henry Yan. While Brigeman and Loomis are great teachers with sound techniques, their drawings are actually pretty blah. Henry Yan also has great technique *and* his drawings are breathtakingly beautiful. http://henryyanart.com/ And check out Kevin Chen's work http://home.earthlink.net/~kevinchen9/ I don't think he has a book though.

As for advice, Android Jones taught my class once, and something he said really stuck... Art is like a lover. Don't think of your drawing as practice, trying to get to an end goal. That's like bringing a girl chocolates and saying "Let's have sex." You're so focused on what you want that you're not enjoying the time it takes to get there. Dates are fun too, just like figure drawing should be. Slow down and enjoy what you're doing now.

I learned a lot more about drawing from other teachers but that advice was really refreshing to hear in such a progress-oriented school. You're making art because you love to do so, don't forget that just because what you're doing is good practice.

[Arshes Nei]

And check out Kevin Chen's work http://home.earthlink.net/~kevinchen9/ I don't think he has a book though.


Henry Yan is indeed a good one, I had reviewed his book on Amazon, and also enjoyed the fact he signed my book and had a bit of conversation with me through the email transaction.

As far as Kevin Chen, I believe he had a thread here: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1432&highlight=kchen

Also http://conceptdesignacad.blogspot.com/2008/05/tuesday-advance-figure-drawing-still.html

And http://www.characterdesigns.com the tutorials thread has quite a bit of his work hosted.

If you can still find the book one nice laid back one is Harley Brown's Eternal Truths for Every Artist. It's not just what he says (because you'll find it through other sources) but how he says it that's plain spoken and enjoyable. It should be, if you're drawing overall it gives you pleasure despite the frustrations. http://www.amazon.com/Harley-Browns-Eternal-Truths-Artist/dp/1929834063 International Artist needs to reprint this book.

For some good chicken soup for the soul read Art and Fear.

[cdejong]

Yea Henry Yan has some amazing work. I took an online precollege figure drawing class through AAU, and his work was constantly referenced. Thanks for reminding me about him, I've been meaning to buy his book.

[Stephen Mason]

thanks for the recommendations. :). gonna get henry yans book asap. :) x