Aside from drawing pumpkins, I’ve been working on improving my figure drawings. My goal is to be able to draw people from my imagination . . . easier said than done though. It’s been a little frustrating, but very rewarding whenever I see improvement. I’ve mostly been sketching simple stick figures to get comfortable with proportion and movement.
I grabbed an old sketchbook and started filling up empty pages and empty space with as many stick figures as I could stand to do. It’s actually a lot of fun creating little scenes for my stick figures. And I’m able to see my mistakes and fix them.
I imagine people in my life and get a really good visual image of them and their personality in my brain. And then I draw them. Some of my favorites are on the right side of this page. My wacky boyfriend loves watching JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and likes getting into the crazy JoJo poses. They make really good poses to draw. Btw, if you like anime you should check it out.
Yoga poses are usually held for a long time and make really good ones to practice. And if you like sports, just grab your sketchbook and draw while watching. Since they’re moving, sports is really good for quick gesture drawings. And don’t forget your mirror. If you’re struggling with a specific pose, you can just use yourself.
After tons of deliberate practice, drawing from your imagination will be a piece of cake. If anyone out there is also trying to improve, I’ve found a couple of websites that have really good reference photos with lots of variety. Check ’em out.
https://line-of-action.com/
This site also provides teaching material and a community of artists that you might find helpful.
https://www.quickposes.com
This site provides a good variety. I really like the warrior images.
mikeymegamega
I also found this guy on youTube. I was wanting to sketch, but I couldn’t get the motivation to just do it. So, I did a little search on youTube and this guy was just sketching figures while chatting with his viewers. I found myself listening and sometimes I wasn’t listening. But the important thing was I ended up drawing for an hour and I didn’t even notice the time going by. Plus, he’s a talented artist. Go ahead and check him out.
Struggles and Favorites
When I first started drawing figures, I struggled so much with proportion. My necks and torsos were always too long.
What struggles do you have when drawing figures?
I love drawing foreshortened poses. They’re so challenging, which is actually great for the learning process. If you can draw the complicated poses, then the simpler poses don’t seem so difficult.
What positions are your favorites to draw?
Hidden in Plain View 