Importance of Figure Drawing for the Artist

This semester I have been taking a figure drawing class with a wonderful professor at Miami Dade College; Jennifer Basile, MFA. I've really gained an appreciation for the importance of first mastering human anatomy before being able to draw from imagination. I'm trying to expand my "visual vocabulary" Any great cartoonist, illustrator or animator first starts with mastering the human figure. You can't break the rules in art until you know them. The quick gesture drawings I've been doing have really helped me to quickly capture the figures pose and action in under a minute. We've been mostly drawing in charcoal, but I've also experimented with Conte Crayon, which I really liked. I've posted a 40 minute drawing I did here in early March. This is a good example of caputring the figure, the lighting and background. I have more examples on my website. I've also worked on my figure drawing a lot in my sketch book and I think it shows in my model drawings. I'm going to continue attending open figure drawing sessions after the class is over. One that looks pretty affordable is below on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at Romero Hidalgo Artists' Studios.

Romero Hidalgo Artists' Studios
http://www.romerohidalgostudios.com/

4241 SW 75 Ave.
Miami FL 33155
305-262-9966

Uninstructed Open Model Sessions 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Tuesday and Thursday; 9:30 am - 12:30 pm Saturday. $7 per 2 hour session. $10 per 3 hour session.