Figure drawings

I just started a figure drawing group at Natsoulas Gallery here in Davis that's being held every other thursday. it's been about 12 years since I've drawn from the model, so my figure drawing chops are very very rusty. For the past 12 years I've been drawing mostly from photographs, and occasionally from life here and there, but I haven't done any serious figure drawing in a long time.

So here are some recent figure drawings, warts and all.

For the first few sessions, most of my drawings were pretty embarrassing, but here's a gesture drawing I was pretty happy with:



These are about 15 minute poses each:



This one has a tiny head, but I still kind of like it:



And here's a longer pose. Everything is more or less in proportion, but it's pretty labored and stiff. You can see where I was fussing with one of the hands.



I've still got a long way to go, but I'll post more so the curious can track my progress.

I've also been taking these video anatomy courses that you can get:

here.

I don't know if he really teaches you to "draw the figure from your mind" as it claims, but if you have patience with it, he definitely teaches you anatomy. here's some work I've done through the course:





Ultimately strong figure drawing requires, most of all, a lot of drawing, observation, drawing from life, and more drawing. I'm trying to be more disciplined with keeping a sketchbook, but it's never been a habit I've been good at maintaining. It's never too late to start, though! Here's a sketch I did in pen on the airplane, flying up to visit my Dad on his 85th: