Figure Practice Based on Steve Huston's Book
4yr
@reiohan
I did these drawings to practice what I learned in the first 5 chapters of Steve Huston's Figure Drawing for Artists book. This meant trying to convey the character of the gesture and forms I saw in the references in a simplified way with lines and some basic indications of light and shadow. In the drawing of Yoni I also tried using a different camera angle.
I spent around 3-4 hours on each of these. I think a lot of the slowness had to do with trying to figure out the proportions and a good method for shorthand rendering in Photoshop.
I've been practicing figure drawing basics and other fundamentals for around 3 years. Some artists I would like to take influence from in terms of figure work include Steve Huston and John Asaro.
Any critique is much appreciated.
These are great! I love the rendering, can you share how you render in photoshop? Coming from a traditional background I find it pretty challenging. Btw Steve Huston is a great inspiration for me too, I love referencing his work and book.
Thanks! For these I used somewhat soft textured brushes with the flow turned down to like 20-30% on a layer above the line drawing. You can do the same with the eraser tool. This makes it easier to gradually build up tone and minimize the unnatural looking overlaps of semi-transparent marks you tend to get when you try to paint quickly with the hard round brush on default settings. Trying a bunch of different brushes and experimenting with flow settings may help you find a rendering process that you like more. Yeah though, Steve's demos are great to watch and follow along with as well.
Really beautiful drawings! What do you think of the book? I've been meaning to get a copy!
Thank you! I think it's a great book to have in your collection if you like Steve Huston's work. His figure drawing demos/lectures on YouTube give a good sample of the things he focuses on in the book. It emphasizes valuable principles and techniques for understanding and drawing gesture, structure, and lighting information. For people who haven't gone through any figure drawing books or courses before though I would probably recommend going through the Proko figure drawing material first as I think it explains things in a more accessible way.
Excellent work! I’m really happy to see how much you were able to pull from Steve Huston’s book (I found it quite unhelpful myself). The cross-countours definitely are the strongest part of these drawings, and I would love to see you try doing some simpler/quicker gesture drawings to practice that skill more. Since your sense for proportion appears to be very good, I would like to reccommend studying bridgman’s books as a good next step for you. Your accuracy and gestural sense are both excellent, but there is very little in your drawings about the way anatomical forms connect and shift in perspective. Study Bridgman, and your forms will surely become excellent!
I think I see what you mean. The perspective of forms and how they connect is pretty vague in these drawings for the most part. I will definitely do more quicksketch practice and try studying from Bridgman. Thanks for the feedback!
