Learning to draw the figure

 

Prud

Pierre-Paul Prud’hon Black and white chalk on blue paper

I am passionate about drawing the body, drawing out the human, representing the person, presenting the individual. I have a deep appreciation for the complexity that makes up the physical, psychological and emotional aspects that are encompassed by the human form. I cannot imagine being so challenged, frustrated, stimulated or enlightened by any other subject. What has delighted me is that I have found that there is a process to this. You can learn to draw the person, the figure, it is not just instinct or genius or lots of practice. There are methods and techniques that have been honed by centuries. It is hard. It takes effort. It takes awareness. It takes honesty. It takes self reflection. It takes years. But there is a path that has been tried and tested over many generations, and it can be taught. Once you understand these methods, I feel that it can give a freedom to your work. Not only that, former artists have gifted us their knowledge, this knowledge, in their art works. Therefore, I study works created when artists were trained to see and appreciated, and to transmit to us with skill what a complex and fascinating subject worthy of representation we are. That is why it is so important for me to study such pieces as this unfinished Pierre-Paul Prud’Hon drawing presented here. It contains lost knowledge.

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