CHAPTER 5
EXERCISES AND SELF-STUDY
Recommended Exercises
I was recently teaching a live drawing workshop where I met a very motivated student. This young man asked me one of the smartest questions I’ve ever heard from a student: “What exercises should I do?”
I was shocked at the simplicity of this question. I realized that this student echoed something I had asked my mentors and teachers many years ago. It was a question I asked myself when I began my life drawing journey. Because it seemed so long ago, and because of all the thousands of hours of drawing I had done and the decades of professional experience, I had forgotten how much practice and exercise I had done myself when I was first learning figure drawing. To this young student, thank you for the reminder.
These homework exercises are divided into three parts: drawing from life and observation, dexterity exercises, and old master studies. Each homework exercise has several assignments. They don’t need to be done in order because the exercises complement each other, but if you want to learn the material in this book, the obvious starting point is to draw the figure from life.
PART 1
Drawing from Life and Observation
Adult art class at the Brooklyn Museum in 1935. Federal Art Project. Archives of American Art.
Your first, and most obvious, homework assignment is to draw from life and draw as much as possible. For me, “as much as possible” means at a minimum I would complete at least:
• sketchbook page a day
• full 18" x 24" (46 x 61 cm) page a day
If you follow even 20 percent of the exercises in this chapter you will easily accomplish that. From my experience, one page a day, consistently, every day, is better than seven pages in one day. Consistent practice and repetition is the key to rapid growth and learning.
EXERCISE 1: DRAW FROM LIFE
Now that you have this book, it’s time to put it into action. If you haven’t already, go to your local life drawing workshop and put in some work.
Assignment 1: Find a local life drawing workshop
If you’ve never drawn from life, this assignment may be the most difficult. Getting started is often the hardest part. Fortunately, life drawing workshops are everywhere, at least in the Western world. If you are in the United States and live near a major city, you can definitely find one. Following is a short list of the places I suggest looking at to find a local life drawing class. When I have moved to a new city or have traveled, this is where I start my search.
1. Local Art Schools
Most colleges and universities offer art classes and many have life drawing class. The classes will most likely be instructed, so you may have to register and become a student. Many schools that teach realism or illustration offer uninstructed drawing workshops organized by student groups or graduates. If any of these is not available or enrolling as a student is not possible, simply contact the drawing professor, current students, or graduates. Here’s a hint: look for students carrying around 18" x 24” (46 x 61 cm) drawing boards. If you see them, you know you are in the right place.
2. Online Searches
Many drawing groups post their events online. One of the best sites to search is Meetup.com. Meetup is where event organizers can post and share their event. Meetup is global, so if you are outside the United States, this may be a good online resource. To search, visit www.meetup.com.
The second online resource I suggest is the figure drawing directory by Artmodelbook.com. This website is run by a former life drawing model. He has compiled a wonderful list of local life drawings in the United States and Canada. For more, visit www.artmodelbook.com/figure-drawing-directory.htm.
3. Local Art Stores
Your local art store is a great resource for events. If you’re drawing every day, you will be going quite often, so next time you’re buying new pencils or newsprint, check the bulletin board for flyers. Life drawing workshops and classes will be posted there. Talk to staff—they are artists too. If you see a customer buying an 18" x 24" (46 x 61 cm) drawing board and some newsprint, talk to them too! They are going where you want to go.
Some of the large art stores even host their own life drawing workshops and classes. Look for flyers and posters and ask the staff about life drawing workshops.
4. Cafes and Bookstores
Like the art store, bulletin boards at your local coffee shop or bookstore will have local events. Cafes and bookstores often host local social groups, and there may be drawing/art groups there. Talk to the barista or staff as well.
Assignment 2: Go to at least one life drawing session per week
Now that you’ve found a local life drawing session or have already gone, the next goal is to go as often as possible. When I was first exposed to this information, figure drawing became so much fun and so rewarding. It can be fun and rewarding for you too, if you practice and apply the knowledge in this book, but you have to go! When I was starting out, I went three to five times per week. Fortunately, living in Los Angeles at the time, I had a lot of access to life drawing workshops. Even if you can’t go three times per week, once a week is a great routine to start.
