If you have been going to life drawing classes for a while, you know that they can get frustrating because it takes a lot of time to improve and they can also become somewhat repetitive. Here are 5 small life drawing exercises to bring the fun back to Life Drawing!
Life drawing exercise #1: Draw your model without looking at it
This is about letting go of expectations! What can you realistically expect if you draw without ever looking at your paper once?
Paradoxically, this little life drawing exercise often leads to very expressive and interesting drawings. All you have to do is look at the model only and never look at your paper.
Here are a few example by our life drawing group member Therese Joseph. (Click on any picture to see a larger version)
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Life drawing exercise #2:Use a bunch of pencils at once
This is something fun, you can try to make life drawing classes more exciting, just hold a few colored pencils in your hand at the same time. Depending on the way you move your hand and the pressure you apply, one crayon or the other or both will leave a mark.
Life drawing exercise #3: Draw without lifting your pencil
This little exercise is all about rhythm, try to get the pencil moving on the paper all the time.
One way to simplify this technique is to think about where the volumes are and try to depict them by drawing series of circles and round shapes, as in the examples below.
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As I worked from home for these drawings, I used the fantastic online tool for life drawing at https://line-of-action.com/ . You can select a few options like models (clothed/unclothed, male/female, both) , the pose length, etc…
This technique works really well with children and teenagers.
Drawing by Charlotte Pelissier
Drawing by Leo Pelissier
Life drawing exercise #4: Draw with a stick!
It might be difficult to believe but sometimes it can be fun to make life drawing more difficult than it already is. Drawing with a stick dipped in ink for sure doesn’t make it easier but the drawings you make like this have an interesting “raw” energy.
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Life drawing exercise #5: Use ink for quick gesture drawings
Quick gesture drawings of 1 or 2 minutes don’t leave much space for correction and erasing. So you might as well embrace that fact and let go of expectations of accuracy and just aim for expressive and spontaneous drawings. Instead of using a pencil, use a marker or a fountain pen, that way you’re not even considering erasing will be a possibility. You can also try to make the drawings not too big, and have a few on the same page, it is all about making the most of the short time you have. You usually get very interesting expressive little “cartoonish” drawings that way.
Originally from France, I have been living in North Vancouver, Canada for the past 20 years.
My work has been collected and exhibited extensively in Canada and internationally. I am also part of the Art Rentals and sales program of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Many of my paintings have been published in Art books and magazines (Artist Magazine, Watercolor Artist Magazine, Acrylic Magazine, International Artist Magazine). I wrote 2 art instruction books with North Light/F+W Books.
I have been writing for the last 5 years for my blog: paintingdemos.com, that has a mailing list of about 10 000 subscribers and about 20 000 visitors per month.
I am an active member in the community, as a co-founder of the North Shore Art crawl, a co-founder of a weekly life drawing group, a board member of the North Vancouver Arts Council, and have been invited as a juror for public art, art grants and juried exhibitions. You can read more about my collaborations here.
These are all great ideas! Although I have heard of most of these strategies, I must confess I haven’t tried all of them. Sounds like a great way to break out of a rut! Now I had not heard of one of your ideas, Sandrine: using more than one color of pencil. I love the idea, and really like what it added to your drawings! So glad that you have shared this!!!
Comments (4)
martina erebholo
Good I love this ideas I will try them out tomorrow morning and have a great night
Sandrine Pelissier
Great, thanks for sharing 🙂
Susanne
These are all great ideas! Although I have heard of most of these strategies, I must confess I haven’t tried all of them. Sounds like a great way to break out of a rut! Now I had not heard of one of your ideas, Sandrine: using more than one color of pencil. I love the idea, and really like what it added to your drawings! So glad that you have shared this!!!
Sandrine Pelissier
Thanks Susanne! Let me know if you try using the coloured pencils, feel free to share a link to your drawings here 🙂