Drawing People: How to Portray the Clothed Figure

385 Pages·2003·13.43 MB·English

by  Barbara Bradley

DRAWING PEOPLE:
How to Portray the Clothed Figure

DRAWING
People
How to Portray
the Clothed Figure
Barbara Bradley
www.artistsnetwork.com
Drawing People: How to Portray the Clothed Figure. Copyright © 2003 by
Barbara Bradley. Manufactured in China. All rights reserved. No part of this
book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means
including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in
writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages
in a review. Published by North Light Books, an imprint of F&W Publications,
Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236. [phone]. First
edition.
Other fine North Light Books are available from your local bookstore, art supply
store or direct from the publisher.
07 06 05 04 03 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Bradley, Barbara (Barbara L.)
Drawing people: how to portray the clothed figure / Barbara Bradley.— 1st
ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 1-58180-359-1 (hc. : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-1-60061-510-8 (EPUB)
eISBN: 978-1-44031-726-2
1. Human figure in art. 2. Drapery in art. 3. Drawing-Technique. I. Title.
NC765.B72 2003
743-4—dc21 2003042043
Editors: Amanda Metcalf and Jennifer Kardux
Cover and interior designer: Wendy Dunning
Page designer: Kathy Gardner
Photographer: Elán Santiago
Production coordinator: Mark Griffin
METRIC CONVERSION CHART
To convert to multiply by
Inches Centimeters 2.54
Centimeters Inches 0.4
Feet Centimeters 30.5
Centimeters Feet 0.03
Yards Meters 0.9
Meters Yards 1.1
Sq. Inches Sq. Centimeters 6.45
Sq. Centimeters Sq. Inches 0.16
Sq. Feet Sq. Meters 0.09
Sq. Meters Sq. Feet 10.8
Sq. Yards Sq. Meters 0.8
Sq. Meters Sq. Yards 1.2
Pounds Kilograms 0.45
Kilograms Pounds 2.2
Ounces Grams 28.3
Grams Ounces 0.035
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to my two families.
To my first family: my husband Neil; our three children, Lauchlin, Glennis and
Andy; their spouses; and our grandchildren, Diana and Lydia.
And to my second family, the many students I have taught and from whom I
have learned.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to express my gratitude to the many people at the Academy of Art
College who have been helpful and supportive and encouraged me throughout
the development of this book. To Richard Stephens for first having urged this
illustrator to teach; President Elisa Stephens, who carries on and enlarges upon
the tradition established by her grandfather; my great friend Melissa Marshall;
Howard Brodie, a great teacher and friend and an artist whom I have admired for
so long; Director of Illustration Gordon Silveria; my ever-resourceful computer
doctor James Volker; Jennifer Chang and Oliver Staeubli, whose technical labor
and help saved me so much time; and the former students whose drawings you
see in some of these pages. My special thanks go to fellow drawing instructors
Diana Thewlis and Lisa Berrett, whose good sense and wise advice on choices of
drawings, words and content were invaluable; and to photography instructor
Elán Santiago, who enthusiastically and skillfully photographed hundreds of
drawings for this book.
My thanks go to the many professional models who posed for me in various
guises, especially Jesse Clark, Peggy Davis and Francis Kelly. I also appreciate
the willingness of my three children and my elder grandchild who, in many
modeling sessions throughout the years, have posed for me in gestures that were
easy, hard and sometimes upside down, accepting all the while that modeling
was what “kids in all families just did.”
I also appreciate Willitts Designs, which allowed me to adapt drawings done
for the company to include in this book; the staff of the Sutter’s Fort State
Historic Park and its docents, whom students and I have so enjoyed sketching;
the members of the Terry Henry Jazz Trio and their guests, who combined
sketching inspiration with great music; and the U.S. Air Force, which gave me
wonderful experiences and the opportunity to draw USAF personnel during
flights through its art program.
My further thanks go to North Light acquisitions editor Rachel Wolf and my
editors, Amanda Metcalf and Jennifer Kardux, all of whom aided and guided me
through the long process of bringing this book from imaginings to reality.
And last, but decidedly not least, thanks to my husband for providing his
ample shoulder for me to lean on and for his forbearance during the many
months when my mind was “on the book.” It was he who said (and said at the
right moment), “Don’t put the book off. Start it now!” So I did and here it is.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A NOTE TO READERS
1
Types of Figure Drawing
CHAPTER 1 Drawing From a Model
CHAPTER 2 Drawing in a Sketchbook
CHAPTER 3 Drawing in Your Studio
2
Basics of Drawing