Figure Drawing For Artists Making Every Mark Count xBOOKS PDF

 

FIGURE DRAWING FOR ARTISTS Ma ki ng E ve r y M Ma ark Count STEVE HUS TON

 

Contents INTRODUCTION: INTRODUCTION: GETTING COMFORTABLE CO MFORTABLE WITH YOUR YOUR MATERIALS

part one: THE ELEMENTS ELEMENTS OF DRAWING CHAPTER 1: STRUCTURE STRUCTURE CHAPTER 2: BASIC GESTURE CHAPTER 3: ADVANCING THE IDEA OF GESTURE CHAPTER 4: PERSPECTIVE CHAPTER 5: THE LAWS OF LIGHT

 

part two: BREAKING DOWN THE HUMAN BODY CHAPTER 6: THE HUMAN BODY: AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC FORMS CHAPTER 7: THE HEAD CHAPTER 8: THE TORSO CHAPTER 9: THE ARMS AND HANDS CHAPTER 10: THE LEGS AND FEET CHAPTER 11: FINISHING DETAILS: LIGHT AND SHADOWS CONCLUSION: FIVE MINUTES

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 

INTRODUCTION

GETTING COMFORTABLE WITH YOUR MATERIALS What is art? What rt? It It co could uld ta take ke this this whole whole book bo ok to answer tha that question. question. In fa fact, ct, it coul could d ta takke a wh whol ole e libr libraary—and ry—and does do es.. Critics aand nd theo theorists rists continuously cont inuously aadd dd to the ca canon non exploring explo ring and expla explaini ining ng art. rt. Their essa es says ys aare re ttho houg ught ht pr provok ovoking ing in ma many ny ways wa ys,, bu butt tthei heirr ttheories heories do don’t n’t tturn urn us into better artists. Their theories don’t

 

coax the pencil into ma coax makking bet better ter marks.

Karen, c. 20 2001 01,, by St Steeve Hu Hust ston. on. Charcoal draw dr awin ingg of a re reclin clinin ingg fem female ale figu figure.

rt Is an Ide Idea a

 

I lov love dra drawing wing,, alwa lways hav have—s e—so, o, I cho ch ose it aass a ca carreer eer.. That ma mad de tthe he whol wh ole e “w “wha hatt is aart rt”” thing thing aan n impo im port rtaant is issue sue for me. I needed an answer that made my thumbnail sketches, life studies, comps, and finishes excellent. And more, I needed an answer that led me toward a  process  proc ess that spoke spoke w wiith one one voice, voi ce, on onee vision—one style. Art criticism helped me, but not in that  purs  pu rsu uit. So, I di did dw wh hat any any self sel f-s -ser ervi vin ng, creative type would do: I made up an answer that would.

 

I didn’t care whether my answer held up to the rigors of critical thinking. In fact, it doesn’t. I’m here to tell you what I’m offering is pure make-believe. And I believe that’s exactly why it works. Fantasy, myth, make-believe: none is true for the head. But, they are all true for the heart—and the heart is where art thrives. Art is not designed to convince the rational mind. Science handles that. Art, at its most powerful, appeals to the emotions, as mythology does. And mythology has only two requirements:

 

1. No matter how fantastic the world or  worldview is, it needs to be absolutely consistent. Only then, will the head relax and let the heart take control. 2. The hero (and audience) takes a  journ  jou rney ey that show showss tth he worl w orld dw work orkss through some secret, simple truth. A truth such as it’s sometimes an upside-down pside- down,, absu absurd rd place pl ace w wee llive ive in, or magic hides in plain sight, or, even ev en,, th ther ere’s e’s no no pl plac acee like home. ome. Make-believe truths like these are important—critical, really. They act as emotional road maps, helping us navigate our messy day-to-day affairs. Adults need them in some ways more

 

than children do. The best road maps show us how to become the hero of our  own lives. After all, even switching jobs or starting a new hobby is a real adventure. Right this moment, you’re reading a makeake-bel beliieve eve story story for ad adu ults. You’ ou’re nearly to the part about the secret truth—  two, actually. As the pages turn, you’ll read that the world of drawing, though it  presen  pre sentts ogre ogre-s -siz izee probl problem ems, s, iiss a far  simpler place than you suspected. Simple doesn’t mean easy, though. Where’s the adventure in easy? This yarn says the craft of drawing the human body succeeds through only two

 

ideas (here are two of the secret truths): gesture  and structure . It says these two ideas work for the biggest parts of your  drawing, and for the smallest. You’ll read about things like the eye socket is a whistle notch, the arm is a cleverly curved tube, the many parts of  the body are connected through invisible design lines—these are the designs of  life. These are all lies as far as the scientist is concerned—and yet, I bet ou’ll see that they ring true. And they’ll allow you to draw with a vision and control you can’t get any other way. My promise to you is this: If you’re willing to wear out a few pencils, this

 

 book can help elp y you ou navig avigate ate th the dif di fficul cult landscape of the drawn figure. The last truth I’ll share for now is that I didn’t make any of this up. The Old Masters did. We’ve been staring at these heartfelt truths for countless generations,  butt for the  bu the last last several several we si sim mply ply haven’t realized it. Great art with its great stylistic differences has been telling this tale since the beginning. To the Old Masters, it was common knowledge. It’s just been forgotten. What a gift these two fundam damental ental ideas deas—s —stru tructu cturre an and d gesture—in all their incarnations, give us through the greatest voices in history.

 

Art, then, is really just another language. Just as the words express concepts, the lines and tones artists make do the same. This exists so we’ll know what we’rebook talking about. With practice, a lot of practice, you can  begiin telli  beg ellin ng your our own ow n story. story. St Star artt thinking of the frame around your  arttwork as a wi ar w indow in intto y you ourr w orld. orl d. The marks you make explain the rules of  that world. They had better be consistent.

SO, HOW TO DO THAT? Drawing the human body is not easy. We need to approach it carefully. The  prem  pre mise for tth his book, book, an and d ffor or m my y ent entir iree

 

career as an artist and teacher, is that the drawing process reduces to those two  gestur  gest uree an fundam damental ental ideas deas—  —   and d  st  struct ureeto . To makethem sensesystematically of them, then, weructur need plumb and deeply. Keep in mind, structure and gest esture aare re,, iin n a sen s ense se,, two si sides des of tth he same coin. If they don’t work together, they don’t work.

I will begin this exploration by first explaining, and demonstrating, structure at its its m most ost basic level level an and d ffol ollow low with an equ equal ally ly access accessiible ex expl plora orattion of  gesture. Then, we’ll dig a little deeper  into structure, and then deeper into gesture, and so on. This is a method that can take you from the simplest quick 

 

sketch to the most finished of renderings and make them both ring true—but only if you learn it step by step. This method, in one way or another, is the method of the Old Masters. Somewhere along the way, it became arcane and mysterious. I don’t believe it should be. That’s why I wrote this book. That’s the reason I think these ideas (which are not my i  ideas) deas) are w onderf onderfu ul,  beauttiful, an  beau and, most most of al all, l, u usefu seful. l. aree certain immutable truths in There ar great works of art. If you know what to look for, you can see them in the masterpieces of every great art movement. You see those truths play out

 

in various ways in movements such as Cubism and Post-Impressionism and, likewise, in many of the modernist talents of today. What I want to give you is a chance to achieve your potential, to master your  craft, and to find your voice. This planet needs more creative voices. So, instead of being intimidated into inaction action, let’ l et’ss br break eak ffrree an and d eex xpres presss ourselves. Let’s learn to speak  eloquently in the language of structure and gesture. With that in mind, turn the page, dip your  toes into art’s deep waters, and wade toward its shining distant shore—and

 

don’t worry. I have the life preserver  right here.

 

Standing Stan ding Nude , 199 1998, 8, by St Steeve Hu Hust ston. on. Alphacolor Alph acolor and Conté ch chalk alk on SSttrat rathmore hmore,, Bristol finish.

 

1998, 8, by St Steeve Hus Hustton. Alphacolor and Sara , 199 Conté ch chalk alk on St Strat rathmore hmore,, Bristol finish. finish.

 

aking ak ing Art a Ri Ritual  tual  The art art-ma -makking p pro roces cesss iiss tied to to rituaal, and ritu and ttha hatt rrepetition epetition p put utss you in the correct correct mi mind-se nd-set. t. There are endless materials from which to choose. I’ll give you a few of my favorites, but, every so often, grab a new  pen or p pen enci cill to ttry ry ou outt. Test Test n new ew papers. paper s. Stand rather than sit. Art is like alchemy. The alchemist attempts to make something precious from the mundane—artists, too. Ritual was all-important in alchemy—the  process  proc ess was ccon onn nected int intim imat atel ely y to th the

 

materials used. That’s true for any spiritual or creative endeavor. You need to develop your own ritual for  making art. Clean the studio or make it messy; sharpen your pencils with a razor   blade  bla de or cru crumble up you yourr past pastel el,, sm smear  ear  it on with your fingers, and erase it mostly away. Experiment with the  process  proc ess until y you ou have a pra pract ctiice th that at works for you. That also includes the  process  proc ess I dem demon onst stra ratte iin n this book book.. Bu Butt my process won’t work for you unless ou chop it up, mix it around, throw out some things, and add some things in; in other words, it won’t work for you until ou make it your own.

 

Where to Work? If you don don’t ’t ha havve a stud studio io with twenty-foot ceilings, northern-facing windo wind ows, and a per persona sonall as assi sista stant nt to sharp sha rpen en yyou ourr penc pencils, ils, use use the cor corner ner of a bed bedro room om o orr sit aatt the the dining table. You can stand at an easel. You can sit at an easel. You can buy a tilting drafting 3 8 -inch-thick table or have a / (1 cm) 1  piece  pie ce of ply plyw w ood or /4-inchch-thick (0 (0.6 .6 cm) piece of Masonite cut to about 20 x 26 inches (51 x 66 cm) long and grab a couple of alligator clamps. Lay the  botttom edge  bot edge acr across oss y you ourr lap l ap an and d llean ean the  board  boar d agai again nst the edge edge of a di din ning ing table. abl e.

 

If that’s a little low, use a kitchen counter. You’re ready to work. I used to have to fall backward from my canvasback chair onto my bed to get up from my workstation. You could spend a fortune on the perfect setup, but, really, ou don’t need many resources to be an artist. Start simply. Start cheaply. You can always ease into massive debt later. There’s no hurry.

aterials terials an and d To Tools Every material has its limitations. Don’t try tr y to get d dee eep p da dark rks s f rom ro m a hard ha rd pencil. Don Don’t ’t do a minia miniatu ture re

 

rendering w rendering with ith a squa square re stick o of  f  charcoal. Take the time to experiment and lea learn rn wh whaat your your ma mater teria ials ls can can do d o. Here are are th the eb baasic sic ttoo ools ls aand nd ma mater teria ials ls you’ll nee need. d. 1. CarbOthello Pencils. I use pencils in earth-tone colors. Why? A brightly colored pencil doesn’t work well for  shading. Shadow is the absence of  light . Bright colors suggest light. The two don’t mix. Other pencil brands I li ke are lik are Gener eneral al,, Con Contté à Pari Paris, s, Faber-Castell Faber -Castell,, an and Pri Prismacol smacolor or.. These last two are slightly waxy and won’t work well on newsprint.

 

Paper: Copy paper (any bond), newsprint, vellum, and marker paper  are great. Also, I like toned paper in

light to middle values and earth tones for the same reason as stated  previ  pre viou ousl sly y. I like ike St Stra ratthmore 500 series, Ingres, and Canson brands. Canson has the heaviest texture and, so, is a little harder to work with. You also want something with minimal tooth to it. It’s much harder  to do any kind of rendering or detail while fighting a rough-textured paper. 2. Conté à Paris sticks in H, HB, and 2B. Note that 2B is a softer chalk and gives you deeper deeper dark dar ks, bu butt it’ it’ss al also so

 

messier. H and HB are harder, but you lose the deeper values. Paper: You can use all of the  precedi  pre cedin ng papers paper s llis istted as wel w elll aass Strathmore, Bristol finish, 1-ply and up, and illustration sheets, but not  platte or hot pre  pla press. ss. These These have no no tooth to hold the chalk, and the  pigm  pig ment ent will come come rrig igh ht of offf. O Orr use use any higher-quality, acid-free paper  designed for drawing. Again, you

want minimal texture. 3. Alphacolor. Really, any brand of   pastels wi w ill do. Black and and ear eartth tones ones work for drawing. And, of course, you can work in full color for “dry pain pai nting ing” pastel work w ork.. U Use se th thee bett better er

 pain  pai nting ing pastel w work ork.. U Use se th thee bett better  er   

 brands for  bran for pain painttin ing g and and tth he cheaper  cheaper  for draw drawin ing g. Alphacol Alphacolor or ar aree bi big g, clunky, and not designed for smallscale work or fine detail. I did this book’s cover drawing using Strathmore Bristol paper and Alph phaco acollor for the deep deep dar dark ks. I used sed Conté chalk and a stump for the fine lin li ne an and detail. detail . Paper: You can use all of the

 precedin  precedi ng papers paper s llis istted. Canson Canson,, w wiith its toothiness, is great for holding more pigment. Pastels build up quickly. You’ll find the chalks blow away with a sneeze if you use a smooth stock.

 

4. Ballpoint pen, any cheap pen, or fountain pen with brown or black  ink (make sure you use fountain pen ink). Pens are a favorite of mine for sketchbooks. I like not being able to erase. I like hatching in the value. It suggests brushstrokes to me for  when I switch to paint. Paper: You can use all of the  precedi  pre cedin ng papers paper s llis istted and and al alm most anything you can think of, such as the  back of an en envel velope ope or copy paper. I use acid-free scrapbook paper a lot. It has a cardstock thickness, and I can do little painted studies in gouache

alongside the ink sketches.

