Andrew Loomis and how we all are a little dumpy.

Andrew Loomis and his proportional scale for the male figure. 

Notice where the discrepancy between the number of "heads" occurs. 

For the most part the change occurs in the length of the legs. 

The anatomical mid point always remains the pubic synthesis. It is easy to see here why the idealistic approach to depicting the figure became the baseline for the artistic cannon for so long. 

Breaking the figure into an easily understandable and communicable "base 8" allows for quick and easily relatable proportional studies. 

The fact remains that very few humans fall into this norm. Any set of proportions has to be understood to exist as a means to begin, a starting point. When working from the figure your drawing must always be informed by what you see before you. 

Let the proportional guidelines help you but do not allow yourself to be dictated by them. 

Alphonse Mucha please stop beating me up with your beautiful contour.

Alphonse Mucha!

One of my greatest inspirations is the amazing Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha. His understanding and sensitivity to the human figure and beautiful contour inspired generations of artists. Follow this link here to see lots more of his work! http://alphonsemucha.org/

When you look at his figures observe the lines and planes that Mucha establishes to give such an easy verisimilitude to the figure. His figures, especially his female figures, have an effortless grace that transcends the image and the mind become lost in the "story" of the figures.

Some great life poses to work from.

Hey everybody!

For those of you who want to do some life sketching but are struggling to find models here are some great images to try and work from!

The image should change every minute or so:) There are 4 poses in all.

Bring the drawings to class on Monday if you get an opportunity to try these out!

T

Example of Charcoal Pencil on Toned Paper

Because I said I would be posting examples of my own work here is a figurative study done on toned paper with charcoal pencils, soft and medium black and medium white.

The Laocoon and Mannerism.

To everyone who made it Monday to the first class of Life Drawing, awesome job!

I am going to be posting a few images and some links relating to some of the subjects we discussed in the previous class. I am also going to post a link to a nice gesture drawing tutorial on youtube for you all to check out.

I hope all of you take some time to check out this blog and as always feel free to interact!

The Helenistic sculpture Laocoon and his Sons also known as The Laocoon.

An excellent example of energy, dynamism and emotion in the human figure.

Just look at those feet! The articulation of the toes! 

Look at the great compression of the torso and notice the diverse inclinations of the figure.

To learn more about this sculpture follow this link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laoco%C3%B6n_and_His_Sons

Madonna With the Long Neck by the Mannerist painter Parmigianino.

An example of an artist distorting human proportions to fit a certain aesthetic.

Mannerism was a noteworthy movement of the late Italian High Renaissance in its reaction to the harmonious and restrained naturalism of many of the Renaissance painters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXSyagaarU4&feature=related

Here is a nice link for a good gesture drawing tutorial. This artist is a little more deliberate than I wanted you to be when we did gestures on Monday but look at his great use of basic shapes in capturing the figure. Also notice his use of inclinations to describe the axises of the figure.

That's all for now! See you all on Wednesday!

T

COS Life Drawing week 1

Hello!

This is a weekly blog that I have started to give my life drawing students at College of the Siskiyous access to extra information, class handouts, links and any other stuff I think might be helpful or germane!

I will also be posting some samples of my own work to give students an idea of what I do as well.

I will be posting here weekly and encourage all of you to interact as much as you would like!

I hope you will find this blog helpful during this course!

T