Haw! I'm just kidding with the picture above, but it does serve to make my point...that female models dominate art school classes, and not just for the obvious reason.
Female silhouettes follow lyrical, curved lines that begin at the head and follow through to the feet. They're beautiful, no doubt about it.
Men, on the other hand, are lumpy. The parts just don't fit together. Let's face it, realistic men are not as fun to draw as realistic women.
If more evidence is needed I refer you to the comparison above.
Now don't get me wrong. Art and artists need men. If you could boil all of art down to just one principal it would be the combination of force and grace in the same object or situation. We men are half that combination so we have an earned place at the table. Even so, the problem remains....how do we make men more fun to draw?
My own solution is acting. I picture gifted amateur actor-models working in twos, one male and one female. A story outline dominates the session.
It could be a comedy...
..or a drama.
Or some combination of the two.
A script is okay, but I picture improvised situations based on a loose outline, spoken dialogue only if it feels right. A whole story or fragments of different stories. The important thing is that whatever fragments are used, they should lend themselves to visuals that are fun to act and fun to draw.
It would be fun to alternate comedy with drama, or solos with match-ups. I could see a male actor doing a solo variation a bit like Chris Crocker's "Leave Britany Alone!" Of course you'd have to change the timing to freeze some of the poses and give the class time to draw.
I could see a solo woman doing a sketch like Bette Davis's "I wipe my mouth" from "Of Human Bondage."
Probably the sessions I described would work best with draped models. I'm not sure amateurs could act with their clothes off. That's no problem because I'm not trying to replace classical nude model drawing with these actor sessions. Students need both.
Is that all? Mmmm...no, wait a minute, I forgot something: a good homework assignment for a session like this one is to have the students draw up one or two carefully finished drawings based on the sketches done in class.
I'm a cartoonist so I see this assignment done in a cartoon style like the one above.
Lots of styles would work.
BTW: that's not my drawing above. I wish I'd copied down the artist's name.
I would love to take a life drawing class like that! I'm frustrated with even the lack of draped models at the sessions in my town. But draped and staged would be wonderful. On a side note, Bateman draws the funniest kids!
ReplyDeleteBut drawing naked bears is so much better!
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time finding things for men to do in my drawings. Women are far more expressive so its easier to think of something, but most of my men just end up standing there, or fighting with not much else in between.
ReplyDeleteKyle: I know what you mean. Sometimes the problem is in the writing. Stories where a normal man is swept up into a situation where he's forced to become a hero are common now. That kind of story makes character arcs and themes easier to write, but it's hard for the illustrator or actor to make it visual. Normal characters don't lend themselves to interesting poses.
ReplyDeleteDon: That's one of the best Viewmasters!
ReplyDelete