Figure Drawing

Almost everyone who has taken any art classes has taken a figure drawing class or two. To me this is the heart of drawing.

I have taken several figure drawing classes and have enjoyed them. Most of the models are female, though there are occasionally males. Not all of the models were young and athletic, though quite a few were. And then there were some “non-classical” poses.

A lot of the drawings are from very short poses. Some are a minute or two. In a two hour session, it isn’t unusual for a model to do 20 poses. Sometimes they will do longer ones, though they are tiring for the model. Occasionally they will take several breaks within a single pose, just to stretch. Some of these are from longer poses.

As I have said on my blog, despite what you may have seen on comedy shows and cartoons, there is nothing sexual about drawing a human body. It is about the beauty of line, not sexuality.

Below are samples from classes, though there may be one or two thatare drawings from a photographs reference books. I also put in a pastel based on a drawing from class. There are pencil, charcoal, conte crayons and some mixtures. Click on a drawing to bring it up at full size. (For other drawing and painting, see here.)