Sunday, May 13, 2012

Expose Yourself to Art!

On Sunday, May 13, 2012, the Boston "We've Come for the Davenport" Chapter of the Robert Benchley Society met for an afternoon of life drawing based on the similar successfull Chapter Round-up in November.

This time we had two experienced professional models, each top in his or her field. Jim has posed at many venues in New England and was even chosen to illustrate classic poses for the art reference book Art Models 2, available at http://www.posespace.com/. Shoney's work, both as photographer as well as model, has been displayed in many New England galleries. Unfortunately, the lights on the stage we out of service and had to improvise with a low riser and some portable lights, which explains the constrained poses. We'll have more active poses at the next event.




David gave a few pointers as follows --
  1. The human body has no straight lines. Carefully observe the curves of the human figure. Now record those curves on your pad. Try observing a curve and drawing it while not looking at the pad.
  2. Although there are no straight lines in the body, the posed figure is arranged on lines that tend to connect the hands, feet, head, and joints. Notice how, from the head of the standing male in a classic pose, you can drop a plumb line that will touch the foot of his weight-bearing foot. Note how that creates the sense of groundedness and stability that is one of the characteristics of the classic nude standing male. Now hold out you pencil and use it as a rule along that imaginary line and measure how far it is from foot to knee, to groin, to navel, to nipples, to neck, to face. This will help you with one of the most difficult tasks for the beginning artist, getting the figure into proper proportion.
  3. The classic nude standing female you will observe naturally falls into a pose arranged along two great arcs that follow the curve of either hip. Observe the actual curves of the model and record them, but use these imaginary arcs to assist you in getting the proper proportions.


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