Henry Yan Figure Drawing

[Terpsícore Deckelman]

Ifthe pose will be long I try to get two sketches done, the first one is a study of the shape and the second one is a more detailed figure drawing. These next examples are explorations using simple lines, shading and block form.

Sometimes the quick sketches end up looking better than the more detailed drawings, or at least I prefer them. My idea of a good sketch when a stylized representation of the model is simple enough to represent the shape, action and possibly some emotion. When doing sketches my goal is to capture the subject in a simple form but at the same time I try to learn about lighting, shading, perspective, depth, and movement.

Overview: General, short, introduction of the book.

Inspiration: Does the book give a spark to light the artistic flames of creation or whatever, does the book inspire/make you want to draw and create your own things yourself.

Usefulness: There are useful step by step process of how Henry Yan does figure drawing that are well paced, they do not suddenly jump from the sketch to the finished product with no explanation, each step by step has explanations for what he is doing. He explains properly how traditional media should be handled and sharpened when doing figure drawing, with more lead exposed for broad shadow strokes. There are quite a few pages interspersed where its just finished work which is good as an example

The brain activity is drawing. Hopefully this will balance the left-brained activity which I seem to spend most of my time on. For the next nine weeks I will spend Monday afternoons in life drawing classes. I joined the class this week and I loved it. The first two hour class is Developing Life Drawing; the second is Experimental Life Class.

Most interesting for me was that I was told to try not to line draw, to try not start on the outer edges and work inwards, but instead to start in the middle and work outwards and in particular to avoid lines and instead scribble. We were shown drawings by Maggie Hambling and Henry Moore to illustrate this.

I can see the parallels between this approach and insider research. The idea that the form/figure will emerge from the scribble resonated with me, particularly since when doing this we were asked to tape our pencils to a long garden cane, so whilst scribbling from the middle, we were at the same time standing at some distance from the paper. This seems to me the same challenge as presented by insider research.

I found this very trying as the garden canes were not sturdy, so the whole thing was flexing. It was impossible to put a mark exactly where I wanted it to go or to apply the amount of pressure that I wanted to apply. Having developed on the page what seemed to me a huge, incoherent, unrecognisable blob, I turned the paper over and was about to start again, when the art tutor came over. She made me go back to my blob, and told me that it was great that I had got away from lines, and hoped that I had been put outside my comfort zone. I assured her I had. She said it was good for me to not be in control ?

Totally agree with the inside-out approach, in research and in art, and in life, with regards to who we are. For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, i.e., our actions spring from the depth of what is in us.

This was originally a two minute pencil sketch (20121204) on 200 gram watercolour paper. I painted it last Friday, 20130125. I was really happy with it when I did the first wash, then it became muddy as I put on further layers. I want to create a three dimensional quality without losing the vibrancy of a single wash. Live and learn!

A figure drawing tutorial by Bill Buchman. I had to login to my Google account in order to see this video which was a bit annoying. I had to prove I was over eighteen, it was worth the effort, I like his approach to life drawing. He has a Vimeo video channel which is worth visiting. Click here.

I discovered the figurative watercolour artist, Ted Nuttall has a Facebook page. His latest work is published there. Visit Ted Nuttall on Facebook here. Please note that for this link to work you need to be already logged into your Facebook account.

My name is David Meldrum, I love painting watercolours. Another passion of mine is life drawing, I run a drop in session every Thursday evening here in Stockholm and also online. www.meldrumkroki.se

I was born in Ireland but since 1990 I have lived in Stockholm, Sweden.

Join my Patreon supporters, it's crowdfunding for creative people. Thank you. www.patreon.com/meldrumart

This sculpture was the first of several Moore made in the immediate aftermath of the War. They focused on recognisable human subjects (much like his shelter drawings), such as seated figures and family groups.

Moore explored the body-landscape metaphor in a monumental multi-part figure for the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts in New York, installed in 1965. This Reclining Figure is sited in a pool, and appears to rise out of the water like cliffs.