Assignment 3: Two pages of gestures
The page opposite is a full 18" x 24" (46 x 61 cm) page of two-minute poses from a life drawing session. This session was structured well and had a set of 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s, and 20s. Most life drawing sessions will have at least one to two hours for short poses and gestures poses. If you go regularly, it will be very easy to fill up pages in your newsprint pad.
Assignment 4: One page of torso studies
Torso studies as shown above are great for learning the life drawing process. Practice as many torso studies as you can every week. If you go to life drawing sessions regularly, commit one workshop session, or at least the first two hours, to only doing torso studies.
EXERCISE 2: CAFE SKETCHING
If you don’t have access to a live model, or if you are a drawing machine and can’t stop drawing, the world can be your life drawing workshop if you practice field sketching or “cafe sketching.” Cafe sketching is drawing people in public spaces. Cafes and coffee shops are obviously the most ideal locations. People sit in one place, there are tables, and you have drinks to keep you going. Cafes are everywhere too, so there’s really no excuse not to practice. In addition to cafes, here are some of the locations where I sketch and draw people:
• bookstores
• trains and buses
• airports
• restaurants
Virtually any public gathering place is an opportunity to draw, which is why I bring my sketchbook and materials everywhere I go.
If you’ve already tried cafe sketching, you know that the main challenge is the speed at which you will have to draw. People aren’t figure models, so they don’t hold still. You may only have a few seconds before their pose or angle changes. For new students, I recommend practicing your observation and gesture. Capture the action of the pose and then take a mental picture of the person’s shape, silhouette, features, and clothing. Keep observing and drawing until they move, and then resolve the sketch from memory. I’ll admit, it’s very tough, but keep practicing and over time your observation skills, decision making, and visual memory will improve.
Assignment 5: One page of full figures
The sketchbook page of figures (opposite) is from a waiting area at a government office. This was a large open space, so there were dozens of people in my view. Fortunately there was seating available, and I could practice full-figure gesture sketching on the seated people before sketching the standing models, who moved a lot more.
Assignment 6: One page of heads and faces
The sketchbook page above is from a long subway train ride through Hollywood. From my seat it was rare to see a full figure, so I focused on heads and faces. For beginners, this is a great time to practice the head indication techniques from chapter 3. When I draw in the field, I try to capture the movement and shape and the placement of the features. The details and shading can be added from memory.
PART 2
Dexterity Exercises
Dexterity is defined as “skill with the hands.” For life drawing, this means skill with the pencil. If you are new to the undercup grip, these exercises are even more important. Undercup is a new motor skill, and it takes time for the muscles in the hand to adapt and become comfortable with it.
The first time I started drawing with an undercup grip, my dexterity was awful. My marks were rough and inconsistent. When it came time to shade, my tones looked very bad. As someone who already had drawing experience and some ego, I was embarrassed.
Fortunately, any new skill can be quickly learned and sharpened with the right exercises and constant repetition. These exercises will help make your marks as clean and beautiful as possible. They will improve your line control, but the most challenging and rewarding skill to improve first is making clean tones.
EXERCISE 3: TONE BOXES
This simple exercise can be a lot of fun and very rewarding. From my experience, this one exercise produces the fastest results in improved overall dexterity. To do the tone boxes exercise, simply draw a small square, about 1" x 1" (2.5 x 2.5 cm), and then use the side of the pencil to fill the box with tone. The goal is to make the tone as even and as smooth as possible.
Fill an entire 18" x 24" (46 x 61 cm) newsprint page with squares. Start with vertical, up-and-down strokes. Once you fill a page with vertical strokes, do horizontal strokes, and finally diagonal strokes. When you become more comfortable and want a challenge, try curved strokes. Do this exercise every day and you’ll be amazed at how quickly your dexterity will improve. Tone boxes can also be a great warm-up before a life drawing session, or an exercise between model breaks for ambitious students.
Assignment 7: One page of boxes, vertical strokes
Start with pages and pages of vertical boxes. For variety and a challenge, reverse your stroke and go from the bottom up. It may be very uncomfortable, but the more you practice uncomfortable positions, the better your dexterity will be and the faster you will improve.
