Figure Drawing Fundamentals Part 2: Bringing Your Figure to Life

Learn how to capture the energy and likeliness of people. From quick sketches to full-coloured pieces, understand how to loosely draw the human form and breathe life into your art through colour, shadow and light. At the end of this course, you'll be fully equipped to draw and paint anyone from life or photo.

Note: This course is part 2 of the Figure Drawing course. Watch parts 1 and 3 below:

• Figure Drawing Fundamentals Part 1: Bare Basics

• Figure Drawing Part 3: Expressive People and Composition

This course is suitable for absolute beginners.

CLASS CURRICULUM

Session 1: Creating Shape & Dimension with Watercolour

(Length: 1hr)

Learn how to create volume and shading in human figures with ink and watercolour. Bring out the essentials of a human figure by simplifying detail and investing in shape, volume and body expression. At the end of this workshop, you will be able to apply shading with hard edges and gradient watercolour washes effectively to create dynamic human figures.

Session 2: Clothing

(Length: 1hr)

Learn how to capture the shapes and shades of fabric in different clothing items, helping to convey movement and dynamism to your human figures. Familiarize yourself with simple but effective techniques, both with ink and with watercolour, that will level up your people sketching. By the end of this class, you will be able to draw and paint believable clothing items that will grant expression to your human figures.

Session 3: Hair

(Length: 1hr)

Learn how to portray the intricate details, textures and shading of hair using ink sketching and watercolour techniques. Build on your previously acquired knowledge of sketching heads and shading, and add hair variation and flow to your sketching toolkit. At the end of this class, you will be able to skillfully capture a variety of hairstyles and textures with different shapes, volumes and shading, using ink outlines and watercolour washes, creating a simplified yet believable portrayal of hair in your sketches.

Session 4: Making a Scene

(Length: 1hr)

Combine all the techniques and skills that you have learned throughout the course, and apply them to a single final exercise. Learn how to deal with many interacting characters in the same sketch, detailing them adequately according to scale, distance, body posture and expression. At the end of this class, you will be able to create an ink and watercolour scene with people interacting with each other and their environment, break down details to the strictly necessary, and convey human emotions and expressivity to the scene.

REFERENCE PHOTOS

• Download here

ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES

• Sketchbook

• Watercolours

• Watercolour Brushes

• Waterproof nib pen

• Pencil