Figure Drawing | Fall 24
One of my favorite classes I’ve taken as an artist; another classic “art school” staple.
Before I was in school for art, I studied science, and Figure Drawing felt like the mixing of those two worlds. In addition to focusing heavily on “gesture drawing” or drawing the feeling of something quickly, we spent time studying bone and muscular structure to help understand how the body flows and connects.
muscle sketch based on the classical Doryphoros of Polykleitos. Meant to be a teaching tool many recreations have been made, but the original is lost to time!
I’d never really had an interest in drawing the human figure before this class, but I was amazed by the literal performance that the models would put on for us every class. From shuffling through complex poses in one to two minute intervals to maintaining the same pose for upwards of thirty minutes, I found myself really wanting to capture the form as accurately as possible to honor the work that had gone into it. This class actually inspired me to become a life drawing model elsewhere, and I have loved being on that side of things as well. Now I’m not sure which I’m more passionate about, modeling or drawing!
Towards the end of class things got experimental. I created two of my favorite pieces of all time for this class. One of the prompts was to draw a figure that was half muscle/skeleton and half either nature/mechanical/other parts. I ideated on this prompt all class long, and when it finally came time for it Mushroom Lady was born.
