Study group - weight and balance 1

The Love Life Drawing study group this month is tackling questions of representing weight and balance. Kenzo posted a video some time ago talking about how to find the line of gravity on a figure, and that’s the starting point for the week’s exercises. In the drawings above, the left column of figures are drawn from reference, with the red line representing my assessment for where the weight is centered on the figure. The figures on the right are attempts to exaggerate the poses while still maintaining balance. I got a little fanciful with the exaggeration. That last guy is really stretching for that light bulb!

Two pairs of figure drawings again focused on balance. The left column is drawn from reference. The right column challenged me to shift the balance around on those poses

These four look a little weird, huh? They were extra challenges. Again the two on the left are directly from the references. The top lady is not in a balanced pose, and the challenge was to shift things around so she would be. I brought one arm back across her body, and touched the back foot down to the ground. The second figure has his weight distributed some across both legs, and we were challenged to imagine him shifting entirely over to one side. I feel like my proportions are off on that one. In particular, his chest looks deflated.

Two figure studies focusing on the planting of feet. A little ground plane and shadow volumes are included

These last two figures, the challenge was to focus on their foot placement, making sure the feet are placed correctly relative to each other, rotated correctly, and looking like they are planted solidly on the ground plane. I included little in-perspective ground squares and shadows to help sell the illusion. The shading on the second really helps bring it all together.