Dennis’s 100 Day Challenge: Timed Figure Drawing

[Dennis]

Here is Day 1 from the timed poses Daily Drawing. 1, 2, and 5 min figures.

[Dennis]

While this is a bit terrifying to me, I’m going to jump in. I’m very new to drawing (art in general), but something in my middle age, I want to get better at. I just start Glen Vilppu’s Renaissance Figure Drawing course. I will use the Daily Drawing figures to draw figures for at least 20 minutes a day timed at 1, 2 and 5 min poses.

Goal: Draw figures 20 min per day digitally using Procreate on the iPad.

[Joshua Jacobo]

Go go go!

Welcome to the challenge. I had my doubts too but it’s great to “have to” work even if you’re not in the mood. I’m sure you’ll learn a ton!

[Josseline Jeria]

Hi Dennis and welcome.

I empathize with that sentiment. I too am relatively new to art in general, so it can feel intimidating to post, but I’ve found the more I post my work, the fear is subsiding – slowly but surely.

That’s a great goal for your challenge. How are you finding Glen Vilppu’s course? Are you enjoying learning about gesture and the figure? I too am studying the figure, but through Karl Gnass’ Spirit of the Pose course.

I find those shorter timed drawings so difficult. I get so anxious and rush through them. I remember a while back watching a timed pose demo with Vilppu on NMA’s youtube channel, and him saying no need to rush. I must keep this in mind.

Not sure if I’m correct in saying so, but perhaps to save time and put it more towards your gesture and shapes, to draw less cross contours to suggest volume and drawing through the form. Or you can use that bit of extra time to be more deliberate in your cross contours. Just a couple  I think is ohk.

It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed. I still do. But with daily practice I’m sure your drawings will get better and better. I’ve been inspired by you to add these daily gesture sessions. Thank you.

Looking forward to your posts.

[Lucas a.k.a “Roams”]

hey man, good challenge :), it will get alot less terrifying i think. for me anyway this challenge is a huge motivation to put pencil to paper everyday

[Dennis]

OMG – This is a difficult task to be honest about. It is hard to post these images straight, unfiltered, un-updated out of Procreate following 25 min of figure drawing. However, that’s what I plan to do. I can honestly say, I’m not sure what should be possible in 60 seconds. Right now producing anything intelligible in that amount of time seems impossible.

But alas, here it is – Day 2’s timed figures.

• This reply was modified 4 years ago by Dennis.

[Josseline Jeria]

I think you’re doing well! I did a session last night and broke down – they were a horrid mess. More practice, more practice. Have a watch of Vilppu and Karl Gnass’ gesture demos to get an idea of what they do for each time block.

[Dana Smith]

Your quick sketches are great! Keep going, and I agree with the tip on looking into gesture. I did an exercise once where the challenge was to define the figure in 5 straight lines only (or some small number like that); You’d be surprised how little you need.

[PaulDidier]

This is a really good challenge. I usually start my day doing gestures, often from the Daily Drawing video as you’re doing. These look good. You’re definitely capturing the gestures. It’ll be great watching you improve over the next 100 days!

[Dennis]

Thanks for the kind words everyone! You are making this feel much less awkward. Today I tried to work on bristol paper and charcoal pencil using the overhand technique Vilppu uses. That lasted <1min before I picked up the pencil using the standard handwriting grip. Any guidance on how critical this is?  Either way, I have no experience in traditional media either, so there wasn’t much benefit to my feeling of control.

@Josseline – thanks for the suggestion! Ironically, watching Vilppu’s timed drawings was the next video in the series I’m working through. It’s impressive what he can get done in just 10 seconds. I can only seem to draw a stick figure in that time. 😀  I find that I want to copy and draw shapes more than stick to the gesture lines. I’m not sure why that’s so hard to do. More practice… Thanks again!

 

[Josseline Jeria]

You’re welcome, and yes, very impressive. Takes me about a 1min just to get that stick in! It’s challenging because it’s what I think is the default way our brains wants to understand things we see – it’s how we learned how to understand our visual world since we were a baby, so it’s not unsurprising that it’s difficult to change the way we think. Indeed, practice, practice, and then some more.

You can see the improvements in this session following Vilppu’s technique/approach. Well done. Your 1min ones are actually my favourite.

[PaulDidier]

If by overhand technique you mean with the pencil going across your palm and held primarily by the thumb, middle and index figure, I find that’s the best way for me to draw loosely and get really elegant lines. Initially, you might find it difficult drawing small that way. It’s wonderful drawing or painting like that standing at an easel or with a drawing board resting on your thighs on a drawing bench. After a while though, with practice, you can draw that way on a small sketchbook. It’s a bit difficult to control initially though.

[Dennis]

DAY 4: Today’s session was a mess. First, I am forcing myself to use the overhand technique for the first time rather than the “tripod grip” (handwriting grip). My kids came into my office several times and I missed a couple of the 2 min poses. That said, I intend this to be raw and honest. So, here it is. Color pencil on bristol paper. Timed poses.

 

[Joshua Jacobo]

Just hang in there. It will be hard and frustrating for a long time and you will have off days (forever). You’re doing all the right things right now. Some tips.

1. Lighten up on your pencil. If you draw the initial lines VERY lightly you can go over that with darker and darker lines to get more control.

2. Remember that on the standing figure the genitals fall right below the half way point from top to bottom. Try to think of where that half way point should be before drawing. We need to get a little more control of proportions.

3. Slow down. Even if you get fewer marks on the page, think more “ghost” or practice your lines before placing them and try to focus more and move your hand less.

[Dennis]

Thanks Joshua! I really appreciate your input.

[Author]

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