Figure Drawing Fundamentals
Gesture
The Bean
Structure
Landmarks
Robo Bean
Mannequinization
Balance
Exaggeration
Proportions
Measuring
Shading
Figure Drawing Demo
Closing Thoughts
Newest
Pedro Branco
17d
I've been on a terrible slum recently, decided to come back to some older study material.
How did I do?
A4 printer paper and a caran d'ache technalo B. The model is from Satine's Female back anatomy pack.
•
17d
Such a good idea to revisit old lessons. This is a great drawing -- the curve of the spine down to the sacrum is shown very beautifully here. The legs in this difficult pose may be a bit easier to place by using the envelop technique, like Stan's done in the demo. There are rhythms throughout that you can use to keep proportion. This is a great reference image!!
faye zhang
11mo
5 hours of drawing so far.
Unsure of some of the anatomy, especially the placement of the greater trochanter.
@cattlewagon
1yr
My first attempt after a month of this course - notes & critiques welcome :)
•
1yr
Hi there! You're already showing good volume and proportion of the figure, as well as anatomical knowledge, but I think it would benefit from pushing the gesture further. The reference image has a pose that pushes her hips out and to the side while bringing the upper torso/shoulders further back, creating a really dynamic flow diagonally that would be great to focus on and even exaggerate. She also has the direction of the shoulders and the direction of the hips in opposing tilts, which is referred to a "contrapposto" pose, and has been a popular pose for artists throughout history (most famous in Greco-Roman sculpture) precisely because of the dynamic quality it creates, so I would definitely recommend pushing it as well :)
Samuel Sanjaya
2yr
the anatomical layin. I dont have much knowledge about anatomy, so kinda referenced the jack hamm books. critiques are welcome
Peter Anton
2yr
I would say it looks like you're too focused on the details. The proportions got a bit wonky. What might help you is starting with the envelope method, where you picture the figure wrapped in plastic, creating a simple shape with 4-5 sides. Then once you have that big shape right, you place the figure inside it. It might also help to just practice converting the original image into a silhouette, where it's all black. That way you won't get distracted by interior details and can just focus on proportions. I'd also recommend Michael Hampton's Figure Drawing: Design and Invention. That will help you draw the foot from behind.
@pmak22
2yr
Hi @Samuel Sanjaya looks like a good start. I would say looking at it you have some of the proportions off. The torso looks maybe a 1/3 too long, the arms and legs also look a little too long since they may be running off reference points along the torso. I think the head looks a little smaller than it could be, which is leading to the additional feeling that other parts are too long.
My suggestion would be take another pass at it with that in mind and do some measurements between major reference points to get more practice with proportions.
@kotka
2yr
Getting started on the final assignment was hard. I decided to test myself by doing another pose than the Yoni. This is Sekaa #38 after three hours of measuring, erasing, and ending up not using the whole paper somehow. I'm following along in the videos, applying the tips and techniques in the videos as I go along.
Peter Anton
1yr
Something that helped me with "drifting" or shrinking drawings is starting with big shapes first. After that, try to get one part of the figure nailed down, like the torso, and then you can base everything else off the torso, which doesn't change. The reason it shrinks is because changing an arm (for example) forces you to change 5 other things that are based on the size/position of the arm. Whereas if you draw the 5 things based on a big overall shape, you can change the arm without having to change everything else.
•
2yr
Cool!
sean azzopardi
2yr
Still filling in the gaps …
feedback always welcome.
Jos van Ringen
2yr
Hello fellow art enthousiasts! :)
Over the last few years i got really passionate about drawing but never got into the academic stuff until about a half a year ago, thanks to the amazing mr Stan Prokopenko! ;) and recently picked up the course again so here are my first 3 attempts at the assignment, the anatomical linear forms and the shadow mapping (as you can see i struggle a bit on the hands and with my lines!). Feedback is very welcome! thank you!
Nio
2yr
First image is before watching the video. Second image is after.
I only have basic anatomical knowledge so figuring out what is what and where things go is tricky. Biggest tweak was placing the left foot higher (shortening the calf).
