Artists & Illustrators - UK (2020-03)

FIGURE DRAWING

Whena modeladoptsa stillpose,
that pose is at its most tense and
energetic in the fi rst few minutes.
Try to capture the muscular tension of
the fi gure as quickly as possible using
just a few lines; that urgency will help
to keep your mark making vital and
lively, while focusing on the most
important aspects of the fi gure.
It is often harder to capture the
tension of a pose from a photograph.
Even though we have longer to
reproduce the image, the camera
stands between us and the model
and removes the urgency for
recording the pose in swift mark.
If you are drawing from reference,
you’ll have to work twice as hard to
get the speed and energy into your
mark making that is required to
capture tension in a fi gure.

THEBACK

back is tricky to navigate.

ke the front of the torso, which is

ctuated by marker points like the

ples or belly button, the back is

mprised of subtle forms and devoid

lear surface details. This is where

nowledge of anatomy can be

pful. An understanding of the

sses of muscle under the skin,

pled with observation of the

rglass silhouette of the back and

shadow created by the central

of the spine, will help you to make

re focused studies of the back.

.jakespicer.co.uk

1. GESTURE
   The gesture of a pose often suggests the direction of muscular action.
   To fi nd and exaggerate the muscular tensions in a dynamic pose,
   try making marks in the direction of the gesture.


2. HATCHING
   Use hatching that follows the direction of the action and try to emphasise
   both the bulges of active muscles and the hard edges of tendons
   where they briefl y show themselves on the skin’s surface.

Trapezius

Spine of scapula

Latissimus dorsi

Dimples of Venus

Obliques

Gluteus Maximus

OBSERVATIONS

Next month:

Jake shows you how

to indicate forms

through the effects

of gravity