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Form Drawing Tutorials

Form Drawing Tutorials: Although it is not necessary to draw out all those lines you see on the form drawing to the right above, one must be able to to always see it invisibly at least. We will refer to those lines drawn wrapping around the form as formwires. For practice, I recommend that you draw the formwires on a tracing paper over master drawings or photographs. Then try doing it from life as well. Have you ever marvelled at the beautiful contour line qualities of an old master drawing? And thought it must be coming from some kind of natural talent or being a genius? Well that's not true. It all comes from knowledge of the forms. Next time you draw the contour lines(contour basically means the outside lines or outlines), try not to think of them as just outlines but think of them as one of these formwires. Pretend as if you drew out all the formwires first ,then got rid of all of them except the ones that would indicate the outer edges or the contour lines. Then you may be surprised to see the resemblance of your line qualities to those of the old masters'. Also notice how I drew the formwires of the surrounding environment as well instead of just on the figure. Seeing the formwires over the surroundings helps to see the forms on the figure more accurately, and places the figure solidly on the ground plane on your figure drawing.

Imagine an Ant Crawling Over the Form

But it doesn't happen overnight but through lots of practice for most people including myself (I started seeing the forms clearly well after my formal education). If you ever find it difficult seeing the forms clearly, try imagining an ant crawling over past the form.

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Look THROUGH the Form

Also remember to always see through the form, as I am seeing the lower body mass through the torso on this image. Being able to distinguish the center line running through the figure is also very important.

Exercises

Again, I dont find it really necessary to draw out the too much formwires even when you are practicing. Instead, try drawing using just the lines without any shading or keep shading to the minimum. Keeping in mind that the lines you are drawing are the formwires not just outlines. Try thinking three dimensionally as if you are a sculptor. After enough practice of the boring formwire line drawings, one day you will start combining the two dimensional aspects (lesson 1) and would be able to draw using the values, and those values you put down will naturally fall over the invisible formwires you see all over the form, and it will happen naturally without thinking about any of these tedious techniques in these drawing tutorials.

See the video demo figure drawing tutorials

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See my portfolio of charcoal drawings.

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