Sandra Süsser
3yr
Kinda went a bit ahead in the basic layin stage, but polished and corrected it even further for this anatomy-outline part.
Marcus Solomon
3yr
Beautiful! And, so clean :)
Vince
3yr
Hello,
I’m attaching my final figure drawing below. Firstly, I would love any feedback anyone can provide.
Also, I recently switched to charcoal pencils a few lessons ago. I have always used graphite pencils when drawing and find the charcoal pencils very difficult to erase. Is this normal or is this due to the type of charcoal I’m using? The erasing and picking out highlights looks so effortless in Stan’s tutorials.
Any feedback is appreciated.
Thank you,
Vince
•
3yr
Hi @Vince, nice drawing!
- I still have a lot to learn about drawing materials and techniques (I've mainly drawn with conté on printer paper), but I'll give answering your question a shot: In my experience charcoal pencils are more difficult to erase, so I don't think there is anything wrong with the charcoal you're using. Stan draws with a conté pencil pencil, which is kinda like charcoal, but more waxy, so it might differ slightly from the charcoal you're using. He talks about the material he uses in these two videos Drawing Supplies I Use in My Videos, Drawing Supplies I Use for Longer Drawings
If you're concerned specifically about the highlights in Stan's FIGURE DRAWING DEMO, I think it was easy for him to erase, since he had only brushed on a very thin layer of charcoal powder with a brush.
If you're concerned about the beginning stages of his drawings: Stan draws very lightly in the beginning stages, and I think that's one of the reasons erasing looks so effortless.
It might be that the type of paper has an effect on erasability, but I'm not sure.
Hope this helps :)
Marco Sordi
4yr
2021/6/4. Hi everybody. Here's assignment for this section (Special guest: Pascal). Thanks and good night.
Marco Sordi
4yr
Hi everyone. Here's my anatomical forms of "Yoni" (the lines are very dirty, I know. I must fix this bad habit). I'm going to leave it for a day, come back on it tomorrow and check it with fresh eye. Anyway I have a question: at this point of my studying, using photoshop and overlaying the original image and my work to see if and where mistakes are, is it considered cheating? Thanks for any feedback.
•
4yr
Haha no that's not cheating. That's learning.
TeResA Bolen
4yr
Hi Marco. Cheating or not cheating? People fight about this kind of thing, but a better question might be, are you making the best use of your tools and time?
If you didn’t do the work of drawing the forms, and all you did were overlays, that wouldn’t help you reach your goals very much, right? If you had a teacher right there in a class with you, they would look over your shoulder and point out where you needed to make adjustments while or after you do your drawing, so isn’t doing the overlay similar? You’re just using your tools intelligently to help you learn to see better.
That said, drawing from a photo is very different from drawing from life, because the camera flattens everything into 2-D for you, and it makes certain decisions about perspective (based on the lenses used) and catches the lighting in that moment. So using that reference, you have to decide what changes you’d like to make, what is the camera not showing you what you would see in real life, etc.
@Bradwynn Jones gave some powerful advice about using the lay-in drawings for shading practice! This will give you so many choices as you develop your skills. And @Stan Prokopenko ’s advice is a great reminder about remembering to DO the thing we love. It gives us more time doing it, and nourishes our spirit 💖. I’m so glad I’m following you, Marco!
Marco Sordi
4yr
Good morning @Bradwynn Jones.
How are you?
Sorry if I disturb you again but since you have been very kind to give me some advice on my works last day, I would like to ask you a big favor. I guess you are very busy and I don't want to steal your precious time but I’d like to ask your opinion on a very important topic for me.
This morning I had a video meeting with Stan and other ProkoLab beta-testers. We talked about many things and I specifically told Stan that it would be important for me to have someone who can help me organize my daily exercise schedule. Since I found this video of yours on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ5ZaK1XExE
I thought maybe you could give me some advice about my schedule (I also subscribed to your channel - your videos are really interesting and funny).
In short, I need to check if I am exercising smartly and efficiently and if my daily routine is okay.
Below how I divide my work (from Monday to Sunday, 7 days a week) by dividing it into 5 sessions (based on Proko's contents).