Assignment 7
Assignments 8 and 9: One page of horizontal strokes and one page of diagonal strokes
With horizontal strokes, go from left to right and fill the box from top to bottom. For variety, do the exact opposite and stroke from right to left and fill the box from bottom to top.
For diagonal strokes, start working down to the left because this is the most comfortable angle. For variety and a challenge, do diagonal strokes down to the right. For even more challenge, do the opposite and stroke diagonally up.
Assignment 8
Assignment 9
Assignment 10: One page of curved strokes in multiple directions
The most difficult and challenging are curved strokes. Downward strokes, curving out to the left and right, are most comfortable for me. Once I’m comfortable working downward, I do horizontal strokes, curving down and curving up. Fill a whole row (or multiple rows) with the same stroke, and then make a new row when switching to another stroke.
EXERCISE 4: CONNECT THE DOTS
To get better line quality fast, do the connect-the-dots exercise. I can’t think of another exercise that can dramatically improve line quality in a such a short amount of time. Using an undercup grip, simply draw two dots and then try to connect the dots with a single stroke. Imagine the tip of the pencil is an arrow and the second dot is a bull’s-eye. Try to hit the dot at the end of your stroke.
If you don’t hit the dot that’s okay. With practice, you will. What makes this simple exercise so much fun is the feeling of excitement you get when you can hit the dot with the stroke. It’s very rewarding and makes practice fun.
Assignment 11: One page of straight lines
Start with a small gap between the dots (A). As you get comfortable, make the dots farther and farther apart (B). Eventually, try to go the entire width of your paper. As your dots get farther apart, draw with your whole arm. The more of your arm and body you use, the better and cleaner the stroke will be, and the better chance you have of hitting the mark.
Assignment 12: One page of curved lines
For variety and a challenge, try to connect the dots with a curved line. I like to start with vertical strokes and then practice horizontal strokes.
EXERCISE 5: WRITING IN UNDERCUP
This exercise may seem a little strange, but don’t underestimate writing in undercup. When I first started to seriously study life drawing I wanted to improve so badly. My dexterity with an undercup grip was still weak. My lines, and especially my tones, were so ugly. One day, as I was sketching in my sketchbook with a brush pen, I started writing some notes while still holding the pen in an undercup grip. Writing in this new grip was very stimulating, so I decided to keep writing and fill a whole page. After writing consistently, I was shocked by how much better my line quality was when I went back to life drawing. Writing forces the hand to go in many directions, angles, and curves, which of course translates beautifully to drawing strokes.
Assignment 13: One sketchbook page of undercup writing
To do this assignment, I recommend using either a brush pen (pictured here) or a long lead pencil. The subject of your writing doesn’t matter. I used to write drawing notes and ideas. If you’re out of ideas, just fill the page with this phrase: “I will go to life drawing every week and practice drawing every day.”
PART 3
Old Master Studies
Copying the artwork of the great artists in history, also known as the “old masters,” is a long-honored tradition. Every successful professional artist I know and every great drawing teacher I have had in my life has studied and admired the works of great artists in history. Some love the famous Renaissance artists such as da Vinci or Michelangelo. One of my teachers admired and studied Rembrandt. The main reason why I do old master studies, and the reason why I recommend it to my students, is how quickly these exercises help me improve.
Old master copies are almost like having a “cheat code” to drawing. These great artists are masters because they have worked a lifetime on their drawings. In their drawings and paintings, they have faced, overcome, and resolved every drawing problem possible. So when you study a masterpiece, you get to skip all the pain and struggle of countless errors and mistakes and draw only what works, what looks good, and what reads well. In a way, it’s like skipping the beginner level and going straight to mastery. Pretty cool, right?
I’m always surprised at how quickly I improve after I study the old masters consistently. If you do these exercises consistently, you too will be surprised at how quickly you improve.
WHO ARE THESE “OLD MASTERS?”
