Human Figure Studies

I've wanted to get some practice not just with faces by doing portraits, but also with the whole human figure. Last Saturday I went to a park with a few art supplies and sat in a spot overlooking the playground, hoping to find some people to sketch. Thankfully it was a beautiful day to be outside, so there were a lot of families enjoying a day at the park.

I wanted to try a few different media to see what they were like for sketching, and one of the ones I tried was pastel pencils and sticks. These were a little hard to use precisely, and it also wasn't quite as easy to quickly show lights and darks. I think these turned out ok. I also didn't get too much time to do these before the people got up and moved, so they aren't quite as finished.

I also tried out the charcoal sticks I have that I hadn't used before. They were also hard to add details or clean edges with, but they worked well for shading, and I like the loose effect it gives. The little girl eating a simit was pretty cute.

My favorite media for this though was simple graphite pencils. I liked the range of shades I could quickly achieve just by exchanging my HB pencil for a 4B or an 8B one. It also gave me good control over my lines so I could add details with the sharp point or use the side for shading in large areas. This one man moved soon after I started, so I wasn't able to get the form down quick enough to make it accurate.

These next few I think turned out the best. They sat for long enough that I could get the basic forms and shadow or highlight areas down, giving me enough to work on once they moved. I particularly loved doing the little girl sitting by her mom. I thought they looked really sweet together. The little boy was also fun to do as I listened to his dad telling him to slow down on his chip-eating. I was a bit surprised that the kids sat still for that long, and I'm glad I was able to sketch them. I also like how casual and relaxed I was able to make these poses look.

This was a really fun afternoon project to practice observing and quickly sketching human figures, and I'd love to do it again if the weather stays nice much longer!