 

5. Grap aph hite pe ncils. Any of about 3 million brands are fine. I like H or  HB for hardness. You won’t get charcoal darks out of it: you need 4B to 6B for that. But graphite gets a little glossy when it gets dark. I use it for under-drawing for gouache or  watercolor paintings or to lay in an ink drawing. Mainly, I use it when I want a sensitive technique. It does delicate and detail like no other tool. One of the best ways to learn to vary your paint strokes is by using pen and ink.

 

Study for Study for Draw , c. 20 2004 04,, by Ste Steve ve Hu Hust ston. on. Alphacolor Alph acolor and Conté ch chalk alk on SSttrat rathmore hmore,, Bristol finish.

 

Study St udy for for Caryatid , c. 19 1998 98,, by Ste Steve ve Hus Hustton. Alphacolor Alph acolor on Strat Strathmore hmore,, Bris Bristtol finis finish. h.

 

6. Craft knife, sharp pocketknife, or onee -side on side d razor az or blad bladee . You need something to sharpen your charcoal  pen  penci cil l s w wi i t h —and —an d n no, o, not n ot a manu anufac acttured elec el ecttric shar sharpe pen ner. I’ll I’l l show you how the sharpened pencil should look here. here. 7. Kneaded eraser and hard eraser. Either will work, but I like the kneaded eraser because it is similar  to putty—you can shape it to get into tight areas. It is soft and won’t take your paper back to white if there is a lot of pigment down. That’s what hard erasers are for. You can even use electric erasers to buff away stubborn stains. And, yes, all the

 

 pigment  pigm ents di discu scusse ssed dw wiill stai stain n your  our   paper. Act Actu uall ally, appl apply ying ing pigm pigment ent can damage the paper fibers. Once that happens, you may be stuck with it. 8. Sandpaper or a sanding pad. Y  You ou can buy little sanding pads from the art store. I use sandpaper from the hardware store. It sharpens your   penci  pen cills tto o a ffiiner poin point than ju just st usin si ng a knife. I sand down a little bit of an Alphacolor stick to load pigment onto my stump. 9. Stumps. These cylindrical drawing tools, made of tightly rolled paper in a pencil shape, are used to blend or  smudge marks.

 

0. Markers. Choose a couple of grays to shade over your pen drawings: that’s what auto designers and entertainment designers use. The thing with markers is you can start with a light gray and keep marking down a new layer over the old to get darker  and darker. It’s a great way to ease into the correct values. 1. Touch display computer. I use one for my digital teaching at New Masters Academy in California. I used a Wacom Touch for most of this  book an and d Ph Phot otosh oshop op an and d Sk Sket etch chBook  Book  Pro for software. They mimic myriad tools.

 

A st study fr from om my Shadow Boxing  series.  series. Wateerma Wat rman n PParis aris fou fountai ntain n ppeen, very very ffine ine nib, on oatm oat meal-color al-coloreed, acid-fr acid-freee scrapbook scrapbook paper. paper.

The Pencil encil M Ma ark  Hold the pencil pencil aass if if you’re you’re w writing riting a letter but rela relax x yyou ourr fi fingers. ngers. Don’t pinch them them back back in a tight gr grip. ip.

 

A relaxed grip is so important because ou want to make sweeping strokes like an orchestra conductor, meaning from our shoulder and not your wrist or  finger joints. Your line quality will be nervous and scratchy if your draw from our fingers. Practice this as you would a tennis stroke. A hard, crisp line and a thick, soft line—  these are the only two marks you need. ow, for the gradation. The zigzag technique will give you a gradation in any medium you care to use. Hard edges and soft edges—master  those and you’ve mastered your medium.

 

Try these new strokes: Sketch a household item—a coffee cup, screwdriver, pencil, or a slice of bread. Learn to draw the shapes you see. Can ou draw tubes, boxes, and balls from our head? We’re going to practice a lot of that in the next chapter. You want a catalog of simple shapes to rely on as ou sketch—the bigger the mental catalog, the better. That’s all you need to know to get started, so let’s!

 

Leave app apprroximat oximately ely 1/4 inch (6 mm mm)) of charcoal charcoal or lea leadd ex expo posed. sed. SSome ome artists pr preefer more. I te ten nd to break break them if the theyy get lon longe ger. r. You want tth he w ood carve ed the backmat a ttape apered red angle. This is allows you tocarv m make ake arks you need. I te ten nTh d to use the penc pencil-acr il-acros oss-the-palm s-the-palm grip grip (se (seee ri righ ght) t)..

the penc pencilil acr acros osss the palm grip grip (se (seee ri righ ght) t)..  

The pen pe ncil-acro cil-across-thess-the-palm palm gr grip. ip.

 

Figure Figu re drawing at an ea easel. sel.

 

Turn the pe Turn pen ncil agains againstt the stroke aand nd work the pencil pe ncil back back and fforth. orth. Yo You’ u’ve ve made a soft zi zigzag gzag linee. Dolight lin it aagain . Now, compress slowly ligh tegain. n the pressu pressure re on thethe page. pazigzag ge. By and

 

compressing the lin compressing linee on top of itse itself lf while lightenin lighte ningg you yourr touch touch,, yo you u ma make ke a grada gradattion.

Turn you yourr pencil in the dire directi ction on of the stroke stroke,, and you’ll you’ll get a hard, cr crisp isp line. Turn the pe penc ncilil

agains aga instt tthe he st stroke, roke, and you ll ggeet a thick hick,, soft soft  

line. Th line This is is why the wood has to be carv carveed back as it is.

Use a layer of at least six or seven sheets of paper to draw on. The extra sheets underneath provide a slight pillowing effect that will make your mark making, especially gradations, easier. Try drawing with and without the extra sheets. Can you tell the difference?

 

PART   o n e 

THE ELEMENTS OF DRAWING

 

  STRUCTURE CHAPTER 1

We ha havve ideas ideas we wa want nt to get do down wn on the p paage, but but we need ma materia terials ls to do tha that. An And, d, th we need some level elt’s of  con contr trol olt. over those ose ma mater teria ials. ls.lev That’ Tha s whaat this wh this cha chapt pter er is aabo bout ut.. We’l We’lll sta start rt with a revi eview ew of a few mater materia ialls and and then cou coupl ple e tho those se with a few few b baasic sic techniques. techn iques. This bo book ok is no nott just about bout ma makking ma mark rks. s. It’s aabo bout ut makking tthe ma he right  mark  markss for tthe he right job. And, And, rea really, lly, it’s not to too od dif iffficult. We jjust ust need tto o ma makke ssur ure e the

 

materia mater ials ls don don’t ’t get in th the e wa wayy as as we workk throu wor through gh our ou r big ide ideaas.

Reclining Reclinin gN Nude  ude , c. 20 2000 00,, by Ste Steve ve Hu Hust ston. on. Alphacolor Alph acolor and Conté ch chalks alks on St Strat rathmore hmore,, Bristol Bris tol pape paper. r.

 

 ssential Idea  ssen Ideas in rawing  Str tructu ucture re aand nd gesture aare re the ttwo wo essent ess entia iall idea ideass of dr draawing. wing. S So, o, ho how w can ca nw we e define them? To understand and use the idea of  structure well, it’s best to think like a sculptor, meaning we build our drawing and painting (as in sculpture) through a series of constructed forms. Structure, then, is the distinct three-dimensional  art(s) of any particular object . A tree would have a series of parts known as the roots, trunk, branches, leaves, and,  possibl  possi bly y, ffru ruit it or n nu uts.

 

 struct ructur uree iiss any and al all  l  For this book, st artss tthat art hat make up the human human body.

The Sa The Sages  ges , c. 199 1996, 6, by Ste Steve ve Hust Huston. Bru Brush sh and ink on Stra Stratthmore paper, pape r, kid ffinish inish.. To draw well from fr om you yourr ima imagin ginat ation ion,, yyou ou must must be able to conceive con ceive of ssim imple ple stru structur cturees in sspace pace..

Gesture is a different idea. Gesture is the lifel eliine em embedded bedded inside si de an any y livin ving for orm m and mimicked in most organic ones. This

 

gestural idea makes your art look  natural. You don’t need to worry about gesture if you’re drawing something like aand skyscraper. Everything there is stiff  mechanical. The pieces just stack or  lock together on a straight axis. You do still have to worry about those measuring points and vanishing points that happen in perspective, though.

 

Sometim Som timees th thee biggest tth hin ings gs have tth he simplest structur stru cturees. Even tth he migh ightie tiest st sky skyscr scrape aperr u usu sually ally is just just m made ade of bo boxxes.

If we’re drawing a thumbnail sketch of, for example, a river in a landscape; or  an animal; or a breakdown of the light and shadow patterns on a nude; or a

study for a fine art painting; or an  

aerodynamic jet airplane; or a fantasy illustration; or a thousand other objects, we need to understand something about gesture—and the more we understand, the better. We’ll deepen our  under derstan tandi din ng in in chapter 2. 2.

 

Every Eve ry fin finee fig figu ure painting ssttarts w with ith a w weellconstructe con structedd figure figure..

 

A landsc landscape ape and a figu figure re are are not aass dif differe feren nt as you might tthin hink. k. Both con conttain nature nature’s ’s be beauti autifu full organic organ ic de design sign..

 

Where do you thin Whe inkk een ngin gineeers get the their ir aerod ae rodyn ynam amic ic design idea ideas? s?

What Is Structu Structurre? Let’ Le t’ss ta takke a clo close serr lloo ookk aatt structu structure. re. Structure is the parts and the pieces—the three-dimensional forms. In its simplest state, stat e, structu structurre ccan an be redu reduced ced to ba ballls,  boxes, an  boxes, and tu tubes. The The g goal oal is to to ttra ran nslat slatee the world into something manageable.

 

Only when you translate it do you have an idea of its meaning. That’s structure. That’s the first of our two ideas.

We start w with ith the simplest simplest pos possib sible le fo forms. rms.

Structure in the human body is defined as  joi oint nted ed part partss. For example, from the j shoulder to elbow, that’s the upper arm,

from shoulders to waist, that s the rib  

cage, and so on. We’ll get a breakdown of the full figure in chapter 6 6.. This of working can be looserconstructed or tighter, way full figured or small vignettes. It works for thumbnail sketches. It works for monumental mural commissions. Structure is going to  becomee one  becom one of your our two best best fri frien ends. ds. You just need a little time to get to know each other. Let me introduce you. Vol olu ume, mass, thr three-di dim mensional construction, form, structure: they go by many names. The names don’t matter. The point is to get the idea onto the  paper as sim s imply ply an and d eas easi i ly as pos possi sibl ble, e, to stay in control, and to make it work 

 

for you on whatever level you need it to work. Think of it as the scaffold on which to hang your designs and rendering techniques.

 

In just just a fe few w lin linees, we want ttoo ffin indd all the ess sseential eelem lemeents tth hat ma make ke up a sspecif pecific ic ppos osee andd even an even the ttyp ypee of mode modell in that pose.

 

2002 02,, by Ste Steve ve Hu Hust ston. on. Figure Drawing , c. 20 Alphacolor Alph acolor and Conté ch chalk alk on SSttrat rathmore hmore,, Bristol Bris tol fin finish ish.. IItt come comess down to tth he fact th t hat we won on’t ’t mast masteer this wit with h any kkind ind of ccons onsist isteenc ncyy . . .

 

. . . un unle less ss we sta start rt w with ith some somethin thingg like tth his.

 

imension Here’s what three-dimensional str tructu ucture re mea means ns when wo work rking ing o on n fla flatt paper pa per:: If the ma mark rkss m maade on tthe he paper move the viewer’s eye over the form, then she feels a solid threedimensiona dimens ionall str struct uctur ure. e. Idea Ideall lly, y, every every mark ma rk we ma makke ssho hows ws th the e viewer viewer str tructu ucture re ((or or,, aass we’ll see iin n the the nex nextt chapter, cha pter, gesture). The go good od news iiss this th is iiss a lo lott ea easi sier er ttha han n it sou sound nds. s. Turkey fingers don’t work so well, do they? They lay flat because our eye goes arou ar oun nd the the finger sh shap apes es like a sh shad adow ow

 

on the wall instead of over them, as that simple cylinder drawing demonstrates. Constructed forms when automatically feel three dimensional done well  because  becau se the the lin l ines es m move ove over the form form.. Another way to think of it is that every mark we make, whether carefully rendered or loosely sketched, should act as a visual arrow. The more conscious we are of where the arrows point, the more succes successf sfu ul ou ourr draw drawin ing gs wi w ill be in in terms of structure (and eventually gesture).

 

Structur Stru cturee = m mov oveeme men nt ov oveer the for form. m.

 

Every line line we ma make ke is a visu visual al arr arrow. ow.

The Three Basic Forms Let’s Le t’s lo look ok more ca caref refull ullyy aatt o our ur thr three ee constructed constru cted forms: forms:

1. The sphere  

2. The tube 3. The box Variations of these foundational structures replace and simplify the tricky anatomy of the human body, making what’s very complex simpler. Try it. If you need to, reread the previous section to review the principles of mark  making. With practice, we can draw anything with this method. Using ever-greater  variations of our three fundamental forms, we’ll become ever more comfortable in the seeing and translating

 process  proc ess cal calle led d dr draw awiing.  

The thr t hreee basic ffor orm ms.

If you draw a tube like I do, you start

with the length, add the width, and then  

 build  buil d on the ends. ends. W Wee dr draw aw the tw tw odimensional sides and the threedimensional ends (the end of the tube is the “movement over the form” idea). Until we build those ends onto the constructed shape, it won’t move the viewer’s eye over the volume. It lies flat, incom complete. pl ete.

