Speaking of the National Caricaturist Network Convention, the only workshop I was able to attend was Steve Silver‘s “Figure Drawing”. Steve is a phenomenal artist and his workshop was terrific. He stressed the value of quick figure studies over doing long, drawn out poses as the best way to develop your figure drawings skills. He had a model come in and the packed room drew according to his direction.

We did three different exercises in his workshop. First, we started out with twenty quick 30 second studies of the model in various poses.

30 second poses

Next we did what animators call a “turnaround”, drawing a “character” of the model from various angles, ideally front, right 3/4, profile, left 3/4 and back. About 2 minutes per figure.

Character “turnaround”

Finally we did an exercise where the model struck a pose for one minute and we just observed and studied the pose… no drawing. Then the model sat while we had 2 minutes or so to try and draw that pose from memory.

Memory sketches

All great exercises. I have always believed that gestural (i.e. quick study) figure drawing to be the best way to develop your skills with the human figure. Long poses are relaxing and produce nice results, but what do you really learn? With quick studies, you develop your instinct for drawing the figure. Things like wieght, balance and movement become ingrained in your drawings and they have more life and energy. Then when you try to draw the igure from your imagination, or do drawings that are more involved your underlying figure structure and form are far more interesting and kinetic.

Q: I’m currently an art student in my junior year (just getting in the thick of things) and I continue to see small improvements in my rendering and modeling of the human form but still feel as though I have miles to go. So my question is was there a definitive point in your art career where the cliche’ light bulb came on and you finally felt you understood how to handle form?

A: I’m still waiting for that light bulb to go off… I consider my handling of the figure mediocre at best.

Complete understanding of the human form is, I think, a lifelong pursuit. Drawing the figure is like playing the guitar… you can practice just enough and learn to play a few good tunes on it, but it takes a lifetime of work to master. It’s not that the body itself is so complex that you cannot learn every bone, muscle and tendon in it by name… it’s that those bones, muscles and tendons are animated by life, and it’s the life you are trying to master capturing in your drawings. People lean, slouch, straighten and arch, spines curve and twist, weight is distributed and moved about, balance is maintained or lost… so much happens to the individual body within mere moments of movement or rest.

Developing an instinct for the figure is the only real way to learn to command it. That comes from endless life drawing and forcing yourself to get outside your comfort zone. It’s a little like weightlifting… if you do the same exercises all the time eventually you hit a plateau and stop gaining. If you surprise your body by changing tactics… switching from heavy weights and low reps to a series of super-sets of higher reps and lower weights, you will shock it into growth. Alternating between drawing long, static poses and quickly doing gestural, 30 second to one minute poses and then to 5 to 10 minute sketches will help develop those instincts for weight, form and movement.

Alas my bohemian days of sitting about drawing models are long behind me. I have no time for drawing co-ops or model sessions anymore. Still, drawing is drawing and I will do faster sketches and more time consuming ones in my sketchbook or when I am loosening up from photo references. However there is no substitution for drawing from life. I wish I had the time to do it.

There will hopefully never be a point where that light bulb pops on and you think you have total understanding of the human form… because that day will be the last day you improve your ability to draw it.

Thanks to Daniel Singley for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me and I’ll try and answer it here!

Q: Do you have any tips and tricks on drawing figures or composing a scene with multiple figures in it? I’ve tried practicing by drawing from life, but I feel like the “from life” experience I get is sometimes stilted by the fact that many people don’t want to be drawn while sitting on the train, etc (and I don’t want to be caught staring!). At the same time, I can really see the interaction when someone if right in front of me. Are there other methods that have helped you?

A: Learning to draw the human figure is arguably the most important thing any artist can do to improve their skills. No matter what kind of art you do or style you work in, the challenge and rigors involved in drawing the human form will help your abilities to grow. It develops your eye and observation skills, your ability to translate these observations to the paper and most importantly your instincts for capturing life in your art… which is primarily what all art is about: the description of the world around us through the artist’s eyes.

There are lost of books and such out there on life drawing and drawing the figure, but there is no substitute for drawing from life. The best thing of course if to work from a model by attending a class or some kind of artist co-op where a few bucks in the coffee can gets you a place in the studio, some coffee and pays for the model. Lots of art schools and adult eduction centers offer either reasonably priced classes or just group drawing sessions with a model. Some artists get together and do it themselves by hiring a model and finding some space to set up in. It’s beneficial to have other artists drawing with you as it gives you a chance for both feedback on your work and to see the work of others for influence and inspiration.

If that is not an option, there’s always the ‘stealth drawing’ method you eluded to like when you are on the train. I know many artists who spend significant amounts of time at coffee shops or riding the subway drawing random people. I understand your concern about people getting nervous when you do that, but once you get good at it you are able to do it without being obvious. Really this becomes as much an exercise in quick observation and memory as it is in drawing. You can’t stare at the model, you must take peeks and then draw your impressions. (more…)

Q: Do you ever get a hankering to stretch your artistic legs by doing some “serious” art like portraits or landscapes, or to try your hand at more traditional media like oils and watercolors?

A: Not as much as I used to, but I still like to break out of the box when I can. I am still challenged artistically daily with my regular work, but I have always found it relaxing and fun to switch gears entirely and work realistically or with different mediums. Life drawing I especially enjoyed, and just can’t find the time or the venue for it these days. Here’s an example of a life drawing pose I did at a co-op a number of years ago:

Some time back I also took a watercolor landscape class at a local art studio… my first realistic attempt at the medium. The results were not so impressive, but I learned a lot and found it very therapeutic:

Thanks to Timothy Houston for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me and I’ll try and answer it here!