Artist Daily : life drawing

3 Life Drawing Tips

Courtney Jordan — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 04:26:00 GMT

I have a painter-friend who is gearing up to do a major work with figures, but she feels a bit rusty about painting a model in all his or her glory. To help prepare herself, she's set up a series of life-drawing sessions so that she can spend a bit of time drawing models before tackling her actual subject. I thought it was a really good idea, but I was super intimidated when she brought up the idea of me coming along and drawing, even though there will be several other people there sketching as well.


		Figure drawing by Degas.

I've decided that I am going to go, because I should go, and I have always liked life drawing models once I'm doing it. I just build up the tension in my head beforehand for whatever reason.

This time, I'm going in with a game plan that includes sticking to three life drawing tips, and here they are:

Start with the gesture. I always feel my eyes bulge out and careen crazily back and forth when I get in front of a model, like I need to catch every nuance or else utter failure is assured. Not true. I plan to step back, take a deep breath, and start with capturing the gesture of the model, the full-body pose, before doing anything else in my sketchbook.

Another of my life-drawing lessons is to focus on proportion. If I can get the head to be the correct size relative to the torso, arms, and legs, then I will know that I am in pretty good shape.

I also plan not to sink into the quicksand of adding too much detail too soon. In my first session, all I want to do is put down simple lines and a basic application of light and shadow on the form. I don't need to go much beyond that, and if I find myself reaching for those finer details I hope a little alarm will go off in my head. Then I'll know to go back and check my proportions, because I bet there is something I am skimming over.

For more life-drawing lessons that will give you a strong sense of what to look for when you have a live model in front of you, look into the guide, Life Drawing: How to Portray the Figure with Accuracy and Expression. It is focused solely on life drawing and includes comprehensive art instruction on the subject. Enjoy!

The Foundation of Figurative Art Is...

Courtney Jordan — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 04:29:00 GMT

In figure drawing and painting, knowing the ins and outs of the human body is essential. There's no way around that fact, and honing our skills with anatomy drawing helps us understand and truly see the body more accurately than any other endeavor.


Drawing by Stephen Schultz.

I was flipping through one of my eye-candy books, The Perception of Appearance: A Decade of Contemporary American Figure Drawing, trying to figure out a way to convey the importance of human anatomy for artists. As I thumbed through the book, I saw so many different interpretations of the body. Some sketches, such as those by Stephen Schultz and Don Southard, were crudely drawn; others, by such artists as Kent Bellows and Stephen Assael, were more fully realized.

Some sketches were developed solely with line and contour as in the work of Charles Cajori while others from Fred Dalkey were hewn with gradation and shading and seemed to be carved out of the very paper they were drawn upon. But each drawing, no matter how it was rendered, belonged in the book because they all exhibited a strong knowledge of how to draw a human body.


		Model Looking at the Light by Fred Dalkey, 2011, silver point drawing with sgrafitto, 9 5/16 x 7.

That kind of skill can, of course, be interpreted differently--which the book clearly demonstrated--but if you don't have it, it shows. So as I sit here and wonder what I am gearing up for in 2013, know that learning more and more about drawing anatomy is foremost in my mind. There's no substitute for it and after seeing many skilled drawings of the human body, I realize that anatomy isn't just a linear subject to learn like a mathematical equation. It is a faceted key that fits many doors of artistic expression--and I want to walk through those doors with my own art and explore different ways of drawing and painting. We should never feel limited in terms of our creativity, and for an artist, knowing anatomy is a way of assuring that doesn't happen.

The DVD Anatomy for Artists: The Human Form Revealed is a great place to start your explorations of how to draw a human body or to brush up on your knowledge of human anatomy for artists. It takes on an essential area of art from the artist's perspective and makes exploring anatomy drawing a focused endeavor as you strengthen your skills. Enjoy!

