Artists & Illustrators - UK (2020-05)

62 Artists & Illustrators

FIGURE DRAWING

Ina longsitting,whenthereactionary
processofintuitivelydrawnshort
posesgiveswaytotheebbandflow
ofa sustaineddrawing,youhavetime
toturnyourattentiontoskin.
A lifedrawingis always,inpart,an
exploration– if wealreadyknewwhat
weweredrawing,whywouldweneed
ourmodeltoholdstillforsolong?
Throughmakinga drawingyou
discovernewthingsaboutthemodel,

fromshapesandtexturesthatyou

hadn’tnoticedbeforetocharacterful

detailsontheskin’ssurface– your

drawingbecomesa mapofthis

unchartedterritory,describingthe

topographyandlandmarks.

Yourdrawnmarkscanspeakabout

manythings– fromhatchingorblocks

oftonethatmightdescribethe

shapesoflightandshadow,to

cross-contoursthatcanfeelaround

theform,tomarksthatdescribe the

textureofhair.Totapintothetactile

natureofthesurfaceyoucanuse

linesofskintensiontoinform the

directionofyourmarks.Theywere

initiallymappedbythe19th-century

AustriansurgeonKarlLangerand the

directionsoftensioncanparallel with

theanatomicalmassesbeneath the

skinandthecreasesofwrinkles at

thesurface.

SKIN

Langer’s lines – a map

of skin tension

Mark-making informed

by lines of tension