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 🙂