Bumps and Grooves That Mean I'm a Psycho Killer

Courtney Jordan — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 04:24:00 GMT

Okay, I'll admit that skull reading and phrenology sound a little silly to me. Trying to get a sense of a person from the hollows and grooves on their skull? Not buying it. But I do know that "reading" the skull as an artist is key when it comes to learning how to draw a human head for a portrait or figure study. The planes and angles of the skull determine how everything else in a person's face works, from the angle at which they hold their head to the way their mouth is pursed to how their eyes rest in the cavities of their eye sockets.


Shadden by Kristin Kunc, 2008, 8 x 10, oil on board.

These anatomy drawing art lessons are crucial when it comes time to render a person's likeness, so here are a few tips on skull anatomy:

When drawing the skull, proportions are of primary importance. When you are doing the anatomy drawing in profile, you'll usually find the head can be split into three equal parts: from the chin to the upper lip, the upper lip to the brow bone, and the brow bone to the top of the head. When drawing the head straight-on, the head can be split into four equal quadrants, with the horizontal axis drawn at the bridge of the nose, and the vertical axis bisecting the face right through the center of the nose.

If you are drawing eye sockets, note how big those suckers actually are! Usually the eye socket is three to four times the size of the eye that we see on the surface of the face. These openings impact how far the brow bone and cheeks jut out on a person's face. Drawing the depth of these areas will give a realistic sense of dimension to your anatomy drawing.

I always try to keep the anatomy drawing of the mouth in my mind when I am drawing this area of the face, because my instinct is always to draw the mouth much lower than where it actually is. Avoid this by remembering how much space our teeth and gums take up behind our lips. The lowest part of the gums (not the lips) rests right on the top of the chinbone.


		Antonio by Kristin Kunc, 2008, 8 x 10, oil on board.

For the artist trying to become better and better at how they paint people, keeping the anatomy of the face in mind will serve as a roadmap for painting every feature of the body. I didn't realize how essential drawing anatomy is when you are rendering a face or doing a body drawing until I spent time with our anatomy DVD, Anatomy for Artists: The Human Head, and our downloadable DVD, The Human Form Revealed.

They show that human anatomy for artists is really about painting and drawing the body with dimension, and explain that although the skin of the figure may appear smooth, underneath are complex interrelationships that you want to capture visually in order to create a realistic painting. Check out these resources and enjoy!

From the Simple to the Complex

Courtney Jordan — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 03:14:00 GMT

I recently took a life drawing class and showed my sketches to a friend, who's a super-skilled painter. I was reluctant to share them, but when she looked at my final sketch--in which the model had her hips contrapposto but twisted slightly away from me with one arm across her chest and the other hanging at her side--she said what I had been thinking all along: "That's a tough pose."


	Standing Nude Back Study by Sadie Valeri, 18 x 24, white chalk and colored pencil on buff paper.

It was! It had been really hard! The proportions I had come to count on when drawing models had sort of disappeared in this sketch because of the model's pose. That's why I wanted to take this opportunity and go through how model poses can range from the simple to the complex, so that if you are ever in a position to decide on the life drawing pose you'll be sketching, you will go into knowing immediately if you are working with a basic or more complicated pose.

Long shot. A pose that is comfortable to work with in the beginning of your life drawing lessons could be a person standing straight with arms at his or her side. That way you can most easily measure proportions of arms and legs against the length of their body, and focus on the light and shadow shapes on the body.

Bend it like...The complication factor of drawing models is enhanced when arms or legs are bent in such a way that the limbs appear foreshortened. It's the equivalent of landmarks disappearing, which means you really have to see with your artist's eye. Abstract that bent knee or folded arm so that you evaluate it as light and dark shapes, otherwise you'll stay stumped-or end up with a stump-like me!


Red chalk figure drawing by Robert Liberace, detail, chalk on paper, 14 x 22.

Advanced! I've found that the most complicated life drawing sketches I've struggled with don't involve big movements like arms overhead or a body bent over, but subtle moves like shoulders that are tilted back or hips that tilt contrapposto. If you find yourself struggling with how to draw a model repeatedly, it may be that there are a few subtle body positions that you are overlooking. Step away and reassess, and I bet you'll pick up on something you weren't aware of before.