What qualifies someone to be an “old master”? There are many great artists in history, and there are probably many names that first come to mind. For the purpose of realistic figure drawing, I recommend looking to the great painters from the past who are recognized and appreciated for their figures and realism. Below is a short list to start your journey:
1. Peter Paul Rubens
2. William-Adolphe Bouguereau
3. Diego Velázquez
4. John Singer Sargent
This is a very short list, but these artists are generally accepted as masters. They also have many works that feature figures and nudes. If you want more examples and are not sure who to study or where to look, start with the most famous periods of Western art: Renaissance, High Renaissance, and Baroque. Most paintings you find from these periods are good examples to study.
EXERCISE 6: OLD MASTER STUDIES
Now that you know who to study, what to study is also important. There are many, many lessons you can learn from a great work of art. There are also many ways to approach an old master study. For the student of life drawing, I recommend that you focus your studies on the fundamentals of figure drawing and the figure drawing process.
Assignment 14: Gesture and Rhythm Study
Tracing or drawing over a masterpiece is a great exercise. Use a piece of tracing paper and colored pencils or a digital drawing tablet.
In the above example of a Rubens study, I started by tracing over the gestures in the torso, especially the action line, centerline, shoulder line and hip line (A). I used another layer and traced over the rhythms (B). Whenever I found a rhythm line, I tried to extend it by flowing into another rhythm line. This is how Rubens would have intended. How many more rhythms can you see?
Gesture study of The Union of Earth and Water (1618) by Peter Paul Rubens.
Assignment 15: Structure and Construction Study
In this study of a Bouguereau painting, I drew construction forms of the torso (A). I used box forms, spheres, cylinders, and compound forms to construct the figure. Once I had the torso, I studied the construction of the limbs using cylinders, boxes, and compound forms (B). Even if there is fabric covering the figure, I try to use my imagination to construct the part of the figure that is hidden.
Construction study of After the Bath (1894) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau.
Assignment 16: One Page of Gesture Sketches
Another way to study a masterpiece, especially one that has multiple figures, is to copy and draw the figures in the painting. I like to imagine that the figures in the paintings are models, and I try to draw them as if they were posing in front of me. Just like a life drawing session, I use a timer to set a time limit on the drawing. Start with one- and two-minute gesture poses, and then five- and ten-minute poses. As you gain confidence and experience, do longer poses.
This example by Rubens has six figures and is a great painting to study for gesture. To mimic a life drawing session, I set a timer to one minute and treated each figure as a new pose.
One-minute gesture drawings after Death of Adonis (c. 1614) by Peter Paul Rubens.
Apollo in the Forge of Vulcan by Diego Velázquez, 1630.
Assignment 17: One Page of Five- and Ten-Minute Sketches
This masterpiece by Diego Velázquez is an excellent opportunity to study the figure. Not only are the figures partially nude and exposed, but the lighting is excellent and allows for clear shadows and forms. A painting like this would be great to study for five- and ten-minute poses or longer.
For this exercise, I set the timer for five minutes and started with the central figure (A). As I was drawing, I tried to match the gesture, proportions, and anatomy of the original. In the last few minutes, I was able to start shading. Because the light and shadow shapes are so clear I was really able to focus on and practice my values and edges.
For the second five-minute pose, I chose the figure on the right (B). In this drawing, I learned that Velázquez was very conscious of the gesture. The beautiful curved action line in the back flows from the head to the foot. Gesture was definitely a big part of the drawing. I also learned more about the head and how to construct the head from this difficult angle. Of course, the beautiful shading and anatomy of the arm was a lot of fun. If I had more time I would have slowed down and carefully observed and studied and copied the anatomy and details.
Every time the five-minute buzzer went off I didn’t want to stop drawing. I was having a lot of fun trying to study and copy all the details, especially the anatomy and shading. There are many more lessons to learn from such a great painting that five minutes is not enough. A great painting like this deserves multiple studies.
WHERE TO GO FROM HERE
You now have seventeen assignments to try. Go to life drawing sessions and take this book with you. When you get stuck somewhere in the drawing process, review that chapter. When you have a free moment, do the dexterity exercises. Even if you don’t do any of these assignments but simply copy the diagrams and examples in this book, you will know more about figure drawing than 99 percent of art students.