Foundations
Foundations
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19:46

Introduction to Figure Construction

The Fundamentals
Michael Hampton
A deeper dive into the fundamentals and what it takes to get better at them.
Newest
@jprada1771
should i start with this curse or the head curse?
Michael Hampton
Totally up to you! I'd say whichever interests you more.
@tonycatalano
I notice you said to make the lines parallel for the boxes instead of converging. Is this because figures aren't usually in an intense enough perspective for the converging of the edges to factor in? Thanks for everything! Love your stuff.
Soul
2mo
That makes sense, thanks for asking this question 🙌
Michael Hampton
Yes! That's absolutely correct. And, thank you!
Jack Watson
I used your exercises to warmup before my drawing session today and even though I've been drawing for a while it really helped me dial in my control. This made me remember to resort back to good habits to make better progress.
Michael Hampton
That's awesome!
@phillip30
8mo
if you also sculpt in 3d, can you apply this exercise by practicing modeling the forms?
Michael Hampton
I would imagine so. I'm also not much of a sculptor though either
@colorblind
10mo
A thing i've sort of been struggling with as a beginner is that I can see the mistake i've made. Crooked lines,wobbly circles and I recognize that. But how do I correct the behavior? How do you become more consistent with intention? I feel like the usual response is "just draw more" but it feels hard to keep going when everything looks "bad". Do you have any pointers Michael?
@wrekanize
9mo
I’m a beginner too. In terms of having the motivation to keep going, you need to draw things for fun as well, without worrying about the result; to balance out the not-so-fun technique practice. The more fun stuff should fuel your progress.
Michael Hampton
I totally understand. I do have pointers, just keep in mind they're things that worked for me. SO may or may not apply or make sense for all. As far as lines/circles go these are just mechanics and muscle memory. I think some of the early exercises I introduce may help here with practice. The point to point exercise with straights is really helpful with a focus on drawing from the shoulder. For circles I like starting out with a box and dividing it up as my template for where the circle should hit. Both these exercises help make clear what I'm doing wrong. Knowing this, I can make adjustments based on whatever it is that's off. Maybe I sit differently, emphasize my shoulder more, stop staring directly in front of the pencil and instead look at the point I'm aiming for, etc. I think the big lesson I learned, however, is that practice doesn't really make a difference if it isn't focused or intentional. If we just draw, we're likely to continue making the same mistakes regardless of how often we do so. That's why I do these little exercises, so I'm brought back to what's gone wrong and how I may practice differently to address it. As it pertains to the figures. In the demonstration I've shown, I have a really specific and linear process. This is for the exact same reason. Each step addresses one thing. As such, I only focus on that skill or technical stage in the drawing so all of my focus is on making tilts, shapes, perspective (or whatever). If I don't stay organized then I find myself becoming very unintentional and easily slipping back into repeated patterns. Ok, hope some of this might help with your question. Sorry for such a long reply.
Josh Fiddler
My Major Take-Aways: Thoughts on Boxes - Boxes are inevitable. Learn to love boxes.  (I have. Thank you drawabox) - let go of 'perfection' seeking, it will hold you back. (Fact) - practicing these fundamentals slows you way way down now so that later, you can go way way faster at the things you’ve practiced and understood (uncomfortable fact for most people) - ghost a few lines before applying pressure: you are practicing the motions and building muscle memory. Rotate the page if you need to but get comfortable pulling/pushing/throwing a line at a comfortable angle Remember to critique your practice afterwards. For example:  - There is wobble in that one, move a bit faster to correct;  - you have a tendency to hook the lines at the end. Draw from the shoulder and draw through when you remove the pen from the page; - Practice boxes in 1 and 2 pt before trying 3 point: with fewer VPs, can focus on practicing gauging the angles to one Thoughts on Cylinders - Ellipses with straights: - Start with ellipse and make sure width is fixed.  - Copy forward visible edge to the bottom visible edge to keep the form convincing - Toothpaste tub-ification: Don’t foreshorten too much without ensuring that bottom forward edge of the base isn’t just a little “C” curve. Otherwise you end up with tapered toothpaste tube, and not a cylinder. and not a figure either. - To show depth, when rotating forward, widen the minor-axis of the top face, and mirror this edge shape to the bottom, but scaled down. This curvature is essential to keeping volume  NB: The minor axis, when an ellipse is drawn correctly, gives the direction of the perpendicular to the face of the ellipse My sketchbook is full of pages where I fill in the spaces around other exercises with ellipses and circles practicing size, degree, and control. Often around other drawings that weren’t successful as a drawing.  I highly recommend DRAWABOX for anyone who wants a hardcore bootcamp on everything this 20 minute video talks about, but over 7 lessons and several challenges that will indeed challenge everything you know about line and drawing, especially boxes, construction, and form intersections
Michael Hampton
Awesome summation. And ya, drawabox is a great reference!
John Patten
10mo
Great warm up activities! I need the practice. Just an observation, with ellipses, I find depending on where i start on the long end of the curve, either the middle, or “top,” or “bottom,” my ellipse will tend to have a repeatable distortion, either pinched at end, the top, or even the middle. Interesting to try starting the shapes in different locations to see what your proclivity. Thx!
Michael Hampton
Awesome! Glad you found them interesting. I also find I have weird habits when making ellipses. I tend to always make them darker and a little wobbly towards the bottom left. Not sure why yet. Must be something to do with my drawing mechanics.
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About instructor
Educator, painter, writer, and art historian. Author of Figure Drawing: Design and Invention.
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