Whether you are pursuing simple life drawings or ones of more complexity, you are doing the right thing by making it a part of your practice. It will pay off big time when you decide to start your art career, which is where Artist's Market Online comes in.

Artist's Market Online is the complete online reference guide for fine artists, photographers, graphic designers, and illustrators who want to show and sell their work. With thousands of market listings available to subscribers, you can start selling your work right now. Plus there are record-keeping tools for tracking your submissions, expert how-to articles, and in-depth seminars--including one available right now on life drawing! Your Artist's Market Online free trial is ready and waiting for you. Explore and enjoy!

Soft Lines and No Tension

Courtney Jordan — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 03:57:00 GMT

I'm not a napping kind of person. When I'm up, I'm up and I want to be doing something or on the go. That's usually the kind of body drawing that I'm pulled to as well--muscles torqued, body indicating action, and an underlying sense of movement. That being said, I do recognize and advocate for drawings that show the body at rest.

Doppelganger by Michael Grimaldi, 14 x 18, pencil drawing, 2005.

There's something beautiful and quietly sensual about the human form lying prone or supine--a landscape of soft lines and no tension in the body. But in order to truly represent this kind of lassitude and ease when drawing human body sketches or studies, I need to be better equipped when it comes to anatomy drawing.


		Nude Study by Edward Minoff, 16 x 12, charcoal drawing, 1999.

I realize now that the body at rest is just as complicated as the body in action. Understanding how to draw a human body in both ways does an artist a good turn because you witness and take note of the body's muscles and bones in its widest spectrum of motion. That is always a good thing so that no matter what a model does or how they are positioned, I can "unpack" the form through anatomy so to speak.

If you want to really sink into knowing how to draw the anatomy of the body in all of its softness and sensuality as well as its power and movement, Anatomy for Artists: Man in Motion is a DVD that we at Artist Daily can't recommend highly enough. It is a guide to drawing human anatomy from head to toe, showing the body in various stages of activity and position. Plus Anatomy for Artists: The Human Form Revealed is a DVD that approaches anatomy drawing from an artist's perspective--giving you knowledge of the visual landmarks on the body and a sense of proportions that you'll want whenever you draw the figure. Enjoy!

Get Your Work Seen By 100 People a Day

Courtney Jordan — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:09:00 GMT

Yep, it is a pretty lofty goal. I know it. But there are so many incredible artists out there who are doing incredible work and deserve more visibility! Here are a few ways that you can elevate your artistic profile in the wider world. By no means are these a cure-all or guarantee, but if they get you thinking along the lines of what more you can do to get your artwork seen, all the better.


Sprinting Hermes by Robert Liberace, oil painting.

Don't disregard eyes and ears close to home.

In your town or neighborhood, is there a coffee shop or bookstore you love? Is it frequented by a lot of like-minded people? If so, take the opportunity and ask the owner or manager to display your paintings or drawings. You get publicity and they get their walls decorated for free, and you get to tap into a community you are already in sync with.

Who are the top ten people whom you would love to get your paintings or drawings in front of?

Make a list and email them. Tracking them down on the worldwide web should be easy enough, and you get the opportunity to make a presentation of your work to the people you respect and admire on your own terms—no filter and no middleman to work around.

Be there—on the walls and in person.

Artist Rob Liberace is great at this approach. He'll often have a standard gallery opening for his most recent figure drawings, but he'll spice up the occasion by doing a live drawing session right in the middle of the gallery. It is a great way to get collectors, students, and appreciators who are already interested enough in him to come to the show even more interested—by giving them direct access to the artist and his process as he is drawing figures right in front of them.


		Female Figure with Drape by Robert Liberace, oil on panel.

Liberace also leverages his talent by teaching—something a lot of us are thankful for, not only because his works are amazing (I wish I could do 1% of what he can do!) but also because he has a unique approach to figure sketching—and his DVD, Drawing the Figure in Motion, shows that to good effect. From what he looks for in all his figure drawing poses to how to draw a figure that seems to be full of energy and power, Liberace is a great one to learn from. Enjoy!

