Archive for the ‘Figure Drawing For Design’ Category

Have you ever had someone tell you that they can’t draw very well and then, after you’ve seen their work you know they are being disgustingly modest or they may just be fishing for compliments? Well, while I may be fishing for compliments, trust me, I know what I’m talking about when I tell you I don’t draw very well.

I started the year with some small promise and there have been minor improvements. I’m like a kid in a chocolate factory where my learning is concerned – sampling everything. My interest is torn in new directions, each time I learn something new.

I have noticed though that I sit down with paper and pencil and begin to sketch out ideas before touching the computer keyboard. This is a pretty radical step for me because previously I’d mainly relied on experimentation to get results. It doesn’t cut down on the time I need to devote to thinking about a project before I begin but it does cut down on the development time.

The point of this ramble is that last night while seated at the kitchen table I copied a skeleton from Anatomy for Fantasy Artists: an illustrator’s guide to creating action figures and fantastical forms by Glenn Fabry. I’ve christened my skeletal copy “Jack” (That’s him above) because he has much more personality than accuracy. The book contains a very useful description on human proportion and I’ve copied it out below.

[The skeleton is] about seven heads tall, with shoulders approximately as wide as the hips, and hands that fall mid-thigh. The pelvis is just over half the way up, with legs measuring about four heads high, and the torso about two.

Logging off,
Jools