Figure Sketching (Again)

This is a 10-minute charcoal sketch on newsprint (18 x 24 inches) at last Friday night's open studio at the Palette and Chisel. I love figure sketching and I love back views.

Thanks to working at least half-time since last fall, I've had a chance to read almost all of Robert Beverly Hale's books on my breaks and listened to his lectures over and over again on my drive to and from work. It's beginning to sink in that shapes are all important, i.e., the head is a ball, the upper torso is an egg, the pelvic area an egg on its side, the arm a cylinder, and so on. I'm getting some of the “topograpy” of the back down, like evidence of the scapula and spine, but I still need solid practice in defining various muscle groups. I'm also using landmarks like the triangle above the buttocks, the condyles of the elbow, and the high point of the shoulder to quickly state the position of the figure.