Bodies Come Crashing to the Ground

Courtney Jordan — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 03:30:00 GMT

Drawing human anatomy can be an adventure if you take it to the limits. Artist and draftsman Leah Yerpe certainly does. Her large- and small-scale drawings feature figures freefalling, tumbling, and twisting as they swoop across the page.


Pleiades by Leah Yerpe, 72 x 107, charcoal drawing, 2011.

Though Yerpe's works are much evolved from the anatomy drawing lessons a beginning artist might encounter, they most likely started there with some type of anatomy sketches. Without a sure knowledge of how to draw a human body, the artist wouldn't have been able to render her figure drawings so convincingly in such a variety of extreme poses.

For instance, in the body drawing Pleiades, the artist shows a commanding understanding of the diverse movements of the body's core. The barrel of the torso is shown as it folds over itself; it expands through the rib cage when the figure arches her back; and her hips tilt to follow the backward movement of the legs.

Yerpe also has an anatomical sensitivity when rendering what I like to think of as the exclamation points of the body--the hands and feet. These may not be the first thing you pay attention to when viewing her drawings, but they are the culmination of all the bodily tension and power she is showing. If an arm is bent and cocked back, chances are the hand is drawn in accord with the movement--fingers clenched into a fist and the tendons in the wrist slightly bulge.


		Cornix by Leah Yerpe, 60 x 113, charcoal drawing, 2011.

Her drawings of the foot are done in much the same way. If the leg seems to be relaxed, the foot is in a neutral position with toes slightly pointed. If the leg is bent or seems to be mid-motion, the toes are drawn up toward the ankle and the foot itself is arched. In any given situation, the hands and feet give us more visual information about the physical action of the bodies being depicted.

Human anatomy for artists can be a gateway for incredibly dynamic and unprecedented figural works, allowing you to explore the body's full range of motion. For drawing anatomy, there are plenty of great DVD resources in the Artist Daily store to choose from, including Anatomy for Artists: Man in Motion, Anatomy for Artists: The Human Head, and Anatomy for Artists: The Human Form. Any of these anatomy drawing guides will allow you to see the action of the body in real time and explore how to artistically express all the movement and power inherent in our bodies. Enjoy!

Plaid, Polka Dots, and Prints

Courtney Jordan — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 03:35:00 GMT

So often with still life paintings, we focus on the objects in the painting first—and rightly so; they do take center stage. But still life artists know that backgrounds can play a major role in the look and feel of a painting as well.


A still life composition against a patterned background can work well together if colors correspond, but objects don't come as sharply into focus as they might against a neutral surface.

Positioning a still life painting or still life drawing on a patterned surface may give the overall composition more visual interest. But objects may also get lost on such a surface, especially if they are delicate in form or of the same overall color scheme as the surface they rest on. Patterned surfaces can also make the space in a painting appear shallower or flatter than you might intend.

Against a neutral background, objects are all clearly visible and there's less competition for the viewer's attention. You are better able to control how the viewer's eye moves through the work. The tradeoff lies in the challenge of painting such a background in an interesting way, which is where gestural marks and more energetic brushstrokes can come into play.


	A neutral background allows still life objects to command all the viewer's attention.

Still life art that is shown on a vibrantly colored or shiny surface can complicate a composition, as the color or reflected light bounces off objects and skews the colors of the objects themselves. But against a black surface, still lifes lack cast shadows, which can severely limit a composition.

There's always a trade off, but there are also plenty of plenty of ways to go! American Artist magazine has incited many still life painting ideas in me over the years, which is no surprise given the variety and quality of the work they show and the instruction they deliver. The only trade off here is you'll find any excuse to flip through the pages again and again. But to an artist searching for excellence, a subscription to American Artist is worth it! Enjoy!

Let Me Arrange Your Life

Courtney Jordan — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:46:00 GMT


The grapes establish dominance in an otherwise bland still life painting setup.

