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Life Drawing Steps

Below is a step-by-step guide to drawing at a life drawing class:

1. Establish Mental and Physical Focus

Observe the model thoroughly and decide the focus of your drawing. Begin by blocking in the sketch without touching pencil to paper, simply move your hand over the surface to initiate hand-eye coordination while approximating the overall layout of the drawing on your page.

2. Establish Proportions and Lightly Block

Having identified the basic pose, assess proportions of the model using the pencil technique discussed earlier. While measuring proportion, identify the shapes that underlie each section of the body. As you lightly block in the contour lines of the figure, note the angles of the shoulders, hips and other key focus areas. Where and how does the body bend, twist, or extend? Keep the lines loose, drawing from the elbow or shoulder, not the fingers or wrist. Using long, continuous lines, do your best to capture the over all pose. Refined lines and details will come later.

3. Refine Lines

Using the preliminary sketch marks as guides, draw more refined lines overtop or alongside them depending on the accuracy of each. Do not erase any lines until you have established the correct ones. Continue to draw lightly until you are confident that you have reached the shape or positioning you are striving for, after which darken these lines.

4. Erase any unnecessary lines.

This step is optional. Some artists choose to leave pentimenti within their drawing as it can add vitality to the sketch.

5. Add detail/characteristics to figure

Work from the general towards the particular, as if adjusting a lens slowly into focus.

6. Enhance form by incorporating shading

Remember that shading is to complement the work already completed, enhancing form in areas where lines were only able to inadequately achieve such effects. Be careful not to overdo shading as it can clutter the sketch and distract the viewer.

Other pages of interest

Life drawing class
Class format
Proportion
Pose
Life drawing steps
 

 

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