If you’ve ever taken art classes, you may wonder why I didn’t include information about the structure of the human body in my two life drawing lessons. Aren’t figure-drawing teachers supposed to start by describing the internal skeleton, segments and joints of the body, standard proportions of head, legs, eyes, arms, mouth?
For example, Rebecca Alzofon began her online figure drawing lessons with wonderful animations of a skeleton, followed by the three ovals of “Head, Ribcage, Pelvis,” the “Pivot points” inside joints, “Long bones,” and so on.
Drawing by Leonardo Da Vinci
The early, great champion of the anatomical approach to life drawing was of course Leonardo Da Vinci. Da Vinci, one of the greatest artists who ever lived, did minutely detailed dissections of human corpses along with eyewitness drawings of human anatomy.
But the Angle-Abstraction Game I described in my life drawing lessons, on the other hand, is all about angles and shapes. Isn’t that geometry, not human bone and flesh? Where is the brilliant Da Vinci in that?
There are different ways to approach drawing. I’ve linked to Alzofon here because I admire the care and thoroughness she devoted to her tutorial’s very detailed illustrations and text. If you want to try out the life-drawing method she represents, I recommend working through her multi-paged lessons. Her presentation is, I think, more helpful than some of the other briefer ones you can find online. Above all, I love her use of animation.
Da Vinci: Placement of features in the head
My own earliest drawing classes included anatomical information, standard proportions and focus on the body itself when drawing. I learned, for example, that the crotch is the halfway point in the length of the human body – which, by the way, is 6-7 heads. The nose ends halfway between the eyes and the bottom of the chin, and the mouth is one third down that same distance (you can see exactly this noted by Da Vinci in his drawing of the human head). The pelvis tilts and turns independently of the chest, as do the shoulders, and so on.
But for me personally, it wasn’t until I put all that aside and looked simply at shapes and angles carved into space that I suddenly began to draw fluidly and with assurance.
In current parlance, I began to draw from my right brain instead of my left. For me, that made all the difference.
But how could that be? Where did I get off disagreeing with Da Vinci?
Betty Edwards is the pre-eminent teacher of the “right-brained” approach to drawing, made famous through her book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. I had actually begun using my angle-abstraction game more than a decade before her book came out. But the book explained to me why forgetting – or at least not focusing on – all that detailed information about the human body worked so well for me. Edwards made me feel it was OK to diverge from Da Vinci.
In a nutshell, Edwards explains that we often can’t draw because we’re blocked from seeing what’s right in front of us. What blocks us is our preconceived notions about what a human hand or leg or eye should look like. We struggle, trying to draw what we assume we’ll see – instead of seeing what’s actually there: how the specific hand in front of us looks, for example, when its fingers point straight at us.
With this in mind, it now seems to me that all the detailed information about the human body’s standard proportions might get smack in the way of our drawing well, rather than helping us draw better. “Standard proportions” provide more expectations of what we should see, rather than removing expectations so that we can see. This is especially true when the model isn’t standing upright, but is bent or folded in more complex poses, where “standard” proportions get lost in the twists and turns of the person’s limbs. And after all, it’s non-standard poses that express the body language of individual people whose personalities we want to capture along with their outward appearance.
Edwards’ great contribution to artists everywhere is that she teaches how to disengage our left brains while we draw, in order to enable us to see what’s actually there. One very important way of doing this is to focus on “negative space” – the space around the figure, rather than on the figure itself. Counter-intuitive though this may seem, focusing on the space around your subject is often the best way to capture your subject accurately. This is because looking at the unexpected negative “turns off” the left brain and allows the right brain to do what it’s good at – drawing.
Da Vinci: Muscles of the neck and arm
So all the focus on the body itself, and all the analysis of what’s going on inside it, for me at least, engages my analytic left brain and gets in the way of drawing. Conversely, the more I forget I’m even drawing muscles, hair, and bones, the better I get at drawing muscles, hair, and bones.
I will never know what it would be like to draw without first having my early foundation of information about the body. It’s very possible that this knowledge informs my drawing even though I never think about it consciously. I also think I happen to be the kind of visually-oriented person who is always sponging in information about everything I see, like how babies’ knuckles look like dimples and how my own knuckles look as I sit here typing. I think I may more quickly recognize and draw certain shapes because my mind is always noticing them in my everyday life. So I’m undoubtedly not a pure test case of drawing from abstractions rather than awareness of the body.
I encourage experimentation with all kinds of approaches to drawing. What works for me may not work for you. But I’d also encourage you to strongly consider the possibility that emptying your conscious mind of analytic focus on the body may be the best way to draw the body beautifully.
I take pleasure in, result in I found exactly what I used to be taking a look for. You have ended my 4 day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye
Excellent post. I will be going through manyof these issues as well..
atorvastatin united kingdom atorvastatin 20mg without prescription atorvastatin over the counter
Heya i am for the primary time here. I came across this board and I find It really useful & it helped me out much. I hope to present one thing back and help others like you helped me.