Building Buildin the ewer’ ndsr’son ont to the constructe structed d shape sh move moves s gth the e vie viewe s eye overcon the vo volu lume me. . ape

 

When we work with complicated subjects such as the human figure, we will complete each structure before adding a new one. I’ll leave you to work through the other  forms. But keep in mind, just as with  ballls and  bal and egg eggs, you you can dra draw w tubes an and  boxes  box es with w ithou outt ever dra draw wing a strai straig ght line. This is key to drawing organic forms such as the human body (more in chapter 2). 2). A reminder: Notice how I’ve drawn several lines for each step in constructing my shape. This slows me down and allows me to really see the

whole structure I’m drawing and not get  

lost in random mark making, which is very important to avoid but very easy to get sucked into.

ADVANTAGES OF DRAWING THE WORLD WITH SIMPLE CONSTRUCTED FORMS • We get our compositions or underlying drawing down quickly. I use this very method to draw bigger-than-life heroic figures on the canvas before I paint. • We can design and redesign various elements to our heart’s content, making them more fluid, more streamlined, more heroic, more challenging, or 

 

more of any quality you want to instill in your art. • Drawing like this allows you to animate the object. That’s right—this is the style of choice for almost every animation artist in the world. How else are you going to draw a character  40,000 40, 000 times in increm cr emen enttal allly di difffer eren entt  posittions  posi ions an and d get get it rig ri ght? And And even if, like me, you aren’t an animator, you can “animate” your drawing into slightly or greatly more dynamic  poses..  poses • And, probably most important for   beg  begi i n n ers, er s, th the e const con stru ruct cti i on li lin n es act a ct as the visual arrows critical to moving

 

the view vi ewer er’’s eey ye over the part par ts in in exactly the way needed. They become the road map for our rendering. They give immediate control and excellent criteria for correcting a mistake.

Complette each stru Comple structur cturee before m movin ovingg on on.. When you be Whe become come a m maste aster, r, take take any any shor shorttcu cuts ts you want.

 

Keep in mind that two-dimensional structure is just as valid an idea as threedimensional (3-D) structure. We are focusing on 3-D here because it gives us a better understanding of how to translate the world and more control over rendering it in a convincing manner.

Choosing the Right  ght  orms We no now w ha havve a se sense nse of how to dr draaw aim beginning beg inning sstr truct uctur e aand nd choo why why iit’ impo porta rtant. nt. S So, o, h how owure do we choos st’s esthe

 

right structure for the right job? After all, ll, tther here e aare re nea nearl rlyy end endless less va variatio riations ns of our our thr three ee ba basi sicc struct structures ures (sphere, tube, and and box). box). Which, exactly, are the best choices for  any an y part par ticu cullar dr draw awiing? When should we use, say, a tube instead of a sphere? And just what kind of tube should it be? Long? Short? Tapered into a cone? Bent like a garden hose? If that sounds a bit intimidating, it’s really not. We just reduce it to two  simple mple yet characteristic. criteria: si Here’s what that means.

 

Wind in (1898–1973). the Willows , Badgerr andcentury, Badge Mole fro from m The twentieth Philip Mendoza Private collection/Look and and Le Learn arn/Bridgeman Images.

SIMPLE

 

We want to pick the simplest possible form we can. Simple is simply easier—  not easy. Think of it this way: Would you rather draw the orbicularis oculi, the zygomatic arch, the corrugator muscles, and a whole lot of other tongue-twisting anatomical features, or would you rather  draw a ball in a hole? That is your  choice when tackling the eye. Here’s what else simple does for us: Simple is quick. That’s great for  deadlines or for people with short attention spans. It’s also great for seeing whether you’re starting your drawing

well. If it’s not working, it’s a relatively

 

quick fix to replace the problem area with anoth another er sim si mple ple sol solution on.. Simple allows us to construct anything with the same methods and principles. For example, it’s interesting to think  Badger and Mole (top) are built through the same principles as Apollonios’s elved el veder eree Torso orso at right. Think about it. Rubens “animated” his models into dynamic positions just as comic book draftsmen, illustrators, and most other action- or movement-based artists do using the same principles. That sums up my thoughts on simple.

 

Cast of the the Belve Belvedere dere Tor Torso  so , original original bbyy Apollonius (first century BCE). Plaster. University

of Oxford, Oxford, UK/Bridgem UK/Bridgeman an Im Image ages. s.  

CHARACTERISTIC Char Ch aracteri acterist stiic is i s th thee secon s econd d cr criteri iteria. a. If  simple were the only issue, we’d just draw snowmen. But we want the structure we choose for the head, or the fingers, or whatever, to be as characteristic as possible. Finding structures characteristic of what the finished product will be ensures we’re on the right track. It means far less work  to finish it off in whatever medium we’re It makes sure, right away, working. that our parts fit together well. Fitting together, by the way, is also important for gesture, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

 

Take a brief look back at some of the draw dr awiings I did did aan nd look l ook more ore ccar arefu efullly at the simple yet characteristic forms used. otice this Luca Cambiaso drawing is sim si mple ple b bu ut not not alw alway ayss cch harac aractter eriistic. Something this oversimplified is fine for  designing a composition—including  poin  poi nt of vie view w, as Cambia Cambiaso so iin ntended—  ended—   butt not for buil  bu buildin ding g figures res tto o be rendered in charcoal, paint, or clay.

 

Chris Ch ristt Led Le d Aw Away , six sixtteenth centur century, y, Luca Luca

Cam Cambiaso biaso ( (15 1527 27–1 –158 585). 5). Pe Pen n and in ink k w wit ith h wa wash sh. . National Museums, Liverpool/Bridgeman Images. Cambiaso Cam biaso is famous ffor or h his is box-he box-head ad compositions. composition s. We want ttoo take thin things gs a bit furt fu rther her for our pu purpose rposes. s.

 

It is so meticulous that, to begin a drawing with this much detail, it is simply (pun intended) overwhelming. The other thing about focusing on too much detail too soon is it leads you to copy the subject rather than translate it. And then, there goes the underlying idea. This highly anatomical drawing by Albinus is certainly characteristic, but again, a little too much. Avoid these kinds of radical stylizations or overwhelming details until you’ve  simple mple ye yett charact characterist eri stiic mastered the si  prin  pri ncipl ciple. e. one of the great artists or art movements copied nature. In fact,

 

Albinus was criticized for letting the engraver put in fanciful backgrounds. Their unique vision is why we recognize their work. It’s why they had style! All of that embodies the simple yet characteristic principle. Each of us will do it differently, and that is a good thing.

 

illustration ion ffrom rom Tabu Musculature , illustrat Tabulae lae sce scelet letii et  muscu usculorum lorum corporis humani , 1741, 1741, by B Beernh rnhard ard

Siegfrie Sie gfriedd Albinus (169 (1697 7 17 1770 70)), pu publishe blishedd by JJ.. &  

H. Ve Verbee rbeek, k, bibliop., Net Ne therlands. Engraving. Engraving. Hum Hu mbold boldtt Uni University versity of Be Berlin rlin/Bridg /Bridgeeman IIm mage ages. s.

 

OLD MASTER study On these final pages in each chapter, we will closely examine an Old Master piece. Through the line work  that I’ve added on top of each  pain  pai nting ing, you you can see how ou our  r  fundamental concepts for drawing apply. On the facing pages, you’ll find su sug ggest ested practic practicee exer exerci cise sess that will help you apply our  concepts to your work. We begin with a wonderful drawing by Raphael Sanzio.

 

sixt eenth century, century, The Triu Trium mph of Galate Galatea  a , sixte Raphaell (R Raphae (Raffae affaello llo Sanzio of Urbin Urbino) o) ((14 1483 83– – 1520 15 20)) ((aft afteer). Re Redd ch chalk alk on pale buf bufff paper. paper. University Un iversity of Ox Oxfor ford, d, UK/Bridgem UK/Bridgeman an IIm mage ages. s. These simple yet characteristic choices are  just  ju st rrigh ight. t.

 

I’ve marked off just I’ve just a few of the balls, boxes, boxe s, and tubes in Raph Raphae ael’l’ss love lovely composition. composit ion. Can you fin findd ot others hers by la laying ying tracing pape paperr ov oveer it?

GIVE GIV E IT A TRY: Exercise 1  

Lay traci acin ng paper paper over this dr draw awiing and an d ccopy opy the si s imple ple box boxes es,, ba ballls, or  tubes. Find the ones I didn’t. Then, try it with the Old Masters. See whether you can find the simple structural solutions for all that stuff  our good friend Mr. Sanzio tossed our way.

A well-con we ll-constru structe ctedd fig figu ure happens on onee step ste p at a time time..

 

GIVE GIV E IT A TRY: Exercise 2

Start a sketchbook drawing everyday objects around the house or off office. ice.

Almost anythin Alm anythingg is ea easier sier ttoo dr draw aw than the human ffigu igure, re, bbu ut we get whate whatever ver we choos ch oosee to draw on the page usin singg the sam samee method.

 

  BAS BA SIC GES GESTU TURE RE CHAPTER 2

“Structure “Structu re aand nd gestur gesture” e” aare re fancy fancy wayss of sa way sayi ying ng th the e parts aand nd th the e rela relation tionshi ship p b betw etween een the pa part rts. s. If you hold hol do on n to tho those se tw two o idea ideass, if you use them to gu guide ide the ma mark rkss you ma makke, you will will execute except exceptiona ionall drawings. If. Just if. 1). ). Structure is Idea 1 (see chapter 1 Gesture is Idea 2, which we focus on here.

 

We started with structure because it’s easier than gesture. Gesture is more fundamental and more important than the simple-yet-characteristic structure we might choose. Gesture is the connection, the relationship between the shapes. Gesture is the lifeline. It keeps our  drawings from looking stiff, mechanical, and pieced together. It’s what gives the subject a lively and organic quality. By lively and organic, I simply mean drawing structures with long axis curves. We’ll dig deep into this shortly.

 

2004, 4, by St Steeve Hus Hustton. Alphacolor and Lynn, c. 200 Conté ch chalk alk on St Strat rathmore hmore,, Bristol finish. finish. The There re’s ’s notthin no hingg more be beauti autifu full tthan han a figu figure re de design signeed of off  f 

a few few gr grace acefu full cu curv rvees.  

Why is the curved quality of gesture so diffficul di cult and and sso o ccrritica call? It’s di diffficu cullt, among other reasons, because it’s sneaky. No viewers, and precious few arttists, ccan ar an actu actual allly expl explai ain n the idea i dea of  gesture. It’s like the rhythms of a fine  bass guitarist itari st.. W Wee ju just feel it, y yet et,, it’s it’s critical. It’spaintings, the only way to bring our  drawings, and sculptures alive. Why must it be curved? Anything alive is, mainly, water—fluid. The human body is about 60 percent water. Every organic thing—rivers, clouds,

fire, smoke, drapery, branches, vines and  

flower petals, rock and soil formations, a blade of grass—has that watery qual qu aliity. Or Org gani anic structu structurres evo evollve ve,, stress, weather, calcify, are subjected to chaos theory and wind shear, and so almost never develop symmetrically. Organic things grow off axis, acquiring that wandering this way exquisite and that, fluidity: surprising and delighting us in their infinite variations. Of course, there are exceptions, but as long as the structure has an asymmetrical design or  sits in a dynamic position, it will, in all likeli el ihood, have a lon ong g ax axiis cu curv rve—a e—a gesture.

 

The Idyll , c. 199 1997, 7, by St Steeve Hu Hust ston. on. Bru Brush sh and ink

on Strat Strathmore hmore, kid ffinish inish. The w world orldd.is fu fullll of  wat ate ery design de sign ,lines. Jus Justt .look around. aroun

For artists, this means the essential quality of any living, organic thing is its watery, fluid, graceful, curved design.

Assume it has a gesture and find it. See  

how your forearm rises and falls along its wave-like contour. Look at the curvature of the spine.

 

Notice that if I omit so som me of the le less sseer structur stru cturees in th this is dr draw awin ingg we don don’’t miss them them.. But, Bu t, if I fail wit with h eve even n oon ne gest gestu ure line, I may lose the essenc ssencee of the fig figu ure.

The structure itself—the bones, muscles, and sinew of the forearm, the vertebrae of the spine—is inherently imbued with a fluid design, not just wobbly surface variations. These structures show their  watery origins.

The first line shows a fundamental design. The

other line shows int interest restin ingg variation alon alongg w wh hat is st still, essentially, a straight stre strettch. ch. We alw always ays  

want ttoo ggeet tth wan he big simple idea ideass down down bbeefo fore re w wee indu in dulge lge in the small, sm all, ccomple omplexx one ones.

Even in a quick sketch, there can be a lot going on, and gesture shows up in only very sneaky ways. Trying to understand it can be bli bl ink-bac back k-the-t e- tears ear s di diffficu cullt if  it’s not approached the right way. We can do better. Let’s start slowly. The challenge for us becomes how to keep your carefully structured figure drawing from looking like Frankenstein’s monster (below). Why do ou think we call corpses “stiffs?”

 

Without Witho ut doubt doubt,, stiff stiffness ness is the bigge biggest st knock againstt a cons agains construc tructe tedd style style— —and rrigh ightly tly so.

 

If you fol follow low a ttw wo-ste o-stepp pro process cess of  gestur gest uree/stru /structur cturee, yo you u avoid both the stiff  structures and stick stick figures. figures.

 

On the other hand, if you try to put gesture into your art without a good strategy, you end up with a stick figure (above) that is mainly useless for   buil  bu ildin ding g on. on. Gestu Gesture re needs to accomplish two things: 1. The gesture line must act as the fundamental design line. 2. The gesture line must act as the connecting line, something to which the structure can attach. Put simply: gesture = the long axis curve of any structure

 

Gestur Ge sturee pro provides vides tth he fu fun ndam dameenta tall design lin linees.

 

Throwing a Jab , c. 19 Throw 1999 99,, by Ste Steve ve Hus Hustton. Alphacolor Alph acolor and Conté ch chalk alk on SSttrat rathmore hmore,, Bristol Bris tol fini finish sh.. No mat mattter h how ow bea beau utifully execu cute tedd the final final produ product ct is, the ge gestur sturee has to

be th t here or the drawin drawingg do doeesn sn’’t co come me alive.