Your still life! By following a few key guidelines when creating still life painting setups, you will be on your way to creating successful, dynamic paintings that really stand out. Here are a few pieces of advice to keep in mind when putting together your own compositions.

Establish dominance. A composition instantly becomes more cohesive if there is a visual hierarchy and one object commands more attention than others.

The effect should be subtle, but it is always important to have a focal point or dominate object in a still life setup to guide the viewer through a painting.

Hit repeat. An affordable and easy way to compose a still life drawing or painting is to feature one kind of object in many different positions.

For example take a dozen apples, and arrange them with one goal in mind: to place or position each apple in a different way. The same visual appeal doesn't come if you use varied items, which can sometimes lead to a composition that appears too busy.


	A number of the same objects can make a compelling still life.



	Variety is created by using the oranges and peppers as a whole and in segments and slices.

Variety with just one item. Master still life artists are always focused on how to make the most of their chosen objects, and one possible way to do so is to paint an object both whole and in parts. For example, paint an orange whole, peeled, and separated into segments.

For more tips and tricks on still life art, you can pore over an entire year's worth of articles and instruction in our new American Artist CD Collection. Every issue for the entire year is there and will get you brainstorming your next artwork in no time. Enjoy!

Where’s Your Free eBook on Life Drawing & Drawing Models? Right Here!

Courtney Jordan — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:50:00 GMT


Slumber at Chuckwalla Valley (detail) by Sharon Allicotti, drawing.

If art were a banquet, I would constantly be going back for more helpings of life drawing. It is a consistently rewarding artistic experience because I've never met a more inspiring—and challenging—exercise than drawing models.

There's just so much to take in! Every time a model makes a move, there's something to glean and work on—shadows and gesture to skin texture and how the limbs extend. Every life drawing pose reveals a whole new avenue of artistic pursuit.

If you are thinking the same thing and want to delve more into your own life drawings, 11 Reasons for Drawing Models & Attending Life-Drawing Sessions from Artist Daily is sure to spur you on. Author and artist Sharon Allicotti has a whole list of reasons why life drawings should be part of every artist's repertoire, and points out that drawing models isn't just for students. In fact, making life-drawing sketches a part of your career can result in better art for us all.

By taking life-drawing lessons, you are able to network with other artists, save substantial amounts of money on model fees, and most importantly improve your overall drawing skills of gauging proportion, assessing space more accurately, and understanding the landscape of the body.

"The body can be conceived as analogous with the manifold living and nonliving forms of the natural landscape: It's no coincidence that we speak of the trunks and limbs of trees, and find in hilly terrain the undulating forms of a reclining nude," says Allicotti.

To start your life drawing lessons, download 11 Reasons for Drawing Models & Attending Life-Drawing Sessions from Artist Daily. Download now!

And for a free eBook that goes hand in hand with 11 Reasons for Drawing Models, enjoy Human Figure Drawing Tutorial from Artist Daily: 13 Gesture Drawing Techniques. Enjoy!

Paint the Body Parts That Turn You On!

Courtney Jordan — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:05:00 GMT


Back II (Joshua) by Martha Mayer Erlebacher, 2003, oil on canvas, 42 x 42.

The human body is beautiful—as a whole and in its parts. Body drawings that accentuate the sensuous lines of the body and the power of the human form are steeped in a knowledge of anatomy. But the body is a complex machine with, again, many parts and an infinite variety of positions in which it can sit, stand, and lay.

I love learning more and more about how to draw the human body, but it is a tough process too! So I've made a promise to myself: I'm going to learn drawing anatomy and figure drawing based on the body parts that I find sexy and go from there!

I'm a back and hands girl myself, so my first approach was to look at human figure drawings that zero in on these parts. There are Old Masters like Michelangelo and Leonardo to consider as well as the works of more contemporary artists like Martha Erlebacher and Rob Liberace.


	Red chalk figure, detail by Rob Liberace, chalk on paper, 14 x 22.

