The Challenge of the Figure by Diana Moses Botkin

©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

It's good exercise: drawing from life. The figure is more complicated than most still life subjects, however. And models simply can't hold a pose as long as a piece of fruit. I enjoy the challenge of drawing the figure and striving to get the proportions right, the weight of the pose natural, the body forms and curves convincing.

Drawing the landscape is complicated too, and there is a lot to think about for composition to work well with all elements. But a tree still looks like a tree even if it isn't drawn accurately. And sometimes forms in a landscape actually need to be changed to work better with the particular set of elements in the scene. That tree taller there. That one left out.

But I must study the figure for what it is. Oh sure, I can trim a waistline or widen a foot for better balance or form, but the challenge of portraying the human form realistically is to capture the sitter's pose in a short time and make marks on paper that look convincing.