Let’s look again at our three basic forms. Remember how we drew the length, width, and, then, depth to get our tube

and box forms? The ball took care of   

itself in terms of process. For the other  two structures, the tube and box, we drew dr ew the twoo-di dim mensi ension onal al si sides des an and d th thee the three ee--di dim mensi ension onal al en ends ds.. If we si sim mply ply curve the sides a bit, we have gesture. And, notice, we can draw a box form without ever drawing a straight line. That makes it lively andexactly organic—not mechanical—and that’s what we need.

 

Pay atte attention ntion to tth he red lines tth hro rou ugh ghou outt the rest of the book. Their purpo purpose se it to help help you map the stru structur ctural al and gestural move movem ments in the variouss art variou artw works sh show own. n.

Here are the three possible solutions for  getting an overall curved, long axis—a gesture—to any form. For each curved design, there is a  bulg  bu lgin ing g side side and and a bi bin nding ding side, side, or  rather, one side is convex and the other  is concave. I’m defining our gesture as the bulging (convex) side.

 

Don’tt aallow Don’ llow tth he sides to oppos opposee each other un unle less ss the structur e isge an egg sh shape ape.. Th That at will can cance cell outt stru ou you yourrcture flu fluid id gesture. sture.

Here’s another thought about that curved, long axis, or structure: always err on the side of the more dynamic. That means, if 

the gesture is curved, make it more  

curved. If the shadow is dark, make it a little darker. Think about it: when writing a comedy, it’s better and safer to make the jokes too funny. In fact, can you even imagine coming out of a theater  with that complaint?

Downed , 201 2010, 0, by St Steeve Hus Hustton. Oil on canva canvas. s.

Gesture ca Gesture can n brin bringg n not ot only life but act action ion to you yourr work!  

It is possible to bend a long axis curve too much, but odds are you won’t. inety-five times out of a hundred, you will stiffen rather than loosen. I can almost guarantee it. And if you do overplay it a bit, even quite a bit, when ou add all the lumps and bumps of  detai detail l , i it t wi wil l l n atura atu ral l l y stiffen stiff en u p anyway. So, for now, live a little. Push that curve! Where does that leave the ball forms?

 

The goal is alw always ays to kkeeep the stru structur cturee w wh hile still ge gett ttin ingg th thee gestur gesturee.

otice there are three ways to get a nice long axis curve. Just choose the one most characteristic of what you see. Any would look suitably alive for the human  body or aan ny such such org organ aniic form form..

 

Remember the straight, red line in that  balll sh  bal shape? ape? If the sides si des oppos opposee eac each h other, they cancel out the fluid design, and there’s no gesture. So oddly enough, the curviest form of all, the ball, is straight and stiff as far as gesture goes.

Avoid Av oid opposing opposing cu curves rves tthat hat ttake ake up most or all the le leng ngth th of yo your ur join jointted part.

 

Gesturee ca Gestur can n org organize anize se several veral small sma ll stru structur cturees unde derr on onee big idea idea..

 

Take a few minutes to study these figure drawings. I’ve floated some red lines to show where some of the gestures are and how they track. Keep in mind that every structure with any substantial long axis has a long axis curve worth capturing. Can you find the others? Try laying tracing paper the page. build on this in laterover chapters as weWe’ll lay out the structure and gesture of each body part.

 

The view viewer’ r’ss eye flo flow ws ov oveer the forms, forms, as over a wate wa terf rfall, all, when the ge gestu stures res are w weell co con nceived.

 

The longer and more gracefu gracefull tth he gestur gestural al cur curve, ve, the mor m oree smooth smoothly ly th thee eye m mov ovees oover ver the

various forms.  

OLD MASTER study Don’t be fooled by all the little wobbles. We want the big sweeping curves that define the big structures. And try to look past that incredible line quality . . . okay don’t! Pontormo was phenomenal, wasn’t he? Can you even find a straight line in this whole drawing? Now, this is alive!

 

St Study udy for f or a Group Grou p of Nude Nudes  s  , by Jacopo Pontormoo ((14 Pontorm 1494 94–1 –155 557). 7). Chalk on pa pape per. r. Gallerie dell’A dell’Academia, cadem ia, Venic Venicee/Br /Bridg idgeema man n Images.

 

Remember, u Rem use se on only ly on onee long long ax axis is cu curv rvee for each jointed part.

 

GIVE GIV E IT A TRY: Exercise 1

Lay traci acin ng paper paper over this dr draw awiing or over any drawing in the chapter. Try to feel the long axis curve in each jointed body part in this Boucher.

 

Nude You Young ng Woman Woman Sitt Sitting, As Asle leeep , by François Boucher (1703–1770). Chalk on paper. Private collection/Bridgeman Images.

 

  ADVANCING THE IDEA DEA OF GES GESTU TURE RE CHAPTER 3 

So fa far, r, w we’v e’ve e ffoc ocused used on g ges estu ture re ((the the fundaamental fund mental design line) as a way to give giv e lif life e to ea each ch b bod odyy pa part rt and link to the stru structur cture. e. When consideri considering ng tthe he human huma n bo body, dy, it is m maade up up o off lot lotss of  part pa rts, s, and and they aall ll need to wo work rk togethe tog ether. r. In chapt chapter er 1, 1, I defined defined structu stru cture re aass “t “the he moveme movement nt ov over th the e forms.”” Th forms. Think ink o off gestur gesture e aass the between

movement

 the forms forms..

 

Herculess Stranglin Hercule Strangling g the Ne N e mean Lion, c. 1620, Petter Paul Rube Pe Rubens ns (157 (1577– 7–16 1640 40)). Chalk, ink, and gouach gou achee on paper. Th Thee Clark A Art rt Instit Institu ute,

 

Williamstown, Massachusetts/Bridgeman Images.

The Design of Life Life Gesture’s Gestu re’s gr grea eatest test gift is to show show,, on on a fundamenta funda mentall llev evel, el, h how ow to move gracefully and dynamically from the head hea d to the neck, from rom the rib ca cage ge tto o the hips, hips, all all the wa wayy thro throug ugh h the body. bo dy. Ges Gestu ture re is wha whatt ma makkes the sepa se para rate te p paarts rts one whole. who le. In o oth ther er word wo rdss, gesture compo composses es.. Ideal deally, a pain pai nter does doesn n’t pain paint seven seven peaches peach es and and an appl apple. e. Sh Shee pain pai nts one one

 peaches and  peaches and an appl apple. e. Sh Shee pain pai nts one one stil st illl li liffe. A wri ritter doesn’t doesn’t write wr ite ttw wel elve ve  

characters into sixty-four separate scenes. He writes one story. Mozart sounds like Mozart only when notes and instruments are orchestrated together. Any artist who just focuses on the pieces ends up with pieced-together results. Art’s job is to orchestrate life into something powerful, effecting, and meaningful—something greater than the individual parts. Art challenges, harmonizes, or dramatizes. It can be cathartic, it can be infuriating, but it’s always, always composed. One song. One story. One dance. One meal. One figure. Gesture is the chef’s secret sauce.

Gesture is the design of life!  

So, the next time you get out your pencil, grab rab h hol old d lliike it’s a condu conductor ctor’’s wand and and get ready to play.

THE WAVE We’ve learned that anything alive is mainly water—fluid. That means life is designed, fundamentally, off the long axis curve. How does that watery design idea work in a complex of structures? It works through the wave. Like all animals, the human animal is designed to be able to hold still in hopes the cave bear doesn’t see it and then to  be able abl e tto o run run lik ikee tth he dick dicken enss w wh hen it

does. All animals need the stability of a tree and the explosive potential of a  

tension-filled spring—to go from stillness to action in the blink of an eye (or the grow growll of a bea bear) r).. Th Thee wave w ave design accomplishes this marvel. The wave design is the design of life. It stabilizes living forms, yet allows for  quick movement.

The hu hum man body is a balancin balancingg act act..  

Any set of forms with an asymmetrical design or in a dynamic pose is a  balan  bal anci cin ng act. Wh When al alll the form formss w with ithin in that set have a long axis curve as the  basiss of their  basi eir de desi sig gn, th the balan bal anci cin ng act  becomes  becom es a wave des desig ign n. Follow the turquoise lines from head to toe in the figure at left to see all the long axis gestures for all major body parts. otice anything interesting? Gesture 1 (G1) is high and to the left. G2 is lower  and to the right. G3 is lower still and to the left again, and so on all the way down. If we take those gestures and move them inside . . . there is that

marvelous, wondrous wave.  

The wave becomes a zigzag if we compress it. Notice each zig and zag is stiill a llon st ong g axis axis curve curve.. The The wave w ave is life in relaxation or submission. The zigzag is life in action or aggression. There is the design of life, and we are going to find its two incarnations throughout the  body u n derly der lyi i n g t h e big bi g sim si m ple pl e i ideas deas an and d the small complex ones. In the image opposite, see how the body crouches like a coiled spring. When that  poten  pot enttia iall een nerg ergy rel releases—W eases—WH HAM!—it throws off gravity and moves the body into flight or fight, or dancing that Slavic kick dance.

 

Motion otion Stud Study: y: Boy Ju Jum mping to the Righ Right  t , 1884, Thomass Cowpe Thoma Cowperthw rthwait ait Ea Eakin kinss (1844 (1844–1 –191 916). 6). Gelat Ge latin in ssilver ilver prin print. t. Philade Philadelph lphia ia M Mus useeum of  Art/ Ar t/Brid Bridgem geman an IIm mage ages. s. The zzigzag igzag is, gene generally, rally, the ess e ssential ential eleme elemen nt in gget ettin tingg mov moveeme men nt in into to yourr art you art..

 

Landsc Lan dscape ape Ske Skettch, c. 20 2004 04,, by Ste Steve ve Hu Hust ston. on. Oil

on pan paneel. A An n ex exam ample ple of the wave wave design design..

The wave makes the painting above seem calm and relaxed. Artists use the wave design in many situations to evoke ust that kind of feeling. (By the way, simplifying the detail and making your  desi de sig gn hori orizon onttal rather ather than vert vertical cal also al so rel elax axes es the mood.) mood.)

 

About my “calm” landscape painting: It really looks like a storm is coming, doesn’t it? I tried to quiet it down even more in this oil sketch. But I can’t seem to stay away from those aggressive zigzag marks. See whether you can calm the storm by sketching in more waves and pulling out most of the zigzags.

Straigh St raightt Shot  Shot , 201 2011, 1, by St Steeve Hus Hustton. Oil on

canvas. can vas. You can sseee how zigzags are the bre bread

 

and but butter ffor or my boxing boxing painti painting ngs. s. Eve Even n the paintt stro pain strokes kes tth hemse mselves lves are ma main inly ly zig zigzags. zags.

CONTRAPPOSTO When I first heard about contrapposto, I thought it was a pasta dish. Actually, it means “counterpose” and comes to us from the Greeks and Romans by way of  the Renai Renaiss ssan ance ce.. Let’s look at the kouros (nude male outh) figure at right. Our early Greek  friend is very proper and set in a  perffectly sy  per sym mmetri etrical cal pose. His feet are  plan  pla nted squar squarel ely y and and h hiis cen centter of  gravity is set right between his legs.

He s stable. Life is balanced. Such  balan  bal ance ce an and d sym symmetry etry don’t don’t sh show ow of off  f   

li fe’ lif e’ss de desi sig gn prin pri nciple cipless ve very ry wel elll. Th They ey don’t curve. And if you walk past him for the ninety-ninth time on your way to the Bacchanalia, he’s almost boring. However, Ms. de Milo shows us something very different. I imagine some anonymous Greek furious genius storming around his studio, he has to carve another kouros. And being a nervous fellow el low (lik (l ikee aalll art artis istts), s) , h hee k keeps eeps sh shiifting from foot to foot as he complains. He happens to glance into a mirror and sees his weight has shifted more to one foot than the other—what a discovery! The idea strikes him like a thunderbolt from

his favor avoriite dei deity. Cont Contrap appos postto! it s what Rodin Rodin call called ed th thee ccllass assiic ccu urve. rve.  

Here’s how it works: When the weight shifts, even a little, to one supporting leg, the other leg relaxes, flexes, and the hip falls compared to the supporting side. That tilt is then balanced by the shoulders tilting the other way. One side of the torso ends up stretching, the other  side pinching—contrapposto. That’s the wave. Exactly where each curve begins and ends depends on how the various  partts art  par ar ticu iculat ate. e. But But, it it’s ther there. e. An And d every artist since well before Ms. de Milo’s creation has used it to compose a figurative world into a graceful and dynamic whole.

 

sixth cceentur nturyy Marble Fune Funerar raryy Stat Statue ue of Kour Kouros  os , c. sixt

BCE, Gre Greek. National National Ar Arch cheeolog ological ical M Mu useum seum,, Athens/Bridgeman Images. Beautiful or boring?  

 c. Aphrodite Aph rodite of Milos, know known na ass “Venu “Ve nuss de M Milo,”  ilo,”  c.

second century century BCE, Gree Greek. k. Marble. Marble. Lou Louvr vree, Paris/Brid Paris /Bridge gem man IIm mage ages. s. Wh Wheen ddeealing wit with h the concept con cept of co con ntrappo rapposto, sto, it’s all about symm symmeetry,  

which means dyn dynam amic ic de design sign.. A And nd that’s the wave!

 

See the contrappo contrapposto sto n now? ow?

Here’s the great thing: As you walk  around the sculpture, no matter what view you take, that curve is composing the head and torso into those two, big simple, opposing rhythms. The limbs work with or against those rhythms with their own lesser rhythms like good subplots to the main story. Why is this so important? Because as soon as the weight shifts, the pose  becomes  becom es dynamic. It becomes asymmetrical. The pose has more  poten  pot enttia iall een nerg ergy, an and d tth hat feel eelss more more

alive to us.  