Thank you for sharing your info. I really appreciate your efforts and I am waiting for yournext post thanks once again.My blog post; พนันออนไลน์
Good blog you have got here.. It’s hard to find high-quality writing like yours these days. I really appreciate individuals like you! Take care!!
The odds of winning are greater as a result the payout is greater.
cellular hubs are extremely necessary nowadays because we don’t want so many wires caught the house:: wryewgreywgrew
great issues altogether, you simply won a emblem new reader.What might you recommend about your post that you made some days in the past?Any certain?
https://tadalafil20mg.fun/# buy tadalafil 5mg
Highly-rated center. They offer programs for a really wide range of adolescent disorders includingdepression, anxiety, personality disorders, substance abuse, behavioral addictions,and eating disorders. Chances of recovery are here.
buy tadalafil 20mg price tadalafil 30
I was suggested this blog via my cousin. I’m now not certain whether or not this post is written by means of him as nobody else recognize such certain about my difficulty. You are incredible! Thanks!
I like the helpful information you provide for your articles. I will bookmark your blog and take a look at once more here frequently. I am relatively sure I’ll be informed many new stuff proper here! Good luck for the next!
Thanks! I enjoy it.how to write an descriptive essay essay writing service academic writers online review
Jacobs Immobilien (Hausverwaltung, Immobilienmakler, Immobilienbewertung)
F*ckin’ remarkable things here. I am very satisfied to look your post. Thanks so much and i’m taking a look ahead to contact you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?
ivermectin 1 cream 45gm – stromectol usa ivermectin 2ml
dissertation assistance – custom essay help paperwriter
wellbutrin 150mg purchase how to purchase wellbutrin wellbutrin 300 mg uk
Hey, you used to write fantastic, but the last few posts have been kinda boring… I miss your great writings. Past several posts are just a little out of track! come on!
I’m not sure where you’re getting your information, but good topic. I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding more. Thanks for fantastic info I was looking for this info for my mission.
It?¦s really a great and helpful piece of information. I am satisfied that you shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
ดูหนังใหม่ ครบรสชาติเมื่อได้ติดตามกับเว็บ moviethai การดูหนังออนไลน์ Musical ภาพยนตร์เพลง เช่น ชิคาโก ประเทศไทยยังไม่มีให้เห็นเป็นเรื่องเป็นราวสักเรื่อง แต่ก็ยากที่จะทำให้มีรายได้เพราะความนิยมของคนแนวนี้ไม่มาก
Im obliged for the blog article. Want more.
ivermectin over the counter canada ivermectin 1 cream
Hey, thanks for the blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Awesome.
aldactone 100mg pill purchase spironolactone online cheap fluconazole without prescription
Awesome post.Thanks Again. Much obliged.
Thanks for the article post.Thanks Again. Great.
When some one searches for his necessary thing, thus he/she needs tobe available that in detail, thus that thing is maintained over here.
Q: How can you have twins?
A: sildenafil 20 mg tablets cost First-rate knowledge all round medicament. Study now.
ED is when you regularly cannot around b be socially active and guard an erection. It may purely cook in some situations – as regards pattern, you may be accomplished to manage an erection when masturbating, but not when you’re with a partner.
Drug information leaflet. Long-Term Effects. free cialis samples Some trends of medicine. Stimulate data now.
Greetings! Very useful advice within this post! It is the little changes that produce the greatest changes. Many thanks for sharing!
Looking forward to reading more. Great blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Really Great.
Heya i am for the first time here. I came across this board andI find It truly useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and help others likeyou helped me.
Your blog is great as in the event that it ended up written by way of a writer. I am going to go to your blog typically. Thanks a lot always.
Major thankies for the blog article.Thanks Again.
emprunt de 70000 euros
In particulars, work out to 70% of the men with ED in the survey said they felt that they are letting their partner down, and more than 40% said their partners feel they can no longer drill sex. Those feelings of self-consciousness and excess again supervise men to blot out their condition from their partners. Source: cialis samples
Hello! Do you know if they maкe any plᥙgins to protect aցainst haϲkers?Ӏ’m ҝinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on.Any recommendations?
When someone writes an paragraph he/she keeps the idea of a user in his/her mind that how a user can understand it.So that’s why this paragraph is amazing. Thanks!
motrin 600mg without prescription motrin no prescription motrin 400mg medication
Hi there would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re using? I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m having a tough time deciding between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique. P.S Apologies for getting off-topic but I had to ask!
Do you lose your appetite with congestive heart failure bumetanide vs lasix?
That is a very good tip particularly to those new to the blogosphere. Short but very precise informationÖ Thanks for sharing this one. A must read article!
Very great post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to say that I have
LOUIS VUITTON HANDBAGS LOUIS VUITTON HANDBAGS
This blog was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I have foundsomething that helped me. Appreciate it!Review my blog post :: น้ำมันเครื่องรถยนต์
hydroxychloroquine and zinc hydro chloroquine