Drawing the Human Figure.

There is more than one method, some of them are here:There is more than one method, some of them are here:

•Drawing from direct observationDrawing from direct observation•Drawing from memory or imaginationDrawing from memory or imagination•Drawing from photographs or other imagesDrawing from photographs or other images•Drawing from a technical system.Drawing from a technical system.

Which of these images are which?Which of these images are which?

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Drawing from Memory or imagination.

How good is this boy’s memory of a football game?

How well are the figures drawn?

Is it realistic?

Are the figures in proportion?

Quickly draw one figure from memory – your dad sat in front of the TV/reading a newspaper, mum washing up… (3minutes)

Messin’ About, boy age 15

Messin’ About, boy age 15Drawing from photographs.

These images have been produced by tracing outlines and some details, either on paper or from a projector.

What do these figures have in common with the last slide?

What do we get from these images that we don’t get from the memory images?

Lucian Freud, Night Portrait – Face Down, 2000

Lucian Freud, Night Portrait – Face Down, 2000

Drawing from direct observation.

The artist has drawn exactly what he is seeing. He is measuring as he does so to ensure the figure has a true sense of being.

Can you indicate the perspective in use?How has the artist used/controlled light to give the figure form and weight?

Costume Design for L’Histoire de Soldat, Tracy Curtis, 1990

Collage, Gouache, pencil

Costume Design for L’Histoire de Soldat, Tracy Curtis, 1990

Collage, Gouache, pencil

Drawing from a technical system.

This is a figure drawn from the imagination but with the use of a technical system to ensure it is believable.

Does it have the feeling of movement?

Does it show the form by using light?

Two of the simplest drawing systems are the 81/2 Head Rule. And skeleton figures. Used together they can produce very strong figures with attributes of form, weight, movement, perspective etc…

Drawing Systems.

The 81/2 Head Rule

1. Draw an oval for the head

2. Measure the height of the oval using your thumb against a pencil

3. Transfer that measurement 71/2 more times down the page (make sure you position it to get the whole figure on.

It may be helpful to number the marks as shown

Armpit is just above 2.

Waist is just below and rising to 3.

Crotch is just below 4.

Knee is at 6.

Ankle at 8

Elbow is just above waist at 3

Wrist is the same as crotch at 4

The figure can be made masculine or feminine by adding or taking away muscle bulk.

These are traditional ‘stick figures’. The legs hang from the end of the spine and the arms cross over the waist.

These figures have used a ‘pelvis’ from which to hang the legs. The arms do come from higher up the spine, making overall proportions better, but there are no shoulders.

Not only has this figure used shoulders and a pelvis, but the shoulders have been tilted into a ¾ profile.

The Skeleton figure.

Start with the head and neck.

Remember the proportions of the 81/2 Head Rule.

2. Draw the shoulders

3. Add the pelvis.

This is further down the spine than the waist.

Waist

The thigh bone (femur) is the longest in the body and about the same length as the spine.

The elbow is in line with the narrowest art of the waist.

Draw on the flesh around the bones. Again, adjust according to the sex.

Two ways that ensure results.

The benefit of this skeleton figure is that it allows you to position it in more dynamic positions – understanding how the skeleton works.

From skeleton to form.

Draw the limbs that are nearest to the viewer first, then the limbs farthest away.