It’s the play between symmetry and asymmetry that’s the real meat of good design. It implies change is about to happen. That’s interesting. In storytelling, they call it drama, and it will keep you busy for the rest of your  career.

 

 c. Rear Re ar View Vie w of A Aph phro rodite dite,, the “Ve “Ven nus de Milo, M ilo,”  ”  c.

second century century BCE, Gree Greek. k. Marble. Marble. Lou Louvr vree, Paris/Brid Paris /Bridge gem man Image Images. s. Th Thou ough gh there are always alwa ys sseeveral gestur gesturees in every ppos osee, th thee two tw o  

key gestur gesturees ar aree the rib cage ttoo the hip and the hip to tth he leg.

 

OLD MASTER study Rodin (one of my favorites), was keenly aware of the Old Masters,  partticu  par icular arlly Mich ichelan elang gelo. elo. A Ass Michelangelo took from  Belveder ederee T Tors orso o, Apollonios’s Belv Rodin took from Michelangelo. By the way, Michelangelo’s nickname  by oth other ar arttis istts was w as ““IIl Divino,” vino,” tth he divi di vin ne on one.  Age ge of Bronze Bronze, Rodin took the In A classic curve a bit farther by carrying it up through that raised

arm. See how the hip to elbow gesture plays oh so subtly against  

the opposing hip and leg? In fact, he carried that second gesture a little farther as well. It goes up almost to the chest. The divine and the august  —quite  —qu ite a pair! pai r!

 

Age of Bronze , c. 1877, Auguste Rodin (1840–1917). Plaster. State Hermitage Museum, St. Pet Peteers rsbu burg rg/Bridg /Bridgeeman Image Images. s.

 

A fin finee exam ample ple of what Rodin Rodin called “t “th he

classic curve, curve, w which hich is w what hat I call the gesturee.” Can you gestur you see how tth hese ttwo wo  

primary prim ary ggeestur sturee lin linees we were re tth he foun foundat dation ionss for Rodin’ Rodin’ss eentire ntire de design sign?? GIVE GIV E IT A TRY: Exercise 1

Lay tracing paper over the images on these two pages and draw wellconstructed forms over the major   body par partts. Don’t get seduced by the bulging muscles, for example. We want to look for the single long axis curve that represents the complete part or   partts. Gett  par Getting that long long axi axis gestu gesture re right is more important than picking

this orgestures that simple structure. Find many as possible with anas eye on that side-to-side swing. This  

is how we bu buiild our our al alll-i -im mportant portant wave or zigzag actions. Remember to take it one long axis curve at a time. If you have trouble, go back and review the Pontormo analysis from the previous chapter  (see here). here).

 

Dagmar , 1911 1911,, by Anders LLeeonard Zorn (18 1860 60–1 –192 920). 0). Oi Oill on ca canvas. nvas. Privat Privatee collection/Bridgeman Images.

 

 

CHAPTER 4 

PERSPECTIVE We’v e’ve e lea learned rned ou ourr ba basi sicc aapp ppro roaach to to draawing beg dr begins ins with the sim simpl ple-y e-yetetcharacteristic idea. Now, we need to layer la yer on perspect perspectiv ive. e. Most of of us think of perspectiv perspective e as as ma math th pr pretend etending ing tto o be dra drawing. But But tthis his is isn’t n’t the ol old d vanishing nishing po point int p perspectiv erspective. e. It It’s ’s pretend perspective.

 

Reclinin Reclin ing g Male Male Nude , c. twe tw entie ntieth th centur century, y, Nikolai Fechin (1881–1955). Charcoal on paper. University Un iversity of Ok Oklahoma/Bridgem lahoma/Bridgeman an IIm mage ages. s.

When the pose m Whe moves oves into a dyn dynam amic ic po position, sition, proportions can change. In this case, pick a convenie con venien nt stru structur cturee in the pose pose (the (t he hea head, d, a  

hand, oorr a foot) and u hand, use se that as your yardstick— how ho w many han hands ds down unt until you rea reach ch the foreesh for shorte ortened ned be belly lly bu buttton and so on. on.

Trian riangles les and TSqua Sq uarres Aside Aside Let’s define our terms. Perspective is just a complicated way of saying “position.” “p osition.” In a th three-dime ree-dimensi nsion onaal wo world rld, , t there here a are re th three ree posi positions tions i in n  face ce. space: lean, tilt , and and fa Remember, we’re drawing the human  body.. So, we  body we’r ’ree not not concer concern ned with w ith a

 backgroun  backg round wi with vanis vanish hing poin points, station points, or any of the sticky  

tangles of traditional perspective. All we need, in fact, is one eye and the  penci  pen cill test test.. To be clear, there are ways to make formal perspective accessible and, yes, even fun. And I absolutely encourage oufrom to pursue that when you’re ready to go sketching to full-blown picture making—just not today. You’ve already been doing perspective,  by the way w ay.. W We’ e’ve ve bee been n w orki orking with three-dimensional structures for a few chapters now. Three dimensions are three positions in space. And remember:

 posittion = perspe  posi perspect ctiv ivee  

If you know how a structure leans, tilts,  faces aces against a flat vertical wall like and f the one at the end of the room you’re in right now, then you have all the  perspective  per spective you you need. Wh When you dra draw w, ust imagine the surface of your paper—   pict ctur uree pl plane ane —is a w calle cal led d th thee pi wiindow  faces aces away away,, on that wall. The model f leans against, and ti tilt ltss in and ou out  t  relative to that plane. That’s it. What follows is me reminding you what you already intuitively know. In fact, after a few short paragraphs, you won’t see the word “perspective” for the rest of the  book.. I pro  book prom mise!

Let s consider our three positions. Structure is all about corners. The more  

corners you have, the more structure you have. To make that definition as useful as  possibl  possi ble, e, II’m ’m goin oing to add th that stru struct ctu ure is not the same as three-dimensional form. Instead, we’ll define it this way: structure = form + position Pretend all four forms in the image on this page have plenty of volume. In fact, they are rendered perfectly, made of  titanium steel, and even weigh the same. The sphere has weight, volume, and mass. It has form. But—by our definition  —it has has n no o stru struct ctu ure. re. Th Thee box has form and it has a lot of structure. What’s the

difference? Corners.  

In the image below, the red lines tell the tale. As we look at the lonely sphere, we can’t tell whether what we are seeing is its front, side, top, or bottom. We know nothing about its position. Meaning, we can’t tell if it’s leaning, tilting, or facing. ewss flash ew flash: sph spher eres es have no corn cor ners. ers. ((II know you know that; I’m just putting it in context.) The egg, to be an egg, has a long and a short axis. We feel the interior corner  created by the meeting of the long and short axes. We know one of its positions in space. We know it leans.

The tube has the same long and short axis. It leans. We also know its top tilts  

into the picture plane because the bottom  plan  pla ne creates cr eates a cor corn ner. er. W Wee n now ow know a secon se cond dp posi osittion in space—a space—an nd you you’’re  probably ah  probably ahead ead of m mee her here. e. The The box has the leaning position and  the  the tilting  posittion  posi ion.. Bu Butt because because it i t has side s ide pla plan nes, we aarre aafffor orded ded an anot oth her cor corn ner, and and sso o we know the third position in space: how it faces. Leaning. Tilting. Facing. Three  posittion  posi ions. s. Th Thre reee di dim mensi ension ons. s. That That,, my my frien ri ends, ds, iiss wh w hat we cal calll perspective.

 

The sphe sphere, the eegg, gg, the ttu ube be,, and the box in position

THE PENCIL TEST For this, it’s best to use a tubular pencil, or marker, or such, something with a nice stripe of color or a metal eraser  casing that clearly tracks around the width of the tubular structure. Now, set it down. We don’t need it . . . yet. Let’s start with the facing position. Look  at the centerline of the face or torso in the figure below. Both are intuitive, but, sometimes, we flub them. It’s easiest when drawing the face in any kind of 

three-quarter position to look to the far  eye socket. How much socket do you see  

on the far side of the nose? That’s where ou’ll see the centerline very close to the far side of the head, and so you’ve nailed down the facing position. For a back vi view, ew, h how ow cl close ose does the ear  ear  crowd the front of the face? That’s about icare t. Prof Prof ofiithemselves. les es,, front front, an and d ba back ck vi view ews s take tak e We’ll save the more dynamic positions for later.

 

Usingg tth Usin he pencil fo forr more than ma mark rkss

To find find the facin facingg pos positions itions of the tor orso, so, we nee needd to look to th t he waist aan nd n not ot tth he shou shoulde lders rs..

The front, back, and profile positions of  the torso tors o aarre obviou obvi ous. s. Howe However, ver, th the  

shoulders can fool us in any kind of  threeee-qu quar artter vi view. ew. Even in a pr prof ofiile, the shoulders can fool you into thinking it’s a three-quarter view. The trick is to look to the waist, as the turquoise arrows show. How close does the centerline (the spine or belly button to crotch) come to the far side of the waist? When you have to check   proporttion  propor onss visu vi sual allly or ot otherw erwis ise, e, always measure on the short or narrow side. It’s easier. No matter how wide the shoulders get, you are only concerned with drawing a waist-wide tube for the rib cage up to the pit of the neck. And, of 

course, it can taper into the neck by way of the bottle shape if you wish. It is not  

affected by the width of the shoulder  girdle. (We’ll look at this more carefully 9.) .) in chapter 9 What about the limbs? The limbs will orient by the correct placement of the knees and elbows and by how they attach to the torso. That’s it for the facing  posittion  posi ion..

 

Usingg tth Usin he pencil to fin findd tth he leanin leaningg posi posittion

For the leaning position, we do need our   pencils  penci ls.. Look Look to tth he cent center erli lin nes agai again n, in this case, for the torso. Use the long axis landmarks as shown in chapter 3. 3. Start with a convenient section if you’re dealing with a long axis curve, as you usually will be. Close an eye. Lean the pencil to match the lean of the body part you’re drawing. Bring the pencil down to your paper  without altering the pencil’s lean. Draw the angle. It can be the centerline or one of the sides if it’s a tube or box. You can

 build  buil d ou outt the fu full g gestu esture re,, sect section by section, by repeating the steps. It will  

end with the curved idea, just a chiseled version. I’ve shown that on the figure opposite with the dotted red lines above and below the solid one. You’re done with the lean. The lean gives us our two-dimensional sides. With the tilt, we add threedimensional ends. The tilt gives us the most trouble because we are telling, in effect, a lie. The paper is flat. It has no depth. And yet, we want our audience to feel the torso bending and tilting into that flat plane. As we build out the drawing, we want them to feel that muscle and  bonee bul  bon bulge off off the surface. surface. We We aren ar en’t ’t

creating depth, space, or anything like that; we are creating the idea of it—   

curves and corners, my friends, curves and corners. Return to the figure at left. Close one eye. Line up your pencil with the top of  the body part you’re working on. Tilt the  penci  pen cill iin n the sam same man mann ner that the body  par  part t t il ilt t s. If I f t h e pit pi t of t h e neck n eck is f ar art t h er  from you than the belly button, tilt the top of your pencil that way. It’s best to exaggerate the tilt a bit. So, when in doubt, err on the side of the more dynamic! Push it into a deeper tilt than ou think it really is. I don’t expect even a New York art critic will complain that our drawing has too much depth, do

ou? (Right, they probably would.) Pushing your ideas, however, can  

eventually become the basis of your  style! So, that is all three positions: facing, leaning, and tilting. Congratulations! You have deciphered perspective.

EYE LEVEL There is a secret aspect to perspective that sometimes even the pros miss. There is the position of the form itself as explained bythat. facing, our  We just did But,leaning, there is and alsotilting.  posittion to tth  posi he form form.. An And by our , I mean  both  bot h art artist an and d au audi dien ence. ce.

This second aspect is critical. Without it, ou’ll never be able to place your figure  

drawing in a convincingly real-world environment. Think about it. If a guard stands at attention, his three positions are fixed. We can walk around him. Obviously, the facing dimension changes in relationship to our movement. But, what if we decide to lie on our stomach to draw him? What if we we cl clim imb b a ladder ladder?? Bot Both h wou ould ld be, should be, very different drawings even though he has not moved a muscle. What we need to know to draw any form in a fully structured position, then, is our  eye level. It’s not hard. It’s simply one o

those quiet truths that becomes apparent only when someone points it out. Other   

than lining up the top of your pencil end with the top of a body part (if you’re looking at something below you, you’ll likely want to sight bottom to bottom), it’s the same thing as our tilting test. From now on, just do them as one step. The pencil test takes care of this one, too. A): ): The thinking goes like this (see Fig. A If we see a tube in a perfectly vertical  posittion in term  posi erms of tilt il t, in per perffect alignment with the picture plane, as in sch sc hematic ematic 1 (S1), ( S1), an and d ou ourr ey eyee leve evell drops underneath it, then we draw the rib ri b cag cagee as I did in draw drawing 1 ((D D1).

 

Fig. A. The There aare re tth hree variations to con consider sider when un underneat derneath h the su subject bject..

But, if our eye level drops underneath it and it’s tilting away from us at the top as in schematic 2 (S2), then the underneathness, the curvature of the ends, doubles up so to speak, and we end up with a

more ore d dee eepl ply y tilting posit posi tion like dra draw wing 2 (D2).  

Hold your pencil vertically and lift it so its flat top aligns with the top of the tubular ribs and tilt it into the picture  plane as the ribs  plan ribs do (see (s ee Fig. B). B). As always, it’s better to err on the side of  the more dynamic and overdo the tilt. Any curving stripe across the pencil will show you how to construct your threedimensional ends. (Test the idea against some real-world object several feet above you. A few inches might be so subtle that the pencil end looks flat.)

