Figure drawing was a wonderful experience, that I was not expecting to love as much as I do. The idea of drawing from nude models was a daunting thought. It was uncomfortable, but only slightly, and only for the first few sessions. I was surprisingly easy to get used to.
I know some people are skeptical of, or downright against, nude figure drawing. I always thought it was a bit weird, and perhaps inherently inappropriate. My views have completely changed. Our figure drawing class was, as my professor suggested, a redemptive work. Through this class I saw how skewed and damaged my mindset about the naked body is. In our culture the human body is often over-sexualized and shrouded in shame. Figure drawing provided me with a completely different view.
First of all, on a technical point, to draw humans correctly in clothing, one must learn how to draw the form beneath. There is no way around it.
Secondly, figure drawing helped me truly see what a miracle our bodies are. Our small class of only five, sat in reverent silence, observed the light fall on the models, and made art. The thought of that studio room will always fill me with profound respect for the human form and gratefulness to the models and professor who taught me how to draw it better. Our models were not what you would see on a magazine. In all shapes and sizes, they were not young, nor did they fit our culture's standard of beauty. The bodies of these models were well lived in. They had wrinkles and rolls, which honestly made the drawings more fun to draw. Through this class, I saw these models as the beautiful human beings they are, worthy of respect and works of art in of themselves. Learning to see everyday humans in this way was beyond restorative.
I truly cannot express how much I loved this class, and, not to be cheesy, how it blessed my life dramatically.
We started out our class with charcoal drawing. Each day would begin with short sketches, doing out best to capture the essence of the pose, and if we had enough time, include some shadow-mapping or even shading.
These charcoal drawings range from 3-5 min sketches to a bit more refined 10 min drawings. (click the right picture to scroll)
We would do longer poses as well, getting the structure correct, and then including the details.
These next drawings are of longer poses, ranging from 15-25 minutes. (click the right picture to scroll)
As you can see, especially in the last few drawings, I got frustrated drawing the face at some times. A few times I played with different sorts of shading, and even designs for shading.
originals are available for a very small price here