Sketches and sketching

Sketches of the male figure. "The Human Figure" marathon, week 7

Painterly sketch of a the lady. Stream recording

Drawing the figure is a tricky thing, but an interesting one. In this two-hour stream recording I show and explain how to build a study of the female figure from scratch.

Sketches of the female figure. "The Human Figure" marathon, week 6

Portrait sketches. Marathon “The Human Form”. Week 1

A great start to the marathon! On the stream we talk about laying out the page, shapes, rhythms and emotion in drawing. Oh, and porridge :)

Painted sketches from the shape

One of the important skills for an artist is learning to think in shapes, to notice the structure of shadow shapes and to work with complementary colors. For that you need to practice not only line sketches but shape sketches as well. When you’re sketching, watch that the edges of the form aren’t equally smooth everywhere, or the sketch will look too monotonous. That’s why I use the smudge tool quite a lot while working — in Procreate I use the brush attached below with it, and I try to keep the radius fairly large. On color: in sketches I deliberately move away from a uniform skin tone toward complementary colors. Here, for example, the base is a grayish red together with a cool grayish green (the green should be grayer and the red more saturated). And by that same complementary logic, when purple comes into a drawing, you need to put something ocher somewhere nearby. Next to an orangey note you need a gray-blue, and so on.

How I sketch

Here are a few short timelapses based on my female figure sketches. Procreate brush attached

Drawing process: female figure sketch

It’s important to sketch constantly. For many artists it’s a regular habit, like morning exercise. Here’s the process of making a female figure sketch. Lay things in softly at first, then gradually press harder and refine the form.

Timelapse. Sketch of a male figure from the back

Hi! It’s been a while since I recorded new timelapses for you, so here’s one from the studio. In it I show how to work on a sketch of a male figure from the back. I’ve attached the photo as a file so you can draw along with me. It all starts with the dynamic lines of the shoulder girdle and the spine. It’s important to block in the main masses and the overall arc relationships. Note that in sketches you can and should force things, pushing certain parts for more expression. For example, in the photo the back looks like a plain straight line, but the rhythm of the whole sketch is built on arcs, so we bend the line of the spine a little, adding some foreshortening. At the end we add a few accents, strengthen the line and — voilà — the sketch is done! 🙂✨

Sketching from photographs

Hi to all my subscribers! As soon as I’m back I’ll run a teaching stream on the topic you chose. In the meantime I’ve pulled three video lessons out of the archive on how to sketch from photographs. In the first part I go through a dynamic female figure from the front, show the devices for bringing out rhythm and the links between things, and explain what you can simplify, what to focus on instead and how to place accents properly. In the second part you get a female figure in a seated pose, foreshortened from the back. At first glance the figure is fairly static — I’ll explain how to give the sketch dynamics and interesting movement. Basically, we’ll be adding to reality and dressing it up a bit ✨ We’ll also work out how to catch and lay in the main proportions quickly, what to do with foreshortening in the figure, and how to push the accents so the sketch feels alive. The third part has the hardest pose! Again we’ll push the sketch in favor of movement, plasticity and expression. And arcs will come to our aid — arcs are everything! Watch the video and you’ll see for yourself how important they are for a striking sketch. The most important takeaway from this series: an artist isn’t obliged to treat sketches with the accuracy of a camera (which, by the way, alters reality plenty itself). You can shift the pose a little, move the arms and legs, add movement, invent the surroundings and how the model interacts with objects. A sketch is great space for experimenting — don’t be afraid to imagine things and build your own concepts. Good luck, and see you soon 🙂

Timelapse. Sketch of the female figure

Timelapses. Sketches of the female figure

Hi, friends! I’ll start with a series of timelapses drawing the female figure in three positions — standing, seated and lying down. Imagine there’s a real model in front of you, and you have to catch the angle, the proportions, even the mood fairly quickly and get them down on paper — before the model changes the pose. By the way, is anyone here who’s been following me all the way since 2020? 😎

Timelapse. Sketch of a male figure from imagination

Hi! We’re drawing a sketch of a male figure from imagination. In a study like this what matters first of all is the silhouette and its accuracy; filling the background with a black shape and the inside of the figure with color will emphasize that silhouette. The shape in the background will work as the large formal form, and the limbs as the medium and small modules of black shapes. And don’t forget the details and the anatomical expressiveness. and attach your portfolio. Taking part is free!

