Our anatomy follows a rythm to allow for proper balance. Notice how the shapes are balanced on our frames.
It is important to be aware of where your center of gravity is located, or your figure will not look properly placed in space.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Figure Drawing: Rythm and Balance
Our anatomy follows a rythm to allow for proper balance. Notice how the shapes are balanced on our frames.
It is important to be aware of where your center of gravity is located, or your figure will not look properly placed in space.
Figure Drawing: Various Guides
The following images are to be used as reference to help you in your figure drawing.
Figure Drawing: Shapes
The following images are a break down of the shapes needed to create the human figure. Basically they are composed of cylinders, ovals, and wedges.
Figure Drawing Proportion Guides
The following proportional system was described in the previous post.
Lecture : Figure Drawing Without a Model
Figure Drawing without a Model:
Drawing is all about Proportions, Shapes, and Practice-Practice-Practice!
There are several methods for dividing the human figure. The most common (but not necessarily the easiest) is the head division system. Here, you use the head as your point of reference. That is, once you've established a head size, the rest of the figure will follow that size.
The image above follows an eight head proportional system, commonly used in illustration and comic book drawing. A seven and a half head system is used in fine art situations, and a nine to ten head system is used in fashion illustration.
Another, very helpful system doesn't use the head as a reference point, but rather uses specific parts of the body as reference points. This system is as follows:
1. Create two marks about 2" from the top and 2" from the bottom of your paper. This locates the top of the head and the bottom of the feet.
2. Draw a line joining these two points. (This is your center of gravity.)
3. Divide this line in half. (This marks the bottom of the pelvic bone.)
4. Divide the bottom half, in half once more. (This marks the center of the patella, or knee caps.)
5. Divide the top half into thirds. (The top third marks the top of the head to the clavicle or collar bone; the middle third markd the clavical to the bottom of the rib cage; and the bottom third marks the bottom of the rib cage to the bottom of the pelvic bone.)
Lecture #1
Do Thumbnail Sketches
Explore Layout Options Quickly with Rough Thumbnail Sketches
Thumbnail sketches are rough drawings, often only comprehensible to the designer, used to explore layout options. These quick pen or pencil sketches allow the designer to try out several ideas and focus on the most likely layouts before beginning a project.
Creating thumbnail sketches is a crucial part of the brainstorming phase of your design work. Don't discount the value of this step in the design process.
Designing with Thumbnail Sketches
• Don't worry about details. Use thumbnails to establish approximate locations for major elements. (don't worry about making "pretty" pictures.)
• Try for an approximately proportional page size (if doing sketches for a full page layout) but don't get out the ruler. You're aiming for a general idea of how the piece might look.
• Make lots of rough sketches. Repeat: lots of sketches. You'll rule out many design ideas quickly this way before wasting time in your page layout program.
• Don't try doing these initial rough designs in your software, even if using dummy text and placeholder graphics. You're likely to get caught up in things like changing the fonts or doing perfectly aligned graphics. Save that step until after you've done the initial brainstorming for ideas with thumbnails.
Explore Layout Options Quickly with Rough Thumbnail Sketches
Thumbnail sketches are rough drawings, often only comprehensible to the designer, used to explore layout options. These quick pen or pencil sketches allow the designer to try out several ideas and focus on the most likely layouts before beginning a project.
Creating thumbnail sketches is a crucial part of the brainstorming phase of your design work. Don't discount the value of this step in the design process.
Designing with Thumbnail Sketches
• Don't worry about details. Use thumbnails to establish approximate locations for major elements. (don't worry about making "pretty" pictures.)
• Try for an approximately proportional page size (if doing sketches for a full page layout) but don't get out the ruler. You're aiming for a general idea of how the piece might look.
• Make lots of rough sketches. Repeat: lots of sketches. You'll rule out many design ideas quickly this way before wasting time in your page layout program.
• Don't try doing these initial rough designs in your software, even if using dummy text and placeholder graphics. You're likely to get caught up in things like changing the fonts or doing perfectly aligned graphics. Save that step until after you've done the initial brainstorming for ideas with thumbnails.
Materials List
Needed for Every class:
1. Sketchbook 9"x12"/ 100 page
2. Tracing Paper
3. Drawing Pencils (your choice, I use Prismacolor Indigo Blue pencils)
4. Eraser
5. Sharpener
6. 12" Ruler
Additional Materials needed for projects:
Traditional:
1. You will need materials such as brushes, paint and supports, contingent on your personal approach to your projects. I will be demonstrating my personal technique using oil paints on arches watercolor paper.
Digital:
1. Access to a scanner.
2. Access to a digital camera, you may use your phones.
3. Computer with Adobe CS3 or higher.
4. Flash Drive
No Required Textbooks, but I will make suggested readings available through PDF's.
When talking about my personal approach to Illustration, I will be discussing programs that I use, such as Painter 11, Bryce 7, Poser 8, Zbrush 3, Sculptris Beta, and Google SketchUp 8.
I WILL NOT be teaching these programs, but I will demonstrate to you where and when I use them in my commercial work.
1. Sketchbook 9"x12"/ 100 page
2. Tracing Paper
3. Drawing Pencils (your choice, I use Prismacolor Indigo Blue pencils)
4. Eraser
5. Sharpener
6. 12" Ruler
Additional Materials needed for projects:
Traditional:
1. You will need materials such as brushes, paint and supports, contingent on your personal approach to your projects. I will be demonstrating my personal technique using oil paints on arches watercolor paper.
Digital:
1. Access to a scanner.
2. Access to a digital camera, you may use your phones.
3. Computer with Adobe CS3 or higher.
4. Flash Drive
No Required Textbooks, but I will make suggested readings available through PDF's.
When talking about my personal approach to Illustration, I will be discussing programs that I use, such as Painter 11, Bryce 7, Poser 8, Zbrush 3, Sculptris Beta, and Google SketchUp 8.
I WILL NOT be teaching these programs, but I will demonstrate to you where and when I use them in my commercial work.
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