Seated Poses
Seated Poses
This lesson is premium only. Join us in the full course!
48:16

Introduction to Figure Construction

Seated Poses
Michael Hampton
Part 4 of a step by step workflow for drawing figures. This lesson focuses on using the fundamentals into seated poses.
Newest
S. Batson
Here are my scratchy versions. Will work on more elegant lines.
Mehmet Eralp
Here are my own versions of the poses on the video.
Michael Hampton
Nice!
@tap3werm
4mo
Some timed studies.
@amaka45
6mo
@boltart48
8mo
Slow yet steady progress.
@gabemartini
oh cool! A lot of the questions I had in the previous few classes have been answered in this video, like the straight masses vs curved ones, or that thing I was asking in my previous comment about the width of the extremities. I’m digging using this process, but I feel I am struggling to “see” the landmarks when they’re not pointed out… like in the practices I’ve been doing separately I’m not sure if I’m seeing the correct placement of things like the scapula or if it’s a cheeky muscle I don’t know about peaking through haha gotta practice more and start supplementing with some anatomy studies haha
Michael Hampton
Looking good!
Gannon Beck
Solid draftsmanship!
Sita Rabeling
Kept myself busy. I'm not used to start live drawing this way - I can see that the gestures are far too weak (in image 2) - but I'm starting to see the simple forms better, so for now I'm happy with some progress.
Michael Hampton
Nice work!
Gannon Beck
My notes. One thing you mentioned in the lesson was that you don't like to curve your forms. I agree. I try to make my boxes boxes and cylinders cylinders. If one doesn't understand the simple forms, adding complexity won't make a drawing better. I used to attend figure drawing sessions locally at an art studio. One of the fellow artists that attended was a doctor by profession. He knew anatomy backwards and forwards. What he didn't know was how to represent three dimensional space via boxes and cylinders, and it showed in his drawings. I think one of the most misdiagnosed drawing problems is that when artists can't draw they figure, they think they have an anatomy problem, when more often than not, they really have a form problem. If form were easy, every doctor would be amazing at drawing the figure.
Sita Rabeling
Wow, great examples! Thank you!
Michael Hampton
That's a really interesting observation. Totally agree! I really like the way you put is as a form problem. Makes total sense. Excellent studies!
@kareshi
9mo
Since you talked about shape based gestures here, Id like to ask you a thing. I apologize beforehand If you feel Im derailing from the context of your lessons. Your basic recipes for gesture have been a blessing for me, using the movement of the spine to build the torso and the relative positions of the 3 large masses , head, ribcage and pelvis. But since Ive been doing it ad nauseum Ive began to compare the looks of my gestures against yours for example, and even if it aesthetics is not the goal of a study, I still came to dislike mine. So I began to drift to some gestural approach that incorporates some shapes and anatomical information, in order to attempt to produce some aesthetic value to my drawings and obtain some pleasure from the task itself, like the ones attached. Do you think those are in anyway detrimental to the process of learning the figure? Again, my apologies for bringing this topic if its unrelated to your course. Thank you for your dedication to teaching.
Michael Hampton
Sure, those are fine! Look, it's important to realize that there's no one style or solution to drawing the figure. As you mentioned, peoples aesthetic sensibilities vary and that's a good thing! If you feel like moving towards shape for a while makes sense to your development, then you have to do that. It probably just means there's something very important to learn there. My gestures look the way they do because Ive taught to a large number of students who have very stiff drawings. Emphasizing movement early on forces them to break that habit and be more open to the natural design of anatomy. It's never a one size fits all or draw like me to draw like me. Every drawing approach is just another tool with some advantages and other disadvantages. Ultimately though, it's your language and the more you add and integrate the better. Hope this helps answer your question.
Use Code BLACK20 to Save 20%
Full course
You will be given unexpiring access to watch the videos online .
View course details
Give a gift
Give a gift card for art students to use on anything in the Proko store.
Or gift this course:
About instructor
Educator, painter, writer, and art historian. Author of Figure Drawing: Design and Invention.
Help!
Browse the FAQs or our more detailed Documentation. If you still need help or to contact us for any reason, drop us a line and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!