Drawing and composition:

How do you lay out images on a page?

There are infinite possibilites.

I love that I can play with options- well, I HAVE to, but-

I love that every time I come to the page, I have choices.

Sometimes you’ll wish you don’t have choices, so I’m always here to remind you to bring a PLAYFUL spirit to trying and playing with your “toys”.

You can be as “serious” as you want when you want, but don’t make the mistake of forgetting to bring a play state to your drawing practice!I used the iPad to create

This series of sketches.

The beauty of using Tayasui Sketches or another app like I did here is that I can play with the composition of a sketch.

Teaching and the practice of MODEL DRAWING has always rocked my world.

Since I was a little girl, before i could draw, I was always amazed by the incredible range of expressions of the human body.What you’ll notice today is that the same drawing , repeated again and again,tells a VERY DIFFERENT STORY depending on how it’s composed on the page.

Drawing and composition is about that.

What choices do I make?

Are colors around the figure, or laid over the figure, or are the colors placed inside the figure, or “behind” the figure???Simply notice how very different you feel about each version, based on the choices.

Based on the colors used. (Light or dark, warm or cool, smooth or textured, bold or soft, etc…..)Are the elements spread across the page horizontally (above), or vertically? (Below)

Each one FEELS DIFFERENT and I love this ability to create and then notice my respond .

Using an app like Tayasui sketches gives me the ability to create different versions and see all of them rather than only having one finished image.This ALSO gives me the ability to see them as a story, and to compare and contrast the images in the series.

In today’s series, I used a colored brush pen which is something I don’t usually do (I love black). Here I chose a pink to represent softness and sensuality.

Another thing I love about this series

Is that I didn’t draw from a model.

When I sketch original fashion designs, I’m working from my imagination.

But in the fashion illustrations I’ve been creating digitally the past year, I work from photos of models. When I teach model drawing and figure drawing, I usually have students work from photos and models so they can DRAW FROM OBSERVATION.

So the series of posts I’m putting up this month of March, all of the figure drawings and model drawings are being created freehand from my pure imagination without any visual reference at all.

For today,

Give yourself that permission to create a simple drawing and then just play with the ELEMENTS IN AND AROUND IT.

Save each version to your camera roll so you can compare and contrast them.

To go deeper into mastering Model Drawing, join Model Magic online course. YOu can also add a coaching package to work with me more closely through it and release all the stiffness or fear you have in your drawing and take it to a new level.

On the other hand, if you’ve never worked with the digital drawing and painting apps, join me over in ABOUT FACES online course because I’ll teach you a few of my very favorite digital drawing and painting apps and explore all aspects of drawing FACES with you at the same time.

I have a lot more nudes and explorations to share with you this month.

I hope you enjoyed this!

Love, Laura