Day 1,2,3,4,5 then repeat
WARM UP
(everyday)
Control Pencil Exercises 10 min.
Anatomy Study 30 min.
(alternate days)
Day 1
Shade Cylinders and Eggs 20 min.
Quick Sketches (5 min. poses) 20 min.
Day 2
Draw the Gesture (30 sec. poses) 15 min.
Draw the Bean 10 min.
Draw the Robo-Bean 20 min.
Day 3
Draw the Gesture (2 min. poses) 20 min.
Mannequinization 20 min.
Day 4
Balanced Pose→Action Pose 40 min.
Day 5
Exaggeration 40 min.
MAIN (alternate days_no “drawing class day” only)
Draw a Portrait (including Loomis head construction) 3~4 hours
or
Draw the Human Figure 3~4 hours
Consider this:
1) I attend a "Drawing Fundamentals" course once a week (4 hours) which will end at the end of March 2021.
2) From April 2021 I will start an 18-months "Character Design" course (once a week_3 hours).
3) From September 2021 I will start a 12-month "3D Modeling" & "VFX" course (twice a week_4 hours + 3 hours).
4) In a couple of years I want to reach the minimum skill level to be hired as a character designer in an animation studio here in Tokyo where I live (I am Italian and I have been living in Japan for 17 years).
As an expert, artist and teacher do you think my goals are realistic? Is the way I am organizing my practicing schedule correct?
Thank you so much for any advice you can give me. Your opinion would be of great help to me. Thanks again... and please forgive me for my horrible english (T_T)
Have a nice day.
Marco
•
4yr
Marco, I admire your determination and hard work. I think your goals are realistic, but difficult. With hard work, smart work, and a bit of luck, you'll be hired as a character designer in a few years. One really important thing to remember to spend time on regularly is ACTUALLY doing the thing you want to get a job doing. It's good to take classes and do your homework, of course.. But don't forget to spend time every week on designing your own characters.
Good luck!!!
•
4yr
Hi Marco! Love this schedule break down you are working on. I would make the bean drawing and robo bean drawing the warmup in place of the control pencil exercises. I like drawing circles as a warmup and then turn them into different little simple heads or twisting torsos like the bean. Roughly how many hors will you be drawing per week? It seems people who can manage 20 to 30 hours of drawing per week really progress the fastest from what I've seen in the past at Watts Atelier. Everyone is different of course.
Another thing I've been told at Watts is that the core classes for head and figure are the 20 minute lay-in classes and to make sure those are apart of weekly study. You could also use those lay-in drawings later to practice the shading in stead of shading cylinders and eggs in case you start loosing interest in those shapes. I keep my 20 minute lay-ins and later pull them out to try out different shading techniques or just practicing with my focus on values. It's a great exercise to be able to focus only on shading a portrait or figure for 20 minutes.
I my opinion the lay-in of figures and portraits are very important exercises to get the foundation strong. Figure quick sketch is super beneficial to developing those skill you want too. 2 minute mixed in with 5 minute poses. I recently started to do that for my own skill development as my figure drawing skills have decreased from not keeping up with it over the last year. I hope that helps Marco. Sorry it took me a while to respond. I'll be available most days here on Prokolab for now on. I've never been to Japan. I hear great things though!
TeResA Bolen
4yr
Hi Marco! Lovely meeting you yesterday, and great to have another Proko artist in Japan. I'm in Kansai, and I hope we can meet sometime after it's safe. Looking forward to seeing what Bradwynn Jones is going to say if he is able to answer. In the mean time, here's my 2 yen 😉.
Your English is fantastic, you don't need to worry. Also, I don't think it's worth asking if your goals are "realistic" - lots of people do what is believed to be unrealistic, or even impossible, until they do it. So, stick with it. Time frame may or may not be realistic - I have no idea. You tell me after you succeed! You already have success in other areas, and greatly value consistent hard work, so you're going to get there. I do know two professional artists here in Kansai doing the kind of work you've described - well working for that kind of company doing artwork anyway - and they both recommend Loomis and @Glenn Vilppu 's work as essential resources.
Rooting for you, Marco!
Course by Michael Hampton
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About instructor
Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.