For the back, the toughest part for me is really seeing all the musculature. In a gesture drawing, I'd put one fluid line down the center to mark the dip of the spine and leave it at that. But I'm trying to learn to see the subtle shift and play of bones and skin by drawing models. Positioning them in certain ways that accentuate the vertebrae and muscles of the back is a super helpful way to start.

Oh, how to draw hands! These are tough. There are so many minute muscles, bones, and tissues that make up the hands that drawing the anatomy of them can be really confusing. I'll go over one passage, leave it, then go back and change everything because I see more and more visual information. To stop from shredding my paper, I've tried to stay focused on getting the gesture of the hand right and to pay attention to the different textures of the hands—smooth here, creased there—treating them almost like a landscape.

And I'm also watching way more TV to learn human anatomy drawing. We've got a veritable library of great DVD resources on anatomy specifically for the artist. Man in Motion, The Human Head, and The Human Form Revealed are what I've been reaching for to figure out the human body with an artist's eye. I hope it is the same for you! Enjoy!

P.S. What body parts turn you on--for your art? Leave a comment and let me know. And keep it clean, people!

Breakfast of Champions: Free Still Life Painting eBook!

Courtney Jordan — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 04:28:00 GMT


The Remains by Joe Gyurcsak, 2007, oil painting, 24 x 24.

If I start my morning with a bit of artistic inspiration, it really carries me through the whole day, just like a wholesome breakfast does! And today is a very good day because I was able to begin by going through the "pages" of our latest free eBook, Creating a Powerful Still Life Painting: 25 Tips to Enhance Your Still Life Art.

In it, two artists talk about how they let loose their artistic inspirations through their still life paintings. Lisa Dinhofer discusses the fact that still life drawing is an essential part of her work, as a draftsman and as an oil painter. Still life art is where she starts every new idea, and often her best artistic ideas come to her while drawing still life setups in her studio.

Dinhofer chooses objects for her still lifes—marbles, toys, masks, insects—that have universal appeal, and people relate instantly to them. She also spends time just playing around with the objects, letting the story or concept unfold for her rather than trying to come up with a story that really only references the objects in a secondary way.

Joe Gyurcsak uses still life oil painting as a way of brushing up on the essential methods he needs as a practicing artist. He often starts by toning his canvas to eliminate the brightness of a gessoed surface so that the pupil of the eye stays open and sensitive to the slightest color changes and light transitions on the surfaces of the still life objects he paints. Toning the canvas also makes the surface less absorbent and allows for a smoother paint application.


	Losing My Marbles by Lisa Dinhofer, 2003, oil painting on wood panel, 38 x 52.

Whether it is fruit on a tree or dishes in a sink, Gyurcsak is committed to keeping still life painting a part of his artistic practice. Not only because of the convenience of painting in such a way, but also because still life painters grow by leaps and bounds through the work they do. And that's no wonder because all the oil painting techniques a painter uses when painting the figure or a landscape are utilized in still life painting too.

Knowing all of this has kept my head turning all day, thinking of the objects I could use in a still life painting and how I could present them. It is a great way of thinking about the building blocks of art, and I'm happy to share Creating a Powerful Still Life Painting: 25 Tips to Enhance Your Still Life Art with you. Download your copy now!

P.S. If you know someone who needs a morning pick me up in the form of artistic inspiration and instruction, send them Creating a Powerful Still Life Painting. They will owe you breakfast!

Don’t Finish That Drawing—It’s Perfect Right Now

Courtney Jordan — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 03:26:00 GMT


Frank by Eileen Healy, pastel drawing.

Artist Daily Member Spotlight: Eileen Healy

I don't think any of you know how often I brag about you and the great work you show off in the Artist Daily Member Gallery. Recently I had several colleagues looking over my shoulder at the computer screen as I showed them the work of Eileen Healy, who has posted several drawings that caught my eye, and I wanted to share her work, thoughts, and methods with you.

Artist Daily: What are your first memories of making art? Do you remember your first drawing or painting?

Eileen Healy: I don't remember my first drawing but I remember being a very eager artist in secondary school, drawing other students at their desks when I should've been paying attention to the teacher. I guess that's why I was never good at math, English, geography, history, biology...

