Principles of Figure Drawing

Alexander Dobkin

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780486139814
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art Techniques

Written by a noted author and instructor, this guide for intermediate to advanced students presents the fundamentals of figure drawing in a lucid, practical manner. Each step in the construction and artistic representation of the human figure is fully explained and illustrated. Topics include such vital aspects as proportion, bone and muscle structure, limbs, head and neck, male and female figures, action and motion, and the draped figure.
This volume ranks among the most complete and useful guides to figure drawing. Its wealth of illustrations ranges from diagrams to anatomical drawings to photographs, along with a rich gallery of work by the great masters. Examples include drawings from the works of Leonardo and Vesalius as well as Picasso, Modigliani, Rubens, Rembrandt, and dozens of other distinguished artists.

Methods OF DRAWING

DOBKIN

LEARNING to draw by a method imposed by a teacher can be very paralyzing to one’s creative impulses. Surprisingly enough, “your own way” may be the best way for you. Instead of insisting upon drawing the way you were taught, why not examine several methods? Try them, experience them, and learn, by doing, the ways which you like best.

No good artist abandons all other means of expression after having discovered one particular method that suits him best. He will use different ways of stating his ideas at different times, and occasionally he will even use several methods within one picture. The reason is obvious: A line, for example, will have a different emotional appeal than a solid gray or black area. Artists never stop experimenting, not only because they are in constant search of a better way to say what they mean, but also because they find pleasure and excitement in expressing themselves in many different ways.

Here, briefly, is what various methods of drawing aim to accomplish:

1. Contour drawing consists of a line that outlines a form. In this way it isolates the areas and volumes from the rest of the space. Every part of the drawing is linear, and it is hardly ever shaded. This is perhaps the fastest way of working. Unless it is done spontaneously, rapidly, and directly, there is really no point in resorting to contour drawing, for here it is the beauty of the line that counts. It should be allowed to develop rapidly and naturally from a sharp tool such as a pencil or pen. Never fuss, erase, or re-do. If the drawing is unsatisfactory, try the same subject again. The beauty of this technique lies in its spontaneity. All original lines and corrections should remain in the finished work. Artists who do this kind of drawing best observe their subject very closely and follow its contours almost mechanically, hardly looking at the pencil or paper. The finished drawing may be out of proportion and look queer to some people. Yet it will always have a certain freshness and intimacy.

2. Rapid indication of form involves a different kind of observation. Here the artist observes the main direction of a body and indicates it as completely as he can. He then goes back and finishes every part to his satisfaction, taking his time, for even if the model can no longer hold her pose or is no longer there, the main lines of her movement have already been indicated.

3. Finishing one part at a time is another way of drawing. The artist usually starts with the head when doing a figure. He finishes it completely, then goes to an arm, which is also completed before proceeding with another part of the body. This may be the slowest method and is best suited when drawing directly from the model from start to finish. If everything is not indicated at one sitting, it is obvious that the model must return if the artist is to complete his work. Some artists feel it develops the habit of finishing completely what one has started and teaches the artist to be careful and observant.

4. The trial and error method enjoys the widest practice among artists. Its manner of expression is implied by the name I have given it. Here the artist never makes up his mind immediately about just what he wants to do. As he moves his pencil, he lets the lines themselves, their direction and movement, suggest what is to follow. The drawing glides along and is conditioned partly by the artist’s concept, which may be incompletely formulated, and partly by...