Missing this crucial part of a figure drawing is a big no no!

Hey there,

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Hope you've been doing well this week!

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Here's your weekly dose of my top resources, thoughts, 'aha moments' and announcements directly from my brain to yours from this past week.

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- What I'm reading

​Vilppu Drawing Manual​

This week I've been getting stuck into this staple that's been suggested time and time again for figure drawing.

Glenn Vilppu is a legend in the drawing (and teaching) space and is known for training professionals in the animation industry.

This is especially helpful, because I really like the way animators draw; they have to build the character, rather than copy a piece of reference verbatim and that's exactly what this book is aimed at doing.

I like this quote I found on his website -> "I do not teach a style, I teach tools of communication."

And that pretty much sums up what I'm currently getting out of this book for figure drawing, it really has helped solidify some key concepts for me, and I highly recommend you check it out!

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- Aha moments

A couple of aha moments I've picked up this week from the 'Vilppu Drawing Manual'

Figure drawing is procedural

Vilppu states "Drawing is a logical and practical process".

It's procedural, you're building the drawing up from big shapes to smaller shapes.

This one little nugget has started to help me think about a figure drawing in stages and to focus on one element at a time.

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At the beginning of the drawing, gesture is everything

Vilppu mentions that the beginning of the drawing capturing the action of the pose, is one of the most important things to think about.

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And this makes a lot of sense to me, because if we're thinking procedurally (as mentioned above), this initial action will influence the later stages of the drawing. Karl Gnass also mentions this way of thinking in the video mentioned below!

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- Videos

​[A Conversation with Karl Gnass](

This one was tucked away in YouTube's algorithm but I stumbled apon it and I'm glad I did!

Karl is a well known name in the figure drawing education space and here he has a pretty casual chat about his past and a few principles he's picked up along the way. It's only 16 mins so worth chucking on in the background while you're working.

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​Improve your painting with 3 simple rules - Izzy's Logic of Light and Colour: Ep1​

This one is about 6 years old, but is an AWESOME one to sit down and let the rendering principles soak in!

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- Thoughts and musings

Utilising current technology to speed up the learning curve.

I'm a tech guy at heart. I work on a company that myself and a few other awesome guys created called Keepon (a business management software for solo business people).

My role there is to design and develop software and It's something I love just as much as art (some may even say they're one in the same).

And I've been thinking of leveraging technology more and more to speed up the learning process (not to be used as a crutch) that the old masters could only dream of having access too.

Two (somewhat unconventional) tools that I've folded into my workflow to aid my learning in drawing and painting...

Obsidian -> for note taking, thought capture and PKM (personal knowledge management)

Blender -> for setting up different lighting scenarios to study from

Although I doubt anything will beat good old consistency and getting in the mileage; I've got a feeling we've only scratched the surface of what's possible when it comes to learning/attempting to master a skill.

I'm going to be studying more written material around learning how to learn, how our brains capture and store information and I'll be experimenting with different software to help in the learning process.

The future is so bright for people looking to learn, and I'm on the hunt to make this process as efficient as possible and I'll be sharing my findings along the way, so stay tuned!

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Have been on a bit of a figure drawing kick recently! Has been super fun, I'll be bouncing around different drawing topics as I study them from week to week, I hope you'll join me for the ride and pick up things along the way!

Until next week, stay consistent, use reference, have fun with it and remember; it's only pixels baybee!

Cheers,

Ben

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Have any questions or just want to say "hey"?

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Email me at b.eblendesign@gmail.com or simply reply to this one.

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