AD: Are you a full-time artist?

EH: In the sense that I have a studio and I work most days. I'm also a working musician and drawing teacher.

AD: Your figural drawings often feature understated but engaging compositions or arrangements and an interesting use of negative space. How do you arrive at compositions that work well?

EH: I never plan a pose before a session. Though this can add a sense of spontaneity, it can be a hindrance when working against the clock when you have to pay a model. As a result I make decisions quickly. A strong sense of composition seems to come naturally to me. I think this has helped drawings I've done in my sketchbooks. These are not plans for paintings as much as small-scale graphite works in their own right. When I get 'blocked' I look at these and they help me through and possibly influence a bigger work. Space plays a very important part in my compositions. I dislike cluttered or busy work and my portraits are very direct with very little or no background. I maximize the format often with the figure, focusing on interesting angles and foreshortening.


Imna by Eileen Healy, graphite drawing.


Louise by Eileen Healy, pastel drawing.

AD: You seem fearless in your use of color in your pastel drawings. Talk to me about that.


		Erin by Eileen Healy, pastel drawing.

EH: Working fearlessly with color in pastel is something I've developed after many years of struggling with the medium. When I first started, I only used two colors on tinted paper, gradually introducing more colors and trying out different colored paper. I mostly work on colored paper, as it's very effective when accentuating highlights. I have also done pastel on white, which I enjoy, but it is more difficult. Light influences color, which determines my color range. Also a model's own skin color, especially in the shadows, affects the work. Using a spotlight will create very rich colors in the shadowed areas, often with deep blues and purples. I use small square Conté crayons, not thick rounded ones as I find these hard to control and messy.

AD: What drawing techniques are particularly important in your process?

EH: Never lean too hard on your pencil or chalk unless you know what your doing. I'm a line person so I rely heavily on this, varying the quality/thickness of line as I work. This is dictated by the light source and its influence on edges. I don't have a set process. Sometimes I work from the darkest parts to the lightest, leaving the highlights 'til last. There's always a good buzz from that. I encourage my students to do the same and to make compositional decisions before putting pencil to paper. Work lightly at first. Measure up. Use constructions lines!

AD: Are there any great resources or ideas for working that you can share?

EH: Anytime I go abroad I try to source a life drawing session. I've done ones in San Francisco and last year on a residency in New York I took part in many. It's good to work in another environment outside the studio in a group and to mess around with materials without the pressure of model cost. It gave me some great ideas and influenced new work.

Looking at Eileen's work, I get a real sense that she holds her drawings as something quite meaningful and dear to her. But maybe that is what they evoke in me—and that is the power of drawing! I want my drawings to have the same power to pull out reactions from others. I'm a long ways away, but our Drawing: The Complete Course special edition magazine has been just what I've been looking for. It covers everything that I want, from fundamental refreshers on drawing basic forms and shapes to learning the language of line and how to use it, to looking at artists past and present who have done amazing drawings. It is truly an "all-in-one" guide for me. Enjoy!

Make It Come Alive, But Not Like Frankenstein

Courtney Jordan — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 03:33:00 GMT


Stacy in Chalk by Rob Liberace, chalk pencil drawing, 14 x 22.

I wholeheartedly believe that a drawing of a human figure should look like it has the potential for physical movement and action. Not a creepy, unnatural animation, but more of a direct relation to the actual human form. Our bodies are always on the verge of moving and repositioning. Sometimes it is a faint movement like taking a deep breath, and sometimes it's more of an overt action like breaking into a run.

There's underlying power and torque to the form that will enliven the drawing visually and fight its inherently static nature. Finding visual ways to indicate those possibilities is what makes a successful figure drawing.

One way to make a life drawing lively (har har) is to keep a 'sketch' aspect to it. Think about loose lines in addition to light and dark masses to turn the form. For example, when I try to draw a bent leg, I focus more on getting the gesture of the limb in a few quick lines rather than laboring over its anatomical correctness.


		Seated Male by Rob Liberace, chalk pencil drawing, 36 x 48.

Position is everything. Our bodies can move in so many different ways, so when it comes to drawing the figure, really think about how to position it to get the most implied movement. And this doesn't have to hit you over the head. Our bodies are subtle machines. Cocking the head, tilting the hips, or putting a slight bend in the knee-all of these do the job.

I know and believe that the core of our bodies-the torso, back, shoulder girdle, and pelvis-are where the most potential for movement rests. But don't forget the hands and feet. Attention to these parts can really articulate what you want your figure drawing to say. A hand drawing of a clenched fist gives off quite a different meaning than one where the fingers are held loosely and slightly curled.

An artist who is especially skilled at infusing his figure drawings with dynamism and movement is Rob Liberace. His work strikes a perfect balance between beauty and power, and as an instructor I've learned a lot from him. Rob's latest DVD Drawing the Figure in Motion continues in-depth with the ideas and approaches I've touched upon. He takes you on a drawing tutorial that starts with positioning the model and ends with a drawing that successfully captures the power of the human body. Truly inspiring! Enjoy!

Drawing Lessons from Thomas Hart Benton

Courtney Jordan — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 04:38:00 GMT


Hollywood Note: Thursday Night at the ***-and-Bull, It's the Maid's Night Out by Thomas Hart Benton, 1937.

A few weeks ago, I left Manhattan and went to Manhattan—Kansas, that is. I was a bit wary as I landed in the midst of a harsh storm, but looked forward to seeing all the Midwest had to offer. During my trip I visited the Nelson-Atkins Museum, in Kansas City, Missouri, and rediscovered the work of Thomas Hart Benton, and realized there was a lot I hadn’t learned about the artist. I’d always thought of Benton as a muralist, but a docent informed me that most of the Regionalist artist’s work is rooted in drawings and pencil sketches.

In the late 1920s, Benton went on a six-month sketching tour across the country, where he found much of the subject matter that would provide the inspiration for the rest of his artistic career. He sketched the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, steel mills in Pittsburgh, lumber camps in the Appalachian Mountains, the New Orleans nightlife, riverboats along the Mississippi, Texas ranches and oil fields, and much more. What intrigues me is that Benton wasn’t sketching as a remote observer, simply passing through and ogling the locals. He connected with the people and places he met along the way, and drawing was a means of interacting just like sharing a meal.

I like Benton’s pencil sketches mostly because they are neither photorealistic nor pristinely finished. They are raw, done in the moment, and reflect Benton’s time with his subjects.


	Study for Farming, 1935.

Here’s what looking at Benton’s sketches has taught me:

-Benton knew how to sketch all the vibrancy and life he saw by freely moving objects around to create a dynamic composition, conflating figures and their gestures and movements.

-He moved around a scene, first sketching an overall view, and then drawing several close-ups—of figures, an interesting gesture, or the composition from a different angle.

- Benton’s career was steeped in the art of the political cartoon, and many of his drawings emphasize motions, a person’s features, and lines of perspective. He controlled his message with the exaggerations he chose to include.


Loading Cotton Onto the Tennessee Belle, 1928, graphite, pen-and-ink, and wash on paper, 10 x 14.

-There were different types of drawings for Benton. Some were life drawings, showing figures and landscapes. Compositional drawings were used to analyze the design of a work or how elements in a scene related to one another. Drawings were created before, during, and after a painting was created, and served to enrich even his large-scale murals.

Judy Martin’s book Mastering Sketching is a resource that teaches you to approach sketching the same way Benton did, as both a means of understanding his surroundings and as the basis for finished paintings.

For Benton, drawing wasn’t an art form that belonged behind glass in a frame. It was in his hands all the time; it was the workhorse and creative engine of his art. Learning how to sketch and how to utilize your sketches is really what sustains an artist. Mastering Sketching can help you on this path. It is filled with detailed tips and techniques and effective sketching demonstrations that allow you to explore your world through drawing, just like Benton did. Enjoy!