Timelapse. A lady’s figure built from mass

Hi! from May 22 to May 31. Basically my whole blog is devoted to this one word 😎 And today’s timelapse is no exception! So, we’re drawing a lady’s figure from mass. If you already have a finished portrait, you can try taking it up to a full sketch with the figure. When you draw along with this timelapse, think first of all about an expressive silhouette and about the shapes it creates. You can invent fills inside the silhouette of the figure that match particular outlines of clothing — a crop top, leggings, ballet flats, shorts or something else. The main thing is that the mass works in an interesting way. Wishing you some good experiments ✨

Live stream recording. Quick sketches of the female figure

Hi everyone! I ran a stream drawing quick sketches of the female figure. If you missed it, here’s the recording! A reminder that practicing sketches helps you find the general connecting vectors that hold the whole composition of a drawing together. But it’s very important to choose your subject well — a good angle, a good silhouette. Draw and share your results on your social media!

Timelapse. Sketching a full-figured woman in a difficult foreshortening

Hi! We’re getting ready for the sketching marathon! As you’ve gathered from the title, today I’m sharing a timelapse of sketching a full-figured woman in a difficult foreshortening. At the end I added a bit of color so the piece looks more interesting. Draw along with me and share your results on social media.

Sketches of a seated male figure with raised arms

Hi! This is the final lesson in the video series on sketching the male figure in a difficult pose. If you’ve been drawing along with me, you know what the artist’s first priority is here :) . I think it’s a good opportunity to start building the skill, systematically and in great company!

Sketches of a seated male figure in a three-quarter view

Hi! We’re continuing to draw the male figure in difficult poses. Here, again, one of the main tasks is to place the sketch on the page as accurately as possible, so the proportions get locked in. The angle may differ a little, but this works at any angle: you simply compare the various counter-shapes, block them in, and the proportions aren’t going anywhere. The rest of my comments are in the video.

Sketches of a male figure bending sideways and seated

Hi! We’ll draw sketches of the male figure in a difficult pose — here are two video lessons at once, so there’s more practice for the weekend. The first lesson is about drawing a male figure bending sideways. The hardest part is laying the figure out on the page so that everything fits the way it should and the movement isn’t lost. So first we fix where the heel of the left foot goes, where the pelvis is, where the head is, where the ribcage runs, the left shoulder, and the supporting arm. In the second lesson we draw a seated male figure. Here too you need to block in the figure’s overall movement: at first we can work with simple directions that don’t even have any plasticity to them but do hint at the construction, and only after that do we start "cutting the corners" — turning the boxy forms into rounded ones.. Thank you for watching and for your support!

Sketches of a male figure from the back

Hi everyone! I’m continuing the video series on sketching the male figure in difficult poses. Today we draw the male figure from the back. When depicting difficult poses, it’s important that the dynamics and the movement are clearly visible in the picture. You get that through a broken rhythm, where there’s asymmetry and a more complex direction to the forms. Watch the video lesson, follow along with me, or pick other references for your sketches. By the way, friends, about the September feedback: it’s happening, just a bit later! I’ll leave the upload link in early October. Thank you for your attention and your support!

Sketches of a reclining male figure

Hi! Today — a video lesson on drawing a male figure lying down. With this video lesson I’m opening a series on sketching the male figure in difficult poses. First you need to establish the figure’s overall dimensions. To do that, fix its most protruding parts — the head, the shoulder, and the foot of the right leg. Once we have that simplified scheme, we start laying in volume and building up a more interesting structure. And what happens after that — see for yourself :)

Sketching the male figure in a difficult pose

Hi, friends! On the last day of summer I’m sharing a video lesson on drawing the male figure in a difficult pose. We make a sketch, paying attention first of all to the position of the model’s body. In general, the job of quick gesture sketches is to bring out the relationship between the ribcage, the pelvis and the rest of the figure. Don’t forget to turn the sound on while you watch!

Timelapse. A seated lady

Hi! Lately almost all the material here has been about the male figure. I decided that needed fixing (and you asked for it too!), so I filmed a timelapse of drawing a seated lady. The finished pieces are attached to the post. And when you draw, share what you make on social media!

Timelapse with commentary. Sketches in color

Hi everyone! A couple of weeks ago we were drawing quick sketches. And it’s not an ordinary timelapse, it comes with my commentary — I talk about working with a color scheme and with stylization. So don’t forget to turn the sound on! Brushes used: for the line and the small details, a 6B pencil with the grain reduced to 6%; for the big stuff, paints/nikko rull. Thanks for watching and for the support!

Timelapse. A study of a lady starting from the line

Hi, friends! Today I’m showing the process of working on a study in color, starting from the line. In the leading role is a lady with a black bob who looks like Mia Wallace, Uma Thurman’s character in Pulp Fiction. Working on the sketch, I emphasize the dynamics of the forms and the anatomy. You can follow the drawing along with me, or watch how the search for the composition and the color went and draw your own lady. Thanks for the support!