FIGURE DRAWING IN PENCILS LESSON : Learn how to Draw People and Children with Pencils

SKETCHING FROM LIFE FIGURE : DRAWING PEOPLE & CHILDREN WITH PENCILS

Sketching from the figure, while perhaps a little more difficult in some respects, does not, as far as technique is concerned, involve problems different from those already considered. Form, color values and surface characteristics must be studied as in still-life. These qualities are expressed by exactly the same means.

The treatment of face and hands should be simple; they may be effectively rendered with a sketchy or suggestive outline, and left white, save for a few touches indicating the features. For the hair, the strokes should be laid following the direction in which the hair lies. Curly hair suggests the use of curved strokes; long hair, brushed down smoothly, may be rendered with long swinging strokes laid rather closely. The rest of the figure, the dress, stockings, shoes, etc., should all be treated simply and broadly. The dress may show a multitude of folds, but only the most important of these should be indicated. Parts of dress that are light in value may be rendered with a sketchy outline and left white, except for a touch here and there to indicate folds or other detail. Unless the pattern in the dress or other part of the attire is large and pronounced, it is better to ignore it and think only of the general tone. Note the treatment of the blouse in the sketch of the boy reading, Plate XXX, also the rendering of the blouse on the little gardener, Plate XXXI. The blouse worn by the boy reading was made of a plain white material, but the little gardener's blouse showed a fine pattern. When viewing the figure with eyes half closed, the pattern disappeared, and only a light tone was felt, contrasting with the darker tone of the overalls. Therefore, in making the sketch, the pattern was ignored, the blouse was left white, and its shape defined with a sketchy outline. If, as in the case of the little boy's blouse, Plate XXIX, the pattern is conspicuous, it then becomes an important and characteristic element and must be considered. The stripes in this sketch were indicated with single strokes of a blunt-pointed pencil. If the garment is not white, but of a darker value, as in the sketch, Plate XXXII, for example, then the shape is filled in with strokes of the proper strength to give the required value. Dark touches indicating the shadows of the folds, and other accents, are generally placed last.