About the Figure

Drawing the figure is kind of a big deal. It's often a huge challenge, even for kids in advanced classes, to master. Plus, the figure is so central to multiple forms and styles of art. 

But is seems hard and it's scary, which makes figurative art the perfect place for my advanced class to start. 

They do, I've decided, need to start somewhere. With three teachers who all do things differently in my school, it's not feasible for me (or them) to start the course with all the doors open. We build up to that together. 

So, we start with figure drawing, and spend a few weeks there. I use it as a foil for introducing a variety of media through figure drawing sessions, which helps me really get a feel for who my new students are and what they know.  

We focus on proportion and sight measuring in these figure drawing sessions and I limit the use of pencil to help kids focus on seeing, not erasing.

Here is a list of drawing challenges we start class with, typically spending between 10 to 20 minutes and having students take turns modeling. 

• 5 three minute drawings, using marker, that focus on the face a shoulders.
• 5 two minute drawings, in charcoal, that capture as much of the body as possible.
• 3 two minute drawings, in charcoal, that focus on capturing light and shadow. 
• 2  five minute drawing, in anything but pencil, that focus on the hands and arms. 
• 2 five minute drawings, in pastel, that capture expression. 
• 1 ten minute drawing of the figure, medium of choice. 
• 3 two minute drawings that capture motion, medium of choice. 
• 3 two minute drawings of the figure from an angle.
• 2 eight minute drawings of the figure, model sitting on a chair on the table, from below.

On Monday, I'll challenge them to add non-observable elements to the figure, like expressive color, non-human features or to abstract the body. I notice that when I directly teach realism I also have to directly teach how to use that knowledge in less realistic ways or many kids never try. 

We also work on longer drawings. I started the class with a short, mixed media hand study. This gave me the opportunity to evaluate how each student drew and painted, information that helped my plan the rest of the unit as well as other experiences.  Next, kids spent a class or two drawing a huge image with a partner to investigate proportion, creating in whatever media they wanted. This took longer than I expected, but provided focused conversations, full of analysis about proportion, which made it time well spent.   Also, this year we visited the drama class, who modeled for my students, acting out the words my kids planned to illustrate in any media. These expressive portraits are in progress and wonderful. 

The start of an expressive drawing. On her blog, she writes this: "We've spent the last two weeks focusing on composition and proportions, as well as using the figure expressively. I've become much more confident in drawing realistically, which is something I've never really explored. I feel much less intimidated in Art 3 and like I'm on a more level playing field than i thought i would be."

Hands, in progress