FIGURE DRAWING

Warning! There is Nudity.

If you are offended by the naked body, do not read this.

A little history.

I’ve enjoyed drawing the female form since I was a child tracing my Barbie colouring book. The main reason I drew figures was that I’ve always loved fashion, and I would draw female figures to put outfits on that I couldn’t find in stores, that couldn’t justify purchasing, or that I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing on my body type. I also think a big part of me has always been searching for that “ideal” body shape and by drawing it, I could imagine it was me.

Recently I was recommended a YouTube channel called Croquis Cafe which has live models posed in artistic ways to help artists improve their drawing skills. I was intrigued. I have never sketched a model before, and since I haven’t done many drawings lately I’m really rusty, so I thought I would give it a go.

It was interesting because the video does timed poses. Some are one minute poses others are longer or shorter. But since time wasn’t a factor in my drawings, I just paused the video and took as much time as I wanted to dedicate to each drawing.

As you scroll down (yes there are pictures coming up), you may notice changes occurring with each new girl. I think it’s interesting how on each page you can see my confidence building with the amount of detail and shading included. I basically go from nervous strokes of “Crap, I have no idea what I’m doing”, to bolder “Yeah, this is not too bad. I’ve got this”!

The third page, last block, you can see I was having troubles drawing this model. I knew I could draw her, but I just needed more space, so I gave a single page to her. Page four.

The fifth and last page is a bit audacious and in your face with breast and crotch. But I think this pose would do well as a fashion girl with clothes on, and that’s why I drew her.

Overall what I liked about the Croquis Cafe, or in general drawing a model posed, is that different models have different figures which broadened my repertoire of the female form.