Drawing From Life

Life drawing is traditionally an academic activity which develops seeing and drawing skills. The concentration needed and the intensity of the experience often means that people learn quickly. Life drawing is essentially about the quality of observation and the sensitivity of the response, the vitality of the mark making that takes you that one step beyond simple accuracy.

• Artists over centuries have painted the nude figure for quite specific reasons and it

is useful to look at the different genres to be aware of your own preferences.

• Focusing on the formal elements of colour and composition etc is a logical and

practical line of enquiry which helps you clarify what interests you. It leads to

basic understanding of the elements and possible further development of your

work on a sound basis.

• Being open to experiment as opposed to being too conservative in your drawing

can be exciting and productive. Simply trying different media or combinations of

techniques can lead to a fresh area of investigation which in turn can suggest

further development. At the very least it will expand your repertoire and improve

your life drawing.

ARTISTIC GENRES

Romantic

Many artists choose to draw and paint the figure because of its beauty. This has been the
case for many centuries and there has been nothing happened that has changed this basic
perception of the human form. Some painters have idealised and others have
romanticised the figure. There are many examples.
Leonardo Da Vinci – high Renaissance accurately observed but ultimately idealised
beauty often depicting themes from mythology.

Rubens – High Baroque, extravagant sumptuous nudes

Ingre - classic beautiful and idealised interpretations mainly of the female figure

Lord Leighton – Grand master of high Victorian Neo classicism

Realism

Realistic images, as opposed to romantic or idealised, can be found in the realism of

Velasquez, Delacroix or the gritty realism and social statements of the kitchen sink

painters of the 1950’s like John Bratby or they can be very direct objective observational

studies like in the work of Lucien Freud.

MODERNISM

Throughout the 20th century there has been a series of Art movements from

impressionism to abstraction. Certainly in the early part of the century, paintings were
still based on traditional subject matter like landscape, still life and the figure.
Consequently we have many examples of the nude interpreted though these different
modern art movements. This is a great source of information on the very diverse
approaches to interpreting the human figure and understanding the original thinking behind them.

Impressionism

Impressionism represents the break with academic painting marked by the use of colour
theory, painting in the open air and a search for a new way of expressing reality. The

understanding of their rationale and use of their varied techniques is accessible and

useful.

Manet, Degas, Gauguin, Toulouse Lautrec

Fauvism

A post Impressionist movement that pushed the boundaries of colour beyond observed

natural colour and particularly in the work of Matisse the relationship between shapes

and colours. Matisse, Bonnard

Expressionism

The person you are painting is a real person with a character, emotions and a history.

Your reaction could reflect your own emotional response to the subject as in the work of Van Gogh, Kokoshka, Otto Dix, Egon Schiele.

Cubism 

A short lived movement but which still influences many painters work 100 years later. It

is basically about the reduction and fragmentation of natural forms into abstract, often
geometric structures. They believed that the reality of an object is not accurately
expressed by only one view and the artist is responsible for selecting and representing a
new arrangement of shapes that better describe the subject.

Picasso, Braque

Surrealism

An attempt to record images of the subconscious and characterized by fantastic imagery
and incongruous juxtaposition of subject matter. The actual movement was influenced by
the psychoanalyst Sigmund Feud and consequently often sexual in its interpretation of the
figure. The term surreal can now be used to loosely describe images generated by the subconscious. Dali, Magritte

Abstraction

When we observe the figure there are other visual possibilities to apart from the challenge
of realistically representing the human form. We actually see a complex collection of
shapes and forms and there are a number of starting points that can logically lead to semi
abstract images and possibly total abstraction.
We might decide that we want to be selective or even rearrange the shapes to produce
something totally new.
Picasso, Braque, Giacometti, Francis Bacon

The figure could be moving and we would have the challenge of trying to represent this.
Marcel Duchamp – Figure descending stairs.

Conceptual

For more than forty years now we have moved on from the ‘isms’ of modernism into the
post modernist period. Artists have gone freestyle and always on a search for the
individual approach characterized very much by the Brit-artists like Damien Hirst and
Tracy Emin. It can be a wonderful thing to throw away the rule book and look for new
ground. Jenny Saville and Ron Mueck are perhaps the artists that are most closely related
to the figure.

THE FORMAL ELEMENTS

It is no coincidence that the experimental art movements of the 20th century first of all
investigated the basic elements of colour, composition and techniques:

Colour

It is wonderful to be free of the restrictions of representing exactly the natural colours we
see in the figure. It was over a hundred years ago in the work of the Impressionists that
we see whole new palette of possibilities and the complete liberation that took place with

Matisse and the Fauves. We can use the knowledge we have as painters to find new

exciting colour combinations either suggested by what we see in the model and the

surroundings or completely from our imaginations. Bonnard is a wonderful example of a

celebration of colour.

Composition

In a life class with the usual time restrictions the drawing often takes place in the centre
of the paper with little thought to the relationship of the shapes of the figure with the
sides of the paper. The figure itself is made up of shapes and angles with endless
combinations. Considering how they fit into the rectangle is the starting point of
composition. Moving in and selecting only a part of the body can be interesting and
forces you to make decisions about the composition. In a studio there are often a many
interesting lines and shapes, colours and tones which can be used to compliment the
shape of the figure. You can be selective and move these lines around so that they work
well with the figure. Freud makes good use of the simple lines and proportions found in
his studio.

Form

The practice of life drawing is naturally focused on form. To develop this idea further one

might logically tend towards sculpture and there are many superb examples.

Michelangelo, Bernini, Rodin, Frink, Henry Moore. However there are many painters for

who form is an important element if not the main focus. Cezanne, Picasso, Lempica’s

slick stylized figures which owe much to the cubists…

Classic life drawing

Life drawing has become an academic activity with its own traditions and disciplines.
The degree of observation is usually intense so the results tend towards realism rather
than idealism or romanticism. It is the process of recording with the hand what is seen by
the eye. As a result elements of this process can become central to the artist’s intentions;
the actual act of drawing or mark making or maybe the interpretation of form
Euan Uglow – a 20th century, English academic painter who focuses on the precision and
accuracy of measuring during the drawing process. The result has the beauty and
simplicity of mathematics rather than a depiction of a photographic or expressive reality.

TECHNIQUE

The techniques from oil painting to charcoal to etching to sculpture can be central to the
reason for producing the work for some artists. Different techniques can certainly help
determine the character of a piece. As a logical step forward from life drawing, varying
your media can have very positive results and alone help you find a new direction.

Pastels - Degas
Pencil, pastel plus watercolour wash – Rodin, Egon Schiele
Wax resist and watercolour – Henry Moore
Collage – Picasso, Muñoz, Valdēs
Photography – Cindy Sherman
Video – Bruce Nauman

...or try anything from your shed.