Morning Exercises - 6/1/22
© 2022 xharmsmI haven't done consistent figure studies in a long time. When I was younger, I'd get really stuck in my head/afraid to lay down lines. I'm trying to embrace more fluidity and gesture and not second-guess every choice, but I can tell the proportions suffer. Is that something that just improves with practice, being confident to lay down the proportions in basically the right places first try? And other tips for improvement at maintaining proportions without killing fluidity?
e.g. The 7-min study got away from me a bit during the initial gesture, and I spent most of the additional time trying to move kneecaps and whatnot.
Also, any ideas around capturing foreshortening in gestures? eg The top left figure has his knee towards the viewer at an angle with his foot reaching behind, but with just a skeleton it looks like the calf is really short (doesn't help the other leg is way too short anyway ;)).
Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks in advance.
P.S. It's a huge stretch for me to post artwork, much less actively ask for feedback from strangers, so I'm considering this request my win for the day. ;)
xharmsm
Thank you so much for your feedback! Now that you've pointed out the knee-to-foot length issue, it's totally obvious--this is why outside eyes are so helpful. :) I'll definitely work on that moving forward.
Aali Thehighborn (unregistered visitor)
after reading your context it's quite plausible for you to already analyze the bits of pieces together and ask for advice.. although I'm checking this a few weeks later.
so if you wanted to know about the knee facing the viewer it is best if you use the lines as you've done for the hip in the middle one to the knee to show that it's facing the viewer.
and good job there! only the second day and whatnot, i mean drawing in a long time!
xd hope you get there soon
Hey xharmsm, really great drawings!
If I were to point out one thing to work on, it would be the length of the legs. Your gestures are great, proportions from head to hip are really solid, and the arms feel good too, but from leg to foot feels a little short across the group.
Once you get that down, then I think the forshortening you mention will feel right. For instance, in the middle top figure I believe the forshortening of the figure's right arm (resting on the leg) because you have captured the length of the left one and the way it reaches the ground.
Foreshortening is particularly hard in gesture, because it's often the thick mass that comes with the countour of the limb that clues us into the perspective. On the leg in the top left figure you metion, try putting a small circle on all the joints that define the limb - hip, knee, one at the anke, and one at the ball of the foot, and see if that helps you visualize it. The more foreshortened the limb, the more all these joints start to ovelap, and you need to be able to imagine them behind or in front of one another.
Keep it up you are doing great!