 

Fig. B. Draw Drawin ingg wit with h the eye le level vel in mind. mind.

Last, if the tube tilts toward us at the top

and remains above our eye level, as in schematic 3 (S3), then we end up with a  

rib cage that has more or less canceled the depth clues and we draw flat ends, as in dra draw win ing g 3 (D (D3). I hope you can see how the eye level always has an effect. The little figure  before  bef ore the gia gian nt Roman Roman col colu umn in Fig. C sees each segment in a different position relative to his eye level and so must draw each segment with different threedimensional ends. When the eye level is high, the logic is the same. For the next set, I’ll just use straight tubes.

 

Fig. C. Usin Usingg the three ree-dim -dimeension sional al een nds wit with h eye level.

If we see a tube in alignment with the  pictture pl  pic plan ane, e, Fig. D, D, as in schematic 1 (S1), and our eye level rises above it, then we draw the rib cage, more or less, as I did in drawing 1 (D1). If it’s tilting away from us at the top, as in schematic 2 (S2), then the “on top-ness” cancels

things out again, more or less, and we end up with something like drawing 2  

(D2). And last, if the tube tilts toward us at the top and remains below our eye level as in schematic 3 (S3), then we end up with a rib cage that has doubled up and we draw deeply curving ends as in drawing 3 (D3).

Fig. D. Draw Drawin ingg fr from om a high eye le level. vel.

Does Fig. E E look  look like a tube to you? I have to tell you it’s a tube because the  

contour doesn’t say “tube.” Of course, I could render it with the appropriate gradations. But, the design itself is not supporting the idea of tube-ness.

 

Fig. E. Can you gue guess the prob proble lem m in dr draw awing ing straightt lin straigh linees ffor or the tthr hreee-dim -dimeension sional al eend nds? s?

Let’s revisit the tourist in Fig. C. C. Notice only the horizontal segment at his eye line is straight. The segment below that line curves down, and the segments above it bows up. That means only one E would  would end of that tube drawing in Fig. E  be straig strai ght. The The oth other wou oulld be cu curve rved d slightly, at least. This is a better design. Better yet would be a more dynamic design. Tilt the whole structure slightly in or out of the picture plane. If it’s so close it looks flat on the page, then

 pushin  push ing g it one one w way ay or th thee oth other will readily be accepted by the audience. I  

ust push it toward my design idea. For  example, if it’s most important to me to show viewers they’re above or below the form, then I tilt it with that in mind. If  it’s most important to show the form  break  bre akin ing g the pict pictu ure pla plan ne, th then I go wi with that idea. But remember, this is just for  close cal close calls ls.. If If it’ it’s ccle lear arlly tilt il ting ing, st stic ick  k  with what you see and use the pencil test to draw it.

 

OLD MASTER study Study this lovely Boucher. We’re looking down on it, aren’t we? In fact, our our eye eye llevel evel is wel elll above th thee top of the page. For fun, I’ve done a somewhat simpler redraw with our  eye level just over the top of the figure’s head, and another smaller  one with an even lower eye line. In  bot  both h , I’ve I ’ve rem re m oved th t h e draper dr apery y f or  clarity. The turquoise lines show the approximate eye lines. They’re quite different drawings, aren’t they?

 

Recumben Recumbe nt Nude  Nude , c. eigh ightteenth century, century, Francois Boucher Boucher ((17 1703 03–1 –177 770). 0). Pe Pencil ncil aand nd chalk ch alk on pape paper. r. Private collection/Bridgeman Images.

 

Seein See ingg tth he Bou Bouch cheer fr from om dif differe ferent nt perspectives. GIVE GIV E IT A TRY: Exercise 1

Try the same with this Watteau. Let’s say we’re at the bottom of her seat. Try going even lower and exaggerate the tilt into the paper. Or  try coming up higher and backing off  that depth. Keep in mind, the pose

itself tilts, and you would have to come way over the top to get her   

torso back in line with the picture  plan  pla ne. The point is not to get it mechanically right, but to feel there are distinct differences in the  posittion of the pose as ou  posi ourr pos posiition ion to it changes. If it stumps you, don’t worry: it’s trick cky y. In Instead, stead, practic practicee a basi basic con co nstru tructi ction on as Watteau co con ncei ceived ved it. That’s work enough.

 

1716, 6, Je Jean an Ant Antoine Wat Wattteau ((16 1684 84– – Flora , c. 171 1721 17 21)). Ch Chal alkk on pape paper. r. Louvre Louvre,, Paris/Bridgeman Images.

GIVE GIV E IT A TRY: Exercise 2

 

Do an analysis of the Nicolai Fechin drawing (see here) here) at the start of the chapter. Can you change the eye level? Or, draw simple tubes, boxes, and spheres with three-dimensional ends that show the forms tilting deeply into the paper. Notice the ends may  be curvi curvin ng because because the the form form is tilting dramatically or because your  eye level is dramatically lower, or  higher, to it—or both!

 

 

CHAPTER 5 

THE LAWS OF LIGHT I’ve been very clea I’v clearr th thaat I devis devise e selfserving definitions. Obviously, the body do body does esn’t n’t ha havve tubes tubes hidd hidden en inside ins ide it no norr are there there llon ong g axis xis wires flowing lowing thr throu ough gh it. We crea creativ tive e types perform perfor m aall ll sort sortss of menta mentall gymnastics to get a hand gymnastics handle le o on n tthis his thing ca called lled “a “art rt.” .” But the laws of light are something we can take into the laboratory and prove.

It’s science. Nature works by physical law la ws. Peopl Peoplee discover di scover them. em. Soon Soon,, w wee  

come to depend on them—the scientists and the artists. These laws are so constant they take us into the outer  realms of space or inner realms of  quantum physics. But, think about this: another word for laws is rules. Another   formulas ormulas . word for rules i  iss f

 

A Male Nud N udee Seat Seateed wit with h His Back Turn Turned , c. sixteeenth sixt nth/se /sevente venteeenth century century,, by Ann Annibale ibale Carracci Ca rracci ((15 1560 60–1 –160 609). 9). Chal Chalkk on buff pape paper. r.

Private Pr ivate Coll Colleection ction/Br /Bridg idgeema man n Images. Images.

 

The Ju The Jum mp Ro Roper  per , 199 1998, 8, by St Steeve Hu Hust ston. on. Charcoal and chalk chalk on Strathmore Bris Bristtol pape paper. r.

ormu rmulas las Usin Using g Two or 

Three Values  

Using formul Using formulaas is is consi consider dered ed o old lder er than tha no old ld schoo schooll aand nd it’s a to tota tall p paarty rty killer for the cool cool cro crowd wd.. But, it’s aalso lso a very import importaant bas baseline. eline. La Laws, ws, rules, rules, formul for mulaas—th s—this is iiss th the e mecha mechanism nism by which wh ich na natu ture re acts na natu tural. ral. N Naatura tu rall is consi con sistent. stent. It It’s ’s dependa dependable. ble. And if yyou ou plaan to pl to ma makke aart rt with even a modicum mod icum of rea realism lism,, you need tto o kno now w a ffew ew o off the la laws ws of na natu ture. re. You may be planning to go all Picasso after you finish this book. Fine with me. I like Picasso. The laws of nature are a great place from which to make that

ump—as Picasso himself did. It’s that whole “you have to know the rules to  break  bre ak the ru rules” les” ccli lich ché. é. Cli Clich chés és aare re  

truisms so true they no longer surprise us. They bore. So, it’s our job as artists to freshen things up. So, back to formulas: Rule 1 . . .

ule 1: Diffe Differrent V Va alu luee = Different Plane All tthings All hings aare re po posssible sible in this wor world ld.. Butt for this bo Bu book ok,, aand nd fra frankl nkly, y, ffor or most rea realisti listicc aart rtwo work rk,, tthe he aart rtis istt u use sess one direct light source. Light coming from only one direction

makes the process infinitely easier. Two  plan  pla nes equ equal allly faci acin ng the dire direct ction ion of the light source look equally light. But,  

when one plane turns away from the light, that plane gets darker. Rule 1: different value = different plane. From this little idea comes great things! It may seem impossible to the uninitiated, but the rule of different value = different plane lets artists take brush or pencil to flat paper or canvas and make it look like rocks, or water, or a figure, or all of those things. When those values are pushed toward the extremes of light and dark, as in this

figure drawing at right, it’s called chiaroscuro, a Renaissance term meaning light-dark. It means playing one  

value against the next for dramatic effect.

Always kn Alw know ow the dir direection of the ligh lightt sou sourc rcee befor be foree be beginn ginning ing yyour our sh shadow adow work.

 

2000, 0, by Ste Steve ve Hus Hustton. A Alphacolor lphacolor aand nd Molly , c. 200

Conté ch chalk alk on Strat Strathmore hmore,, Br Bristol istol fin finish ish.. Th Thee chiaroscu ch iaroscuro ro (light and sh shade ade in dr draw awing ing and  

paintin paint ing) g) de design sign is in infin finite itely ly eeasie asierr to re ren nde derr an and, d, of cou cours rsee, more dramatic, dramatic, tth han su subtle btle ligh lighttin ing. g.

If we try to capture all the subtle values one mark at a time, as we might assume Zorn did, it’s overwhelming and we’ll almost certainly fail. So, we fall back on one of our earliest strategies: big and simple, followed by small and complex. We start with the foundational ideas and save the subtle details for later, if at all. We only have two responsibilities: separating light from shadow and foreground from background. That’s it! And even better, this is a figure-drawing

 book, not  book, not a dr draw awiing-the-the-w wholeole-w worl orld d  book,, so we  book w e don’t don’t n need eed to wor worry ry abou aboutt the foreground/background relationships.  

Leaving blank paper around the drawn figure does all the separating needed. It doesn’t even need to be done very well. There is no line in nature. There are no hatching textures. Nature is full of  color. But, because we have the big si mple sim ple fou oun ndational dational ideas deas dow down n cl clea earl rly y, all else is forgiven. And the looseygoosey technique can even be charming. It’s what we call a sketch, letting the  process  proc ess sh show ow while il e still still respe r espect ctin ing g the  big ideas. The beauty of a solid method is we don’t need to sweat the small stuff, as the

saying goes. Start big—if you want to, stay big.  

Adding a background distinguishes the foreegrou for ground nd an andd roots an obje object ct in sp space ace..

 

When we dr Whe draw aw the sh shape ape of the shadow shadow on the ball, the ball loo looks ks bet bette terr (mean (me anin ingg a litt little le more real). If we dr draw aw it w with ith a sof softt edge, as I did iin n the last ball, iitt loo looks ks bbeett tteer yet yet.. (I (Iff you you n neeed a review of how ttoo make soft soft eedges, dges, reread tth he Introduction..) Introduction

A TWO-VALUE SYSTEM  

As stated previously, the only values we’re obligated to show our audience are the light and shadow values. And we’re thinking big and simple, so we only need to find two values; one value for the light and one value for the shadow. We can certainly add rendered detail onto those two values. In fact, we can add as much detail as we want. That  becomes  becom es an an added st step by turnin rning g the two values into two value ranges. Let’s start, though, with a two-value system and an d a threeree-st step ep pr proces ocess: s:

1. Draw the shape of the form.

 

2. Draw the shape of the shadow on the form. 3. Give the shadow a darker value. So, you’ve drawn the form and the shape of the shadow on the form and then given the shadow a darker value. How do we know when it’s dark enough? The best thing to do is take a cue from the chiaroscuro crowd. We use the “squint test.” Take a moment to squint at the Zorn heree), that  pain  pai nting ing, Dag Dagm mar ( shown her started this chapter. Notice that the light

and shadow on the figure do not separate from each other very well. Rather, the foreground figure separates from the  

 backgroun  backg round wh when you squ squin intt at it. Th That one choice makes the construction of a convincing figure much more difficult. As you see, it can still be done, and  beauttifully  beau ll y. It’s still all about value. Zorn used subtler values, meaning more room for  mistakes. Better to start with the dramatic chiaroscuro strategy and ensure all the shadows group against all the lights, even if there is rendered detail going on in one or both. ow, look at Zorn’s Madonna at the right and squint. Despite the details, the

shadows look dark and the lights look  light, and the two don’t compete.  

The master artist may choose a more sophisticated way of dealing with foregro or egrou und/ba d/ backg ckgrrou oun nd an and d light/sh t/shadow adow relationships, although realism demands it be based on the rule of different value = different plane. And when sketching ideas deas or obs obser ervation vations, s, som sometim etimes es the shadows don’t separate with great contrast. Look to the earlier chapters and ou’ll see plenty of examples. They are still beautiful. Many are masterpieces. However, nothing beats chiaroscuro for  the dramatic effect of showing form in space. It’s the easiest way to add value, complexity, and realism to your work. If 

the light and shadows do not separate, then the form won’t pop off the page.  

Think about da Vinci, Giorgone, Carav Car avag agg gio, Rem Rembr bran andt, dt, va van nD Dy yke, Gainsborough, or Sargent portraits, Inness landscapes, and myriad others—  they all pass the “squint test.” And, if  ou want to learn quickly and efficiently to harness the power of value, your  drawings and paintings should too.

 

Under any love lovely rende renderin ringg or fantastic fantast ic te tech chniqu niquee are th t he real bones of the work ork,, and that is what painte pain ters rs call call tth he tonal composition. The The easiest w ay to put a t ton onal al composition in place is w with ith ourr two-valu ou tw o-valuee sys systtem: sseeparating ligh lightt fr from om shadow sh adow thro throu ugh the squin squintt test.

 

Madonna , 1899, by Anders Leonard Zorn (1860–

1920)). Oil on canvas. Privat 1920 Privatee collection/Bridgeman Images.  

