Building up technique: the human form

In visual arts, a module on the human form tied in a number of areas students had asked for at the start of semester (figures, movement, perspective, pastels), plus it was an area I was keen to explore! Thinking forward to a few major works, I broke down the skills into studies so students could build a repertoire of techniques.

We started with proportion, with a little inspiration from Da Vinci, and used lines and basic shapes to see how the body could be drawn in a variety of positions. We sketched yoga poses from the shared screen, and then students could search for their own poses and post sketches to Seesaw. 

This routine was repeated with muscle studies, and we began to give our stick figures shape. Over the holidays students worked on their first major piece, ‘sitting lady’.

Our next studies were on perspective, then movement and focus. Again we started with basic shapes and lines. For foreshortening we used vanishing points, gridding, and positive/negative space. 

With movement we kept our drawings fluid, sketched core curves, lightly worked in limbs, then honed in on areas with cross hatching. With a variety of techniques under their belt, they chose either a matador or ballerina and any medium. What we started in Zoom students would work on after VLN classes had finished, but Seesaw was still open so we could continue to share.