Live figure drawing, looking for critique - what should I work on!
3yr
Jadie Maitland
Hi there! I recently started my first few figure drawing classes with a real model, this is my first go at drawing a woman. I'd love some critique and feedback on what I need to work on and learn more. I'm still in the process of doing the anatomy course so, that's one thing I'm trying to improve at but any advice is welcome
Hi Jadie, I would take a look at getting clearer on values (something I'm still getting to grips with).
Keep all shading solid (so no breaks between the lines) whether it's for your darkest dark or lightest light. Otherwise the eye gets distracted. The difference in value between the shadows on the body & the background would usually be smaller than here. When using only 3 values, as in this drawing, I would expect them both to be the same value (so your darkest dark - like the background). Then find the highlights & use white. The rest of the body will be the colour of the paper (similar to your sketch to the right of the paper) again, assuming that it's a 3 value drawing. Check out Dorian Iten who is masterful. I hope my comments are helpful.
Thank you so much for the feedback!! Some really interesting points I'll definitely keep in mind, thanks :)
Nice work! I love your shapes.
Maybe it's time to start introducing some soft edges to make it more realistic? Do that especially on the core shadows, they can usually lead the entire piece.
Keep up the good work! :)
Thank you for the response! Yeah I agree that's something that would definitely help the piece develop further, I'll try and work on it, thanks :)
I think they are good, and the big one shows you tried to makec lear statements about planes, which results in some nice shape design. Not sure about where the light is coming from though, maybe it is just me, but it looks like the right arm and thigh of the big figure should be in shadow for example. Good job by the way!
Thanks for the response, you make a good point, I see what you mean about the lighting I didn't even notice that until you pointed it out!! Thanks I will try and work on that :)
These gestures are really nice, I personally like the line quality. I really like that you’re aware of creating thicker and thinner lines as well as hard and soft edges. Proportionally I think it looks well for the time frame (I’m assuming your poses were shorter and that none of these are to be continued) perhaps there are a few minor things but it’s hard to really tell since we cannot view the model. I feel like maybe the back leg is just a bit long (maybe a bit too thin) and maybe the hip is too thin in the left image. And I feel like maybe the legs look just a tad too long in the smaller studies. But like I said it’s difficult to tell not being there to see. I have a similar issue when I do gestures.
I think you did a really nice job at working inside and out, your decisions of lines tell me you’re thinking about what is underneath and what the overall intended structure simplifies to.
Also, really nice to see larger studies. I am a big fan of using those big newsprint pads for looser approaches like this.
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond and now I look at it I definitely see what you mean by the legs and hips being a bit too long and thin, I do have a tendency to make legs too long in figure drawings. Thanks for the positive feedback too! :))
Your lines kind of look wobbly, unless that’s the style you’re going for. However those sketches on the right look good and has nice lines. Especially the bottom two ones. Great first drawings though!
I really love the shape design and overall flow of these. Well done!