BOX LO LOGIC GIC Look at the image above. Just so we’re clear, the red lines show the corners. You can see, in term of rendered detail, the ball and tube are still very boxy. Only their contours say “round.” That’s often as far as we’ll take a sketchbook  drawing. And, oddly enough, the viewer  adds the roundness for us. One of the nice things about art is if we get the  begiinning rig  beg ri ght, th the audie audien nce wi w ill fin iniish the rest. Our rule, different value = different  plan  pla ne, tu turns rns tth he form form,, any any form orm.. N Not otiice I

drew a ball and a tube with the same  process  proc ess I used for th the box. box. I cal calll this box logic. In other words, by finding the  

edge between light and shadow on any form, we’ve found the principle “corner” for that form—another  arbitrary definition, but a useful one.

Here are som somee simple con constru structe ctedd ffor orm ms do don ne with the tth hree ree-ste -stepp ppro rocess, cess, bu butt w with ith dif differe ferent nt shading sh ading te tech chniqu niquees.

By thinking of the beginning of any shadow as a corner, we have come back  to our definition of structure. Corners  

are corners whether you create them with line or tone and whether you intend to round off those corners later. Notice, too, the drawing doesn’t have to be done masterfully to get the idea across. It can  be a sk sketch etch.. I bet you can do it ju just st as well, probably better. Finding the shape of the form, finding the shape of the shadow on the form, and then grouping the shadows darker is the onlly res on espon ponsi sibi billity we h have ave for  ach ac hiev eviing rea eallism sm.. Fin Findin ding the shap shapee of  the form and the shadow establishes a corner, and shadow gives an instant and deep dee p ssen ense se that wh whatever you’ ou’re d dra raw wing

is a fully three-dimensional form.

 

These fiv The fivee-m -min inu ute dr draw awin ings gs use tth he thre three-ste -stepp process pr ocess ttoo add sh shadow adow sh shape apess to a ba basic sic lay-in ssoo you can see the aapplic pplicat ation ion.. We will w ill walk

through ho throu how w to m make ake be belie lievable vable sh shadows adows on ffu ull figures.  

alfton alft ones, es, High Highli ligh ghts, ts, and an d a New Rule

Two types of vvaalues lues ma makke up the llight ight sid si de o off aan no object bject—ha —halfto lftones nes aand nd highlight highl ights. s. Le Let’ t’ss loo lookk at each. each. HALFTONES The halftone is everything in the light side that is not a highlight. This means the halftone can be almost as dark as the shadow and almost as light as the highlight. Whether you add a little or a lot, the character of the halftone is

radation.

 

If the beginning of the shadow is a corner, then the halftone’s most important job is to round the corner. The more gradation, the rounder the form gets. That means we can render those spheres and tubes so they are completely con co nvin vi ncin ci ng. Our Our twoo-val valu ue system system  becomes two valu  becomes val ue ran rang ges once once w wee add halftone. (By the way, it still needs to  pass the squin squintt test.)

 

Time to ma make ke tth he tth hree ree-ste -stepp ppro rocess cess a fo fou ur-s r-ste tepp process pr ocess wit with h the halftone adde added. d.

The illustration at right shows some common mistakes artists make when adding halftones. These include: A. Drawing the core shadow (beginning

corner) with a hard edge rather than a soft edge.  

B. Drawi Draw ing a straig strai ght-line core cor e to describe a round form; curved forms generally need curved details to explain them. C. Drawing the whole shadow so light that the viewer doesn’t get that chiaroscu chi aroscuro ro pop. D. Drawing the core shadow much darker than the body of the shadow. E. Not accenting the corner with a slightly darker beginning. F. Making the outline significantly darker than the shadow value.

G. Making the halftone darker than the shadow.  

I repeated E, F, and G in marker (H, I, and J) to make the point that it’s the fundamentals we’re talking about. The technique or medium has nothing to do with it.

Theese dr Th draw awin ings gs ssh how so some me co comm mmon on mista mistakes. kes.

 

Keep in mind, the squint test solves most of these problems. It ensures the lights stay light and the darks stay dark, and the two don’t compete with each other. It’s key that you draw the beginning of  the shadow shape as a nice soft edge. That sets things up for the halftone rendering.

HIGHLIGHTS To understand highlights we need a pool table. Light strikes an object and bounces to

our eye. That s how we see both the value and the color of any object.

 

Study the image at right. Think of the  pool cue cue as the lig ligh ht sourc source, e, th the ball bal l aass the light coming from the source, the far   bank  ban k as the the object object bein being g lit, an and d tth he  pocket  pock etss as the posit posi tion of the artist/viewer. The light source washes over the form. As the form slowly rolls away from the light source, the light glances off of it with an ever ever-wea eak keni ening eff effec ectt. Th That at is is our halftone gradation.

 

To get get the ball into pock pockeet 1, you have to boun bounce ce it off off the far ccu ush shion ion.. Ligh Lightt work orkss the sam samee way. It bounces. bounces.

The highlight is a little different—it

tends to stay in the area most directly facing the light source. But, there is  

room for movement in that hot spot. That’s going to be a good thing for us. otice that if neither the light source nor  the object moves but the viewer changes  posittion  posi ions, s, th then en the hig high hlig li ght can sh shift ift.. The turquoise trajectory into pocket 1 shows this, as opposed to the red line trajectory into pocket 2. All this is to say that light bounces. Or, as they say in the business, light reflects. Reflecting light explains how the highlight can move around (did I mentio that was a good thing?) and it explains why shadows aren’t dead black!

BOUNCING LIGHT  

Light bounces. It bounces to our eyes so we see what we see. It also bounces into anything else that turns toward it. That  brin  bri ngs us us tto o Ru Rulle 2.

 

If we decide ttoo re revis visit it tth hat dreade dreadedd foreegrou for ground/backgr nd/backgrou ound nd idea idea,, thin things gs ge gett more complicated.  

ule 2: Every Everytthing that  that  ec eceives eives Li Ligh ght t Is a Sour So urce ce of L Liight  ght  As the the light strikes the stair stair step or an off-camera wall, it bounces back into the ball ball sitting there there ((se see e the turqu tur quois oise e aarr rrow ow)), aatt left. It w won’ on’tt bounc bo unce e iinto nto the ligh lightt side side beca because use it’s a weak weaker lig light ht sou source rce ttha han n th the e spo potl tlight ight or sunlight ttha hat’s t’s pow powering ering the scene scene to begin with.

The way it works is, the light that  boun  bou nces up off off the step wil wi ll llig igh hten the  plan  pla nes that that face dow down n. The The lig ligh ht that  

 bounces to th  boun the rig righ ht from the off off-c -cam amer eraa wall that faces right will lighten the  plan  pla nes that that face llef eftt. A Ass you you see see,, tth he ball bal l is a little lighter than the core at the  botttom and  bot and bot botttom/l om/lef eftt. This can get confusing, I know. For an introdu oduction ction to to d drraw awiing (eve even n a fai airrly comprehensive book as this is), messing around with bouncing light on a face or   body is too mu much to h han andl dle. e. There are two reasons I mention this. We need to know that light bounces so we can take control of the highlights. And we are already giving a good

representation of bouncing light without even trying!  

That shadow corner we accent with a core of darkness did several things for  us: • It made sure we spotted the corner for  our structure. • It was created as a soft mark to render  our halftone gradations more easily out of it. • It created a sense of bouncing light without getting bogged down with the theory. When one mark can serve several

 purpos  pu rposes, es, iitt’s a good good mar mark k.

 

That’s more than enough to make our  artwork look impressive. In fact, remember da Vinci, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and the rest of those masters of chi chiar arosc oscu uro? ro? W Wh hat we we ju j ust did did iiss what they mostly did for their finishes.

 

In adows the twoget cen ntral fig figu utres this sket sketch ch,, thete sh shadows gece t very ve ry ligh light aan ndinbegin to compe compete with tthe he light side. These ligh lightts and ddarks arks can can be made to w wor ork. k. But But in the be begin ginn nin ing, g, kee keepp to tthe he  

tw o-valuee sy two-valu syste stem m an andd ou ourr ssqu quin intt te test st ttoo deteermine lights an det andd dark darks. s.

HIGHLIGHTS AGAIN I’ll make this quick. Because highlights move around (if you forget why, it doesn’t matter), we are going to make them work for us. As we can see in the image to the right, highlights are corners. Highlights are structure!

 

Using white and dark ch charcoal arcoal on tone oned pape paperr is an eto xcelle cellent preparat preparation ionts. for paintin painting, g, and and you getex playntw with ith h high ighligh lights.

 

The be beginn ginning ing of the shadow is a corner. We know that know that.. Well, the high ighligh lightt is a corn corneer as we well. ll. It’s ju just st a corn corneer bbeetw tweeen two plan planees in light. light.

 

Joe in Costum Costume , c. 19 1999 99,, by Ste Steve ve Hu Hust ston. on. Alphacolor Alph acolor and Conté ch chalk alk on SSttrat rathmore hmore,, Bristol finish. finish. The There are lot lotss of h highligh ighlightts on the  

head drawi head drawing ng I did. How m many any you can ma mapp ou outt? I’I’llll go firs firstt. Wh Wheere tth he side of the nos nosee meets tth he fron fr ontt of th thee no nose se on the bridge, bridge, we have a high ighligh light Thre plane planes ccome ome toget ogeth herthe where tth he top, fron fro ntt., Thr and andeecor corner ner splan plane es me mee et at highlight high light on the ttip ip of the nose!

 

Track those those high ighligh lightts. If they are not qu quite ite at a perfect corn corner, it it’’ll m most ost like likely ly be clos closee enou ough gh..

 

Remember, highlights move around. The trick is to keep them away from the shadow corner. That way, the highlight always suggests two planes in light. The  process  proc ess sh shou ould ld be sh shadow, adow, h hal alfftone, one, and and highlight, each having its own space. Highlights do other things, too. They can  blast  bla st ou outt a h hal alfftone one ar area ea to m mak akee iitt pop away from the shadows even more. Highlights and halftones can gradate a curve it’s tfading outa fla of t ldown ight. They Th ey ca can ntoalso alshow so grada adat e across acr oss flat  plan  pla ne such such as a tablet abletop op to to m move ove tth he eye eye in and out of space a little more

naturally.

 

Not ice tth Notice hat even in the quick sketch sket chees on these twoo pages, I ke tw keep a litt little le of the paper’ pape r’ss ton tonee betwe bet weeen th thee pen an andd in inkk sh shadows adows an andd the white chalk highlights.

 

OLD MASTER study This portrait by John Singer Sargent features a well-constructed head. Imagine all the little details Sargent left out and you’ll begin to appreciate the vision involved. As always in chiaroscuro pieces, the shadows anchor the image. Look  how the darks pull the cheek and skull into si sku side plan pl anes—l es—lik ikew ewis isee for  the bottom planes. And look at that fine highlight

tracking down to the corner of Mr. Brabazon’s nose. Look how the highlight on the chin stays away  

from the core shadow corner on the chin. Also, the highlights on the chin and lower lip are much reduced compared to that on the nose, which I’ve accented for emphasis. The ear highlight is a long gesture finishing in staccato strokes at either  end. The far mutton chop and mustache highlight is a long zigzag that ties the two forms together—  there’s a great deal of variety to keep our interest. Fine work  throughout.

 

Hercules Brabazon , c.((18 twe tw56–1 en–192 tieth ie925). th5).centur century, y, John Singer Sargent Sarge nt 1856 Oil on canvas. National Museum Wales/Bridgeman Images.  

Lay tracin t racingg pape paperr over tthi hiss drawing an andd ttry ry a little lit tle trick: th thicken icken u upp tth he high ighligh lightt on the

nose so it s a bit fat fattter. Do tthe he sam samee for the coree sh cor shadow adow th t hat helps ddeescr scribe ibe tth he hollow of the ch cheeek. Now, both the high ighligh lightt and the co core re hav havee become litt little le co corn rneer pplan lanees in  

and of of them themselve selves. s. Ar Aree you start startin ingg to se seee the possibilities? GIVE GIV E IT A TRY: Exercise 1

Find one simple shape in some of  the drawings from this chapter. Maybe it’s a tube for an upper arm or an egg for a hip. And then, add the shadow shape to your simple conception. If you choose well, your  shadow shape should be very close to the shadow shape in the source drawing. If not, try another simple shape.

GIVE GIV E IT A TRY: Exercise 2

Get some tone paper and white chalk. See the supply list in the  

Introduction for  for suggestions. Draw Introduction simple balls, boxes, and tubes. Draw the same way you would on white paper. Add the shadows. Then, add a little white. Keep away from the shadow corners. It’s better  to add too little than too much. When you get comfortable with that, try a body part or two from this chapter’s drawings. Remember, we still have to figure out how to compose the shadow on mashed-up  body par partts.

 

Re Reclinin clining g N Nude  ude  , c. 20 2002 02, , by Ste Steve ve Hu Hust ston. on. Carb-Othello pen pencil oon n Strat Strath hmor oree ton oneed paper.

 

PART   t w o

B REAKING REAKI NG DOWN DOW N THE HU HUMAN BODY BODY

 

 

CHAPTER 6

THE HUMAN BODY: AN OVERVIEW OF BASIC FORMS To ca capt ptur ure e th the e es esse sence nce o off the huma human n body, bo dy, ev even en in ba basi sicc p poses oses,, w we e need a strateg stra tegyy ffor or div dividing iding it int into o mana ma nag gea eabl ble e pieces. It’s It’s ho how w tthe he O Old ld Masters conceived of the figure, and is the same same techniqu technique e used b byy to toda day’s y’s

animators.

