Today was about the figure, and we began with review of the proportions of the average adult body and how to map these successfully on the picture plane regardless of placement or clothing. Peggi has a great DVD on this subject, and it's something that's always worth reviewing.
We started with two-color quick studies, using any two colors of different or equal value. Here are mine, hastily photographed and then wiped off to re-use the board:
That middle figure was seated in a sort of twisted slouch that was hard to render quickly, but turned out to be good prep for the first longer study, below. 50 minutes, about 9" X 7".
The next pose was the model in the ballet tutu (painting at the top of this post). In reality, she was standing flatfooted and holding a pole to keep her arms out in front of her. I pointed her toe and tried to give her the build and posture that a dancer would have, relying on the model for the description of light and shadow. Most of you know that the outcome of any figurative work is heavily influenced by an energy that we get from the model. When that's lacking, we have to put it there however possible. This is when experience and a knowledge of how the body is put together will save you.
To finish the day, we did head studies in three values, using varied light angles. You can see some remnant landmark lines beside some of them, where I checked my drawing:
