I love your approach, which I would call an intuitive approach. One would think intuitive drawing comes naturally, but of course it doesn’t because the brain wants to draw what it knows - it sees a leg and thus wants to draw a “leg” instead of seeing the actual nuanced shapes and idiosyncratic curves of the unique leg we’re looking at. In other words, we have to stop thinking about drawing a “leg” and start seeing the abstract shapes that the leg is made of - only then are we seeing truthfully. Otherwise, like you said, we end up drawing our preconceived notion of what a leg should look like instead of the actual leg we’re looking at. It was Kimon Nicolaides who said “Don’t draw what it IS, draw what it’s DOING.” It’s ironic that we have to work hard at drawing naturally and intuitively. It’s because we have to unlearn our ideas of what drawing is supposed to be. It takes effort to peel off layers and layers of conditioning and brainwashing in order to uncover a way of seeing that is pure and untainted by contrived, preconceived notions that interfere with our innate ability to see truthfully.
“Instead you’re just thinking of what it is you’re looking at right here, right now.” Everything clicked when you said this! I can’t wait to try it out. Thank you 🙏
I found this video to be an invaluable lesson in how to break away from formulaic drawing, drawing based on some formula or some textbook rules of anatomy, and instead follow your own intuition, your own perceptions, trusting your own eyes as you break down the figure into its pure, abstract shapes. This way of drawing simplifies the process of drawing anything, not just the figure, and allows you to experience a kind of freedom and spontaneity that you don’t get when you’re a slave to anatomical rules or worrying too much about accuracy. The fact is that when you truthfully draw the abstract shapes of your subject, by the method explained in this video, your drawings end up being more alive and more likely to be realistic and anatomically correct - without you even trying to be!
I mainly draw portraits, and that’s been my comfort zone for a long time… Every time I hear someone talk about anatomy it just turns me off and I am definitely one to draw from observation, even though I have tried other technical methods. This seems like a friendlier approach :-) Thank you!
So glad to hear this! I absolutely agree. Observation always leads to a much better drawing, and it's a way more satisfying approach than trying to name and categorize the figure in terms of anatomical details. Thanks for watching!
Thank you Anna! Oftentimes the photo I draw from is not mine to use, and can lead to issues for my channel on TH-cam over copyright. In this case I also wanted the focus for this video to be on the process, and I find that whenever there is a photo in in the video, people naturally are looking to see how the drawing compares to the photo, and that can detract from the actual process of drawing. But, I do appreciate the point you're making and I try whenever I can to include photo ref. Apologies for this time! Hope you still managed to get something useful from the demo ❤
@ yes definitely useful! Thank you. I guessed it might be something to do with copyright. I go to a live life drawing session above a local pub most weeks (called Drink & Draw! What’s not to love about that?!), the quick, 2 minute warm-up poses are often my favourites as there is no time to do anything other than respond intuitively to the model’s pose.
Thanks for watching!! 😊 Let me know if this approach to anatomy resonates with you, or if you have tried out this exercise 👍
I love your approach, which I would call an intuitive approach. One would think intuitive drawing comes naturally, but of course it doesn’t because the brain wants to draw what it knows - it sees a leg and thus wants to draw a “leg” instead of seeing the actual nuanced shapes and idiosyncratic curves of the unique leg we’re looking at. In other words, we have to stop thinking about drawing a “leg” and start seeing the abstract shapes that the leg is made of - only then are we seeing truthfully. Otherwise, like you said, we end up drawing our preconceived notion of what a leg should look like instead of the actual leg we’re looking at. It was Kimon Nicolaides who said “Don’t draw what it IS, draw what it’s DOING.” It’s ironic that we have to work hard at drawing naturally and intuitively. It’s because we have to unlearn our ideas of what drawing is supposed to be. It takes effort to peel off layers and layers of conditioning and brainwashing in order to uncover a way of seeing that is pure and untainted by contrived, preconceived notions that interfere with our innate ability to see truthfully.
“Instead you’re just thinking of what it is you’re looking at right here, right now.” Everything clicked when you said this! I can’t wait to try it out. Thank you 🙏
Wow, that is so great to hear, thank you ❤
I found this video to be an invaluable lesson in how to break away from formulaic drawing, drawing based on some formula or some textbook rules of anatomy, and instead follow your own intuition, your own perceptions, trusting your own eyes as you break down the figure into its pure, abstract shapes. This way of drawing simplifies the process of drawing anything, not just the figure, and allows you to experience a kind of freedom and spontaneity that you don’t get when you’re a slave to anatomical rules or worrying too much about accuracy. The fact is that when you truthfully draw the abstract shapes of your subject, by the method explained in this video, your drawings end up being more alive and more likely to be realistic and anatomically correct - without you even trying to be!
I mainly draw portraits, and that’s been my comfort zone for a long time… Every time I hear someone talk about anatomy it just turns me off and I am definitely one to draw from observation, even though I have tried other technical methods. This seems like a friendlier approach :-) Thank you!
So glad to hear this! I absolutely agree. Observation always leads to a much better drawing, and it's a way more satisfying approach than trying to name and categorize the figure in terms of anatomical details. Thanks for watching!
Love this exercise! I think it would really help to see the photo references you’re responding to too.
Thank you Anna! Oftentimes the photo I draw from is not mine to use, and can lead to issues for my channel on TH-cam over copyright. In this case I also wanted the focus for this video to be on the process, and I find that whenever there is a photo in in the video, people naturally are looking to see how the drawing compares to the photo, and that can detract from the actual process of drawing. But, I do appreciate the point you're making and I try whenever I can to include photo ref. Apologies for this time! Hope you still managed to get something useful from the demo ❤
@ yes definitely useful! Thank you.
I guessed it might be something to do with copyright. I go to a live life drawing session above a local pub most weeks (called Drink & Draw! What’s not to love about that?!), the quick, 2 minute warm-up poses are often my favourites as there is no time to do anything other than respond intuitively to the model’s pose.