 

Kouross (side vie Kouro view) w),, 52  525– 5–55 550 0 BCE BCE.. Gre Greeek. Sculptur Scu lpturee. N Nat ation ional al Ar Arch cheeologi ological cal Muse useum,

Athens/Br Athe s/Bridgem idgeman an IIm mage ages. s. We w will ill pr prim imarily arily analyze our figu figure ress fr from om for form mal posit positions ions,, like this Gre Greeek kou kouros. ros.  

ow to Begin Begin I’ll ta take ke you thro through ugh tthe he body ffrom rom jointed pa part to jointed p paart, rt, alw alwaays with an an eye to ou ourr method method:: gesture/structure, gesture/structure. This cha chapt pter er is our pr pra a ctica ct ical l beginning beg inning aand nd la lays ys the found foundaation for progressing from simple to detailed, from forma formall to dyna dynami mic, c, and from lline ine to tone to ne.. A word about the challenge of   proporttion  propor ons: s: the look lookin ing g, th the meas measu urin ri ng,

the measuring, the looking, well, I ve saved that until the end of the chapter. Measuring is the last thing we need to worry about while jumping headfirst into  

the complexities of the human body. For  now, just observe and draw. Do your   best wit wi th the in inform ormat ation ion at hand. and. Part of  our goal here is to build good instincts so the art comes naturally. Here’s a suggestion as you read: Stop and sketch a few of the instructional drawings after each section to test these new ideas; it is only by drawing that you will soa soak k up the the materi material al in a lastin l asting g way. If you want to go the extra mile, after each new section go back and review some of your drawings from earllier ear ier sections sections to see how you di did—  d— 

and celebrate your progress and improvement.

 

Eve  , c. wenntie ntiet th cce entur ntury, y, Augus August t/Bridge e Rodin (18 – 1917 17). ). tBro Bron ze ze.. Priv Privat ate e collect collection ion/Bridg em(1840 an 40– Images.  

This kind of dedication teaches you to see what’s in front of you in a deep way. You’ll be amazed by what you missed  before  bef ore and and at your our gai gain ns as you move forward. Work those creative muscles, and you will see as you’ve never seen  before  bef ore!!

As we begin, scan the these se figu figures res and me men nta tally lly tick offf the big simple fo of forms rms you see see.. Th Thee artist has an eye that co con nstantly sseees an andd translate translates. s.  

As I point out the differences between male and female structures, keep in mind the number and character of the bones and muscles in both sexes are the same. The proportions and constructed forms of each simply vary a bit due to differing fat deposits and muscle masses. However, the gestures stay substantially the same, though with the generally lessmuscle-bound female those gestures can show some subtle variations in the curves of the limbs. There is a huge amount of diversity in the world, making for amazing variations on these themes. What I’m giving you here is, of course,

the basics. The specifics for each body  partt ar  par aree tack tackle led d iin n detai detaill beg begiinning on the next page.  

2005 05,, by Ste Steve ve Hu Hust ston. on. Reclinin Reclin ing g Redh Re dheead , c. 20 Gouachee and pe Gouach pen n and in inkk on sc scrapbook rapbook pape paper. r.

The He Head ad,, the Neck, and an d the Sho Shoulder ulder Li Line Beca ecause use I sa said id tha thatt tthe he g gestur esture e is more impo importa rtant nt ttha han n tthe he sstru tructur cture, e, we won’t wo n’t lo look ok at each each pa part rt in tota total

isolation. Remember, the ideas of  structu stru cture re aand nd gestur gesture e reall reallyy mea mean n the the part pa rtss and and the rrela elation tionshi ship p betw between een  

the pa parts. rts. Getting everything everything to fi fitt together to gether is what’s what’s tou tough. gh. We need to consi con sider der ttha hatt rright ight fro from m the ssta tart rt.. FRONT VIEW As we find the first structure (S1), we want already to have drawn the first gest esture (G1). 1). So, the proce process ss bec becom omes es:: G1/S1, G2/S2, G3/S3, and so on. This, then, becomes the two-step  process that is ou  process ourr dr draw awin ing g meth ethod. Got Got it? Good. You master this basic approach appr oach,, an and d iitt will help elp k keep eep Frankenstein from kicking down your 

studio door.

 

For the head, the gesture line is concei con ceived ved as as a vert vertical ical cen centter erllin inee th that at runs through the spot where the eyebrows meet the bridge of the nose to where the underside of the lower lip A). ). The head is meets the chin (see Fig. A  buil  bu iltt on ontto its gestu gesture re as aan n egg egg with a horizontal centerline for the eye level—  gesture/structure. Notice how the tilt of  the head torques the neck and coaxes our   beloved  bel oved cu curve rve back into exi exist sten ence. ce.

 

Fig. A. The The cente centerlin rlinee of th thee head

When you have a symmetrical situation, as in the frontal or back positions, the gesture line becomes straight and stiff  for the head, neck, and torso. You are forced to sacrifice the curved gesture idea—a dea—a great eat, bu butt nec neces essa sary ry,, lloss oss.. Of  course, you have all sorts of chances to go crazy with the limbs or even have the hair blow in the wind. You can also make the egg into a capsule shape with A shows.  shows. It tracks the flat lat sides as Fig. A gesture line better, which is not a bad idea.

SIDE SI DE V VIEW IEW

 

In the Fig. B side-view B side-view sketch, drawing 1 (D1) risks being too rounded in the face, creating a sloping forehead and a weak chin. Drawing 2 is fine. Really. It distinguishes the round character of the skull from the angular planes of the face. That’s a good thing. I prefer the triangular sail shape in drawing 3, however, because it’s simpler. It’s a little pointy in back, but I’ll add a couple of bells and whistles and maybe you’ll change your mind—or not.

 

Fig. B. Sim Simple ple ye yett charact characteeristic. A Ass lon longg as you fulf fu lfill ill these tw twoo rreequ quir ireeme men nts, th theere are always always choice ch oicess for an anyy give given n body part.

Draw a small line back from the chin as it flows into the neck (this little underside plane keeps the mask of the face from looking like a paper cutout). The gesture line of the neck is generally

athe nice full curve that swings down over  omitted windpipe to the pit of the neck. The neck construction is  

completed by another curve coming off  the back of the skull (more on that following). otice, in profile, how the gesture line C has  has moved to the simplified in Fig. C contour of the head and is no longer  straight like the front view (shown with red lines). Also notice the ear angles  back a bi bitt from that gesture esture lin ine. e. Pay attention to how the long axis of the skull goes back and slightly up as it moves from fro ron nt to to b back ack—a —a cri critical detai detaill.

 

Fig. C. Everythin Everythingg look lookss a lit little tle flat w withou ithoutt ou ourr tradem trade mark ends ends.. The hea headd is tou tough gh to get rig righ ht. So, when when in dou doubt bt,, simplify.

Even more important to drawing a successful profile is to make sure the

 back of the sku skull stay stayss h hiigh compar compared ed tto o the placement of the chin. Looking straight ahead, use your fingers to feel the place in back where your skull meets  

the neck at the top of the spine. Now drag your finger around front, staying horizontal. Your finger should end up right over your eyeball. Whatever  constructed shape(s) you use (and you could certainly find other solutions than these), make sure the skull sets high in  back. W  back. Wiithout out that, at, th the neck neck never fits as it should.

 

Whistle notch drawings

Adding specific features gets tricky so, first rs t, llet et’’s llear earn n how to dr draw aw “wh “w hist is tle notches” to represent them.

Whistle Notch Imagine cutting a notch out of a tube. That’s the whistle notch idea. This idea  becomes  becom es the the eye eye soc sock ket that houses ouses the eyeball. We’ll find that each feature has its own basic structure. The reason the whistle notch is so important is all features, except the ear,

are on the front of the face. Drawing a face on a paper bag will give you the idea. When you just start drawing  

features of a basic profile, odds are they’ll look flat and cartoony. Not good. ot structural. Remember: structure needs corners. The whistle notch acts as the corner for the face. If you use the eyebrow and the cheek  line as it meets the lower eyelid, that’ll give you the notch. As the cheek  descends, it suggests enough of the corner for the viewer to feel the frontal features are as they should be.

 

Cartoony drawing

 

Eye socket socketss

THREE-QUARTER VIEW As with the profile, the triangle construction also works great for a  

three-quarter view. This back three-quarter view shows how those features are hiding around the front. Notice how the whistle notch has  becomee th  becom the barest bar est divot divot.. Als Also, o, not notiice how the ear begins to crowd the front of  the face. It’s marking off these two landmarks that turn the head correctly. What you have to be mindful of in a three-quarter front view is the centerline. Always measure how close it gets to the far side of the face.

Start with a “T” made from the centerline of the features and the eyebrow line. Then, mark off the feature eaturess with appropri appropriat atel ely y placed placed  

construction lines ending with the chin to make sure the length is correct. All are on the front plane of the face, so make surre they su they’r ’ree paral par alllel to eac each h other. other. If you draw in the hairline (simply or  more characteristically) to meet the jaw line, the ear attaches to the sideburn area. You’re welcome to do this on the  profilee as wel  profil elll. Th Thee neck neck com comes es from  behiind th  beh the ear, both both fron rontt an and d back  views. If it feels too fat or too thin, you know the width of the face is off. As the ears sit on the side of the face,

relating them back to the eye or eyebrow line gets you a fairly accurate corner for  dynamic positions of the head. Place the  

corner at the end or arch of the eyebrow for best results.

Back thre three-qu -quarte arterr vi vieew  

Front three-quarter view

Twoo bboxe Tw oxed-ou d-outt heads

 

BACK VIEW The back view may be the most difficult of any. You see very little of the face. The skull blocks it and the neck does, too. And the shrugging muscles that top the sh s houl oulder line overl over lap ag agai ain n. As you can see in the image at right, the skull becomes a ball shape from the  back.. Th  back Thee neck neck is a ssim impl plee ttu ube (ag (agai ain n without its 3-D ends). We see a wee bit of the face peeking out on either side of  the neck. I’ve color-coded them with an ochre color. Finally, add a simple

construction line for the shoulders and the sagging triangle for the shrugging muscles. That last can bend and change shape with various postures.  

Eventually, the arms and torso will build off of the shoulder line, as in the drawing below. Make sure you take some time to get the head-neck-shoulder  connection correct first.

Step-by Ste p-by-ste -stepp of the back view

 

Simple yet be ch characte aracteris ristic ticchm me ehou ans ans, an anyy ive object you begin gin to sket sketch ssho uld, inbepart, su suggest ggestive of the su subtle btletie tiess yyeet to come come.. It me m ean anss yyou ou can move sea seam mle less ssly ly from from beginn beginnin ingg con constru struction ction to

finish fin isheed re rend ndeerin ring. g.

The Torso  

The torso torso includ includes es th the e rib ca cage, ge, wa w aist, ist, and hips. This iiss wher where e th the e sex sexes es showrences— their their clearest clea sstr truct uctur uraaq l ualifie diffe differen ces—a agrest ain, with w ith tthe he qua lifier, r, on average. FRONT VIEW There are multiple ways to conceive of  the rib cage. It expands from the narrow neck to the wider waist. Beyond that, seeing a model with a rib cage that  bulg  bu lges es aaw way from the wai w aist st or  seamlessly blends down into it guides me in choosing the most characteristic

form for the job. See the images below and on the top of the next page.

 

In the drawing of the torsos above, notice how I’ve drawn the waist as two simple lines without the constructed ends, very much as I did with the neck. Let the solid masses of the ribs and the hips do the wor ork k. The The mi middl ddlee draw drawiing with the bulging waist is more male in character, the other two, more female.

 

Start w Start with ith a ge gestur sturee lin linee, straigh straightt aan nd stiff as w wee did with wit h the head, head, an andd h have ave it touch the shou shoulde lderr linee. Ju lin Just st rem remeembe mber: r: simple ye yett ch charac aracte teri ristic. stic.

 

There is no sstru The tructur ctural al dif differenc ferencee betwe bet weeen a ma male le rib cage cage and a ffeemale rib cage cage.. You You may, oof  f  cours cou rsee, ob observe serve that the rib ribss on a particu particular lar female fem ale look sma smallll and a particular male ale’s ’s look big. It’s a good generalization. In the classic ideal, the male m ale is top hea heavy vy in ribs and sh should ouldeers and the fem female ale is fu fulle llerr thr throu ough gh the hips hips,, by

comparison.

For the hips, the bulging box is the most typically male of the three, but it can be  

a good female solution in certain dynamic poses. The key difference  betw  bet ween the sexes sexes iiss tth he mal malee tten ends ds to collect a little more muscle and a lot more fat at the waist—affectionately called love handles. The female has less  bulk  bu lk at the wai w aist, st, bu butt more at the low lower  er  hips. These often create clear structural differences between men and women,  butt not al  bu alw way ays. s. Ag Agai ain n, pay at atttent ention to the specific model and how the model conforms to, or departs from, these generalities. One way to tighten the connection to the

head-and-shoulder assembly is to use the  botttleneck  bot eneck stru struct ctu ure from the ri ribs u up p tto o around the nipple line. Notice how it  

takes you right through the shouldergirdle interruption, which might otherwise fight you on constructing a cohesi coh esive ve w wh hole. ole. It cr creates eates a hidden idden connectivity that will be invisible in the finished drawing.

Male and fem female ale ttor orso soss

 

SI DE V SIDE VIEW IEW One key to capturing the profile view is that the ribs-to-neck connection in back  sits very high, while it’s much lower in front (see the images on the next page). This is set up by that high back of the skull we talked about in the section on the head (see here). here). A shirt collar or  necklace hangs in the same high-to-low manner. We must capture this at once if  we want that gestural flow to keep on keeping on. otiice the sh ot s houl oulder derss aarre llost ost iin nside si de the

contour of the ribs in the profile  posi tion  posit ion.. Th Thee bott bottle sh shape ape th that at let lets tth he neck flow into the wider ribs is  partticu  par icular arlly useful seful here. ere. Key poi poin nt:  

Make sure the bottle bends strongly into the neck from this position—an important difference from a front or back  view.

Frontt view Fron viewss of tor orso so articu articulat lation ionss wit with h the bott bottle le shape

Another key is to pay careful attention to the back of the ribs and, in an upright