This book is focused on various techniques and styles in drawing human figures and portraits. The book has 192 pages, each page includes one or more figure/head drawings done from live models. There are about 20 step-by-step demonstrations from detailed and traditional approaches to fast and painterly styles. Along with the step-by-step demonstrations and examples, the book is filled with detailed description of methods of using charcoal pencil, vine charcoal and compressed charcoal. The text also includes opinions, tips, ways of thinking and observing. It's a book that will benefit both beginners and advanced learners.

Every morning began with half an hour of quick gesture sketches from models, than we were off and running on a long pose. Each day had a special focus, for instance on the first day we were concerned with finding an accurate edge around the figure to build on. Using different line weights as well as overlapping we mapped where muscles and forms moved forward and backward in space to show the perspective of the figure.

We worked up to his method of using a charcoal pencil rendering light lines to get the outer edges and inner shadow shapes on cotton drawing paper. Using a vine charcoal we blocked in the shadows very dark as well as the shadow side of the background.

Using a soft chamois swiping the loose charcoal inward toward the figure, following the forms. From there it was a matter of getting more information in the darks as well as lights, than finishing with eraser highlights.

It was a wonderful week of seeing new ways to use tools I had been familiar with for decades. The next day I attended open studio to put some of these concepts into practice. I still need to get a lighter touch, and more time, that clock always runs out too soon!

You work is full of sarcasm. What inspired that?

Working at Fairman's for five years provided endless material. With all the different people that came in, I could sit there with my drawing pad out and it would pretty much just play out in front of me. It was just my duty to put it on paper.

How did you settle on your distinctive scrawling style?

I think I really started figuring out the style most people are familiar with from me while taking some art classes in college, particularly figure drawing classes. I really like the simplicity of gesture drawings and how much form can be described by just a few lines.

What skate brands and skater-made art inspire you most?

I've always really liked Krooked and some early Real graphics with Mark Gonzales's art. Anything that Sean Cliver or Mark McKee have been involved in, as I've always been a fan of both of them. As far as skate brands go, it will always be their artists that inspire me, if anything. I like a lot of sci-fi movies and animated films, too, and I think I draw some ideas here and there from that.

Nice. What else do you have coming up?

I've got an art show at No Comply ATX skate shop in Austin, Texas on the 6th of April, and another at Escapist in Kansas City with Michael Sieben on the 3rd of May. I also have a few collaborations in the works, and as always put out shirts and other new products as often as possible.

This book focuses on the tips and techniques in drawing human figures and portraits. All the paintings included are from his class demonstrations and workshop studies developed from many years of teaching. And all drawings are done from live models.

He has a very cool painterly style and energy to his figures that I like. Some pieces are created like Chinese paintings, not drawing in too much details to invite viewers to fill in the details themselves.

I have compiled a directory of over 800 figure drawing venues in the U.S. and Canada. Please let me know if your group is not already included, and I will be happy to add it.

-drawing-directory.htm

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The practice of using children's human figure drawings (HFDs) to assess their intellectual ability is pervasive among psychologists and therapists in many countries. Since the first systematic scoring system for HFDs was published in 1926, their continued popularity has led to the development of several revised versions of the test. Most recently, the Draw-A-Person Intellectual Ability Test for children, adolescents, and adults (DAP:IQ) was published. It is the most up-to-date form of HFD test designed to assess intellectual functioning across a wide age range. In the present study, we assessed the validity of the DAP:IQ as a screening measure of intelligence in both children and adults. In Experiment 1, 100 4- to 5-year-old children completed the DAP:IQ and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Third Edition. In Experiment 2, 100 adults completed the DAP:IQ and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence. In both experiments, we found only weak to modest correlations between scores on the DAP:IQ and the Wechsler tests. Furthermore, when we compared individual's scores on the two tests, the DAP:IQ yielded high false positive and false negative rates when screening for borderline and superior intellectual functioning. Based on these findings, and based on the lack of validity of previous HFD tests, we conclude that practitioners should not rely on HFD tests as a projective measure of intelligence.

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