Introduction to Figure Construction

My university lectures on foundation drawing practices and figure construction recorded as a course.

I have taken the curriculum I use teaching figure invention and construction for universities and gathered it here. In this course I share my drawing processes and explain how the steps I use to construct a figure are supported and dependent on foundation drawing skills.

• 5 hours of lecture
• Step by step demonstrations
• Detailed walk through of a figure turnaround
• Photoshop files of all example drawings
• Unnarrated demonstrations
• Student critique videos

Why this course?

The advantage of courses like this one is that you get to watch the videos at your own pace, and you'll own them forever. The same class I teach at university is much more expensive and only lasts for a semester.

I made this course to be as accessible as possible. I go through the basics of drawing lines, to using those tools to create complex shapes. This is made for students of all skill levels.

I go through different poses, and explain how to tackle each unique set of problems that arise with each different part of the body. Each demonstration has a thorough explanation of how the fundamentals of drawing relate to drawing different complex shapes. 

What this course is

This course is an intensive overview of figure construction, an approach I use for inventing figures in perspective and as foundation for interpreting anatomy. This material represents what I teach at private universities and workshops around the world, and I’ve chosen to gather it here as I find it to be one of the more challenging stages for students. For this reason, I go into the details of drawing mechanics and perspective to provide as much support to students working through this stage.

The benefit of having these lectures recorded is that they can be reviewed and worked through at your own pace. I have organized my workflow and approach to be broken down into a step-by-step sequence to help support the way you practice and think through your own drawing. I have also included suggested assignments to help support the information and its practice.

Unfortunately, this is not a replacement for a figure drawing workshop, or a magic course that will make you draw exactly like me. However, I have described a road map and set of steps that if practiced often and understood will get you on your way to inventing figures in space.

Who am I?

My name is Steven Michael Hampton and I've been teaching figure drawing and anatomy for the past 25 years.

I've taught at places like,

• Art Center
• Anatomy Tools
• LCAD
• Blizzard Entertainment
• Lucas Film

I've been passionate about drawing my entire life, studying it as a technician/illustrator, a fine artist, and as an art historian. I remain fascinated with how the technical “how to” of drawing facilitates conceptual practices (in both an entertainment and a fine art sense), and ultimately how drawing, always considered a “lesser” genre, has been historicized. To this end, I have pursued degrees in each field (illustration, fine art, and art history) and am nearing the completion of my PhD. For me drawing is an infinitely malleable language which allows one to access any number of conceptual outcomes if a foundation is embraced.

I published a book titled Figure Drawing: Design and Invention, going through a step-by-step process for figure drawing, which has now been translated into Japanese and Korean. My forthcoming book on the practice of gesture drawing will be available late 2024. 

References in course from Bodiesinmotion.photo