Abstract
Students of Fine Art are introduced to drawing in their first year and human figure drawing in their second year. It is presumed that they have already had some element of earlier exposure in other levels of prior studies. The objective of human figure drawing or life drawing is to get the students to a level of applied skill where they can be able to draw and utilize their skill in other aspects of self-expression in other disciplines of Art. This is because life drawing is a fundamental requirement in all disciplines of art from basic sketching to detailed paintings. This paper examines selected work of students to determine the extent to which they are able to achieve this objective within the unit prescribed duration of one semester. The paper also seeks to determine whether the work produced meets the standard of drawing required at this level which then enables the students to subsequently embark on other units of drawing moving forward. This is critical since they are required to apply their life drawing skills in other units as a matter of routine individual expression. In this regard, if they are required to draw or paint an imaginative composition, they would be expected to depict human figures which not only fit within the composition and are well executed but also express the students’ ability to interpret themes and formulate subject matter. For the purpose of these exercises and in order to focus solely on the objectives of human figure composition and detailed development, the students were confined to the use of pencil for the layout, shading and detailing of their work. This is because pencil provides a wide range of manoeuvre for this kind of exercise. In this series of drawings, the students used one particular female model which provided them with the opportunity to visually interact with the individual model and be able to study and observe how the life model adjusts to various poses. This was designed to help draw inspiration as well as make the drawing exercises methodical, enjoyable and purposeful.
Highlights
Life drawing or human figure drawing remains a fundamental undertaking in any art discipline
When beginning from scratch, one begins with basic studies of contour or gesture line drawings and eventually builds his or her skill with the use of models and continuous drawing sessions focusing on various parts of the body
After the quick pose drawings, the student artists embarked on line drawings that were based on a variety of poses by different student models (Plates 2a & 2b)
Summary
Life drawing or human figure drawing remains a fundamental undertaking in any art discipline. After the quick pose drawings, the student artists embarked on line drawings that were based on a variety of poses by different student models (Plates 2a & 2b) These were allocated more time (about half-hour), to lay out the figure and capture proportions with only minimal details. This was designed to help them focus more on the nature of proportions and how they interrelate in the construction of the entire figure, where the entire body frame is deemed visually acceptable, not necessarily perfect It is notable from the line drawings that the student artists demonstrate the ability to ‘feel’ and adequately observe the body posture and to use clothing to help them segment the figure in order to work out proportions. There are joints in the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, pelvis, knees and ankles. Medlej (2013) notes that “a wellproportioned figure, regardless of variations due to gender or such, is defined by the alignment of the joints, which is invariable (that is, we perceive something odd if it does vary).”
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