Bean Examples – Tilt, Lean, Twist and Foreshortening
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comments 103
After 2 years I have returned to this exercise. Working on these beans again, I am reminded how deceptively difficult it is to execute a good bean. Several nuanced issues are being solved with relatively few lines. This is great in terms of line economy, which is very important in gesture, but also requires more comprehension of underlying concepts to execute properly. As you can see in the attachments, I am by no means a master of this exercise. I have studied the figure a decent amount over the past couple of years, and it was always so demotivating to struggle so much with this simple concept. I regret to say I have avoided working on this problem. It made me feel like I had studied the wrong material all this time, and I can't help but think not understanding this concept holds my figures back a decent amount, especially my quick sketch. So what I'm going to do now is use this comment section here to think through my issue step by step, and marry things I do know with the concept I am trying to learn. This is bound to get very specific and detailed, but I just need the space to think. This will mostly be noted for myself, so if these ideas don't apply to how you approach things feel free to ignore them.
With that being said let's get into it...
I believe the main factor that complicates things, especially as I compare my beans to the ones Stan's did in this demo, is overlap, Understanding all the factors dynamically influencing the overlap between the two volumes seems to be key. Let's first look at this problem in its most simple form.
Looking at the figure from above, the ribcage should necessarily overlap the pelvic form. Consequently, when looking from below, the pelvis is now on top.
While this is true it only applies under high degrees of foreshortening becoming harder to apply with twists in the forms. So I'm going think through this issue in a Logical step-by-step manner.
Lets first abstract and box out the bean into its 2-D graphic shape, ignoring twist for the moment (I'll include an example below). If this is done correctly, a single pinch, and consequently, an overlap becomes clear(excluding twists that operate by slightly different rules, which is explained later). This is why twists are so hard, at least for me. I get bogged down with visualizing the overall movement and turning of the two forms to each other, it slows me down and increases the chance I will miss the primary tension in the overall shape. My theory right now is for every bean, I need to solve the Primary pinch first before I even tackle the center line. This sounds obvious as I say it but I find this has a lot more practical use when considering the twisting forms of the bean, which I seem to struggle with the most. First, you solve the Primary pinch as described, and decide which side carries the most tension. In simple terms, decide whether the bean is crunching on its left or right. After this is done, tackle the center line. Decide whether it's an S, C, or if it crosses over both sides.
Easier said than done of course, but I think I may have found a trick to avoid confusing myself when doing this. I just need to look at each form individually(pelvis and ribcage) and ascribe a sub-centerline for each in isolation. This may even be the best time to decide to exaggerate as it is still relatively early and it's simple to rotate one form at a time, rather than two at once. After I have done so I can combine the two into a larger more descriptive centerline. I think this method might help identify subtle twists, even double C pinches. If it is a twist go to the side that has been identified as the primary pinch, and on that side, identify the corner that is retreating away from the camera, its contour is on top of the same side edge. If the center line is an S repeat the same concept on the diagonally opposite corner, producing the secondary crease. It is important to note that if the S curve isn't very extreme the secondary overlap will either be very subtle, maybe to the point of being invisible and its only trace is a slight concave in the contour.
Okay, I think this is a solid starting point. Next is to go through the tilt, twist, and foreshortening videos, and see how well this ethos applies. Hopefully, I can type out my updated thoughts in a day or two.
LESSON NOTES
More examples of last week's lesson about The Bean. Finding the motion and simple volumes of the torso.
New Pose Sets available for download - "Veronica" and "Marcia"
Full Access to Figure Drawing Videos – /figure
DOWNLOADS
bean-examples.mp4
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