Tag: Poses

by David Burgess on May 11, 2018 0

Must have resources for the figure drawing artist

The Artwork of Lacy Chenault – from Heart people to Belly Dancers

I Believe I have always been an artist – from a very young age I remember having a huge interest in drawing things – but it’s always been one thing – Women – which started as heart people and evolved to women.

Through High School I got bad grades in everything but art class, even if I skipped a week of school I would always finish my art projects on time, and sometimes do other people’s projects as well. But I feel like my art is at its peak right now – though I secretly hope it isn’t – I would like this to just be the beginning of a mountain rather than it being all downhill from here.

A few years ago – right around the time I moved in with Mark I started to really pick it up again, and since then I have gotten much better. I started my very own website and found the people who really like my art. At least I think they do?

I think the biggest thing for me is when I just recently signed a contract – I will be receiving 12% royalties from a company selling my artwork on cross-stitch patterns, and sales at my cafepress shop seem to have taken off. I am not one to usually have an ego about things, but at the very least at this point I can say I am proud of myself.

I can look at my art now and really see that I have gotten better – sure it has taken years and many drawings have been thrown in the trash, but after all that it has actually gotten better…wow.

Earlier this year I had my first “Art Show” at a local coffee house – my art was up for one entire month. MY ART was the sole décor for this coffee house for all of the month of February – sure when it happened, I didn’t think I deserved it, but looking back – I did. I loved that people could see my art up close and personal – not only on the web – my scanner never does them justice anyway. It was really nice to see that people really did like my art – lets be truthful here – a lot of people lie on the internet, I can’t read their expressions when seeing my art, so I never really know what they think of it – that is of course, unless they buy it.

It started as just Fairies here and there, some Goddesses – then it grew to include the Zodiac collection, and just recently I started Drawing Belly Dancers, as I myself am now one – it has inspired me in so many ways with my art.

I draw dancers from my class whether they know it is them or now – they are at the very least my inspiration – I have drawn my teacher twice and I think she likes them. I take tons of pictures at every show – just to take them home at get ideas for my next drawing.

It is really ever evolving – you put the effort it and you will see results – it may take years – but it is always about patients – with anything you want to get good at.

Giovanni Civardi – Drawing the Female Nude

Lots of different poses, real looking women
For many years I have been drawing women, and only women. The female figure I think is just nicer to look at.

The problem I would always run into when starting a drawing is thinking of a pose, and actually pulling it off. That is why I purchased “Drawing the Female Nude” at my local Barnes and Noble. The only other option I could think of was to hire an actual model, and that’s just too expensive and awkward.

Drawing the Female Nude is written (and illustrated) by Giovanni Civardi, an Italian artist and instructor who also wrote and illustrated “Drawing Human Anatomy” and “Drawing the Male Nude”. His drawings are as realistic as they come, which is how I like it.

In this book he uses two models, one that is tall and has more boyish figure and one who is a bit womanlier in the hips and butt. Both of them are definitely European, you can tell by the furry armpits, which you can “edit out” in your own drawings easily, but it really doesn’t detract from the book at all unless you are tremendously shallow. That is also part of the reason I really like this book.

The women in this book look like real women. Their breasts are not super-round and perfect, their brows are not perfectly plucked, and they do not have washboard abs. I am not saying they are fat (I am probably bigger than them), they are real.

These two women are drawn in many different poses including standing, sitting, stretching, twisting, turning, lying, and even some yoga positions from just about every different angle. Each pose includes his own tips on pulling it off, and information on different techniques and materials. He uses charcoal and pencil to sketch out the women. There are also a few actual photographs of the models in this book.

I really like his tips on shading and shaping the muscles. He really teaches you a lot about the female muscular structure in this book too, which is something every artist should study a bit about to reach his or her full potential. He encourages every artist to find his or her own unique style, not just to copy.

This book was definitely worth the $14.95 I paid over three years ago. I still use this book as a reference, and I do feel that it has made me an improved artist. This book I think would be an excellent gift for all artists who like to draw real looking women, whether amature or professional

The Nude Figure – a visual reference for the artist

I know you will find what you want in this book. It is full of good poses, which are lit very well.
I browsed through this book at a Barnes & Nobles a few weeks ago, and almost immediately fell in love with it. But I did have to wait to go online as it was nearly 30.00 at B&N and I knew I could get it cheaper at amazon.com, which I did for a mere 22.00 with shipping.

Before “The Nude Figure” my best reference book was “Drawing the Female Nude” by Giovanni Civardi, which featured his drawings of two models in various poses. It is a great book for the beginner, but after five years of using it I needed something new – and Playboy just wasn’t working.

The Nude Figure by Mark Smith featured only photographs of various models and all kinds of different poses. All of the photographs are in black and white which is a definite plus in my mind, helping you to see the defining lines and edges. The poses are divided into chapters as follows:

Standing Poses – This chapter is full of your basic standing poses. Arms up, arms down, from the side, from the back.

Reclining Poses – All kinds of laying down positions, all from different perspectives. Some look quite easy to draw and others are quite hard.
The Figure on a stool – These I find quite difficult simply because of the stools – I am not good at any kind of still life, even if it has a woman sitting on it.

Bending Poses – Most of these look like stretching before a workout poses. I don’t se how they could be useful in a work, but for practice everything is good.

The Figure in motion – I am very happy with this section as I do a lot of fairies and it is full of people jumping up in the air – something you could never get a live model to hold.
The Pregnant Figure – There are only a few pages of this, and I’m glad they put in here. It’s not too often that you get to see a nude pregnant woman to draw from. I think this will come in handy someday.
Unusual Poses – Just like it sounds, many of these aren’t very practical, but very useful in learning how different muscles shift in different positions.

The bulk of the photo’s are in Standing, Seated, and reclining poses. Those fill up most of this book.

Also the people in this book are all pretty fit. There aren’t any fat people in here, not a big scope of different shapes. Again, I am happy with this as I don’t want to draw fat people, but other artist might be disappointed by this lack of diversity. Some of the women have hairy armpits though, and some don’t – that’s diverse enough for me.

Take More Risks – Dynamic Figure Drawing

I highly recommend this book for any artist who just wants to tweak what they already know.
The moment I browsed through this book I knew it could help me tremendously. Dynamic Figure Drawing is a book for the already knowledgeable artist, wanting to better understand the human anatomy – something very important in drawing the figure.

I would start out with a book such as “Drawing the Female (or male) nude” by Giovanni Civardi, which only has poses of women or men, and Giovanni is much easier to read, easier to understand as a beginner.

What I found most helpful is the artist examples drawings; he shows different ways of looking at the figure to get a good realistic drawing of it. I have found that breaking the body down into simple shapes makes it so much easier to put it all together, adding muscle structures and curves after. He also breaks down the perspective drawings quite nicely,

There aren’t many full poses in this book as he beaks most down to the parts. He has sections on feet, legs, arms, chests, etc. My hands have gotten so much better since practicing them with this book. But I definitely recommend using another book or source for getting you poses, then using this book for the parts you have a hard time with. I recommend “The Figure Nude”, which is full of photographs of both men and women nude in all sorts of poses. If not, a magazine is always a good alternative.

This book is in no way easy reading, in fact it seems like it should be in college art classes all over the place. It is very technical, and I usually have to read over the same section a few times to really get what he is trying to say. So, again, I don’t recommend this book for beginners at all.

For the figure drawing artist who’s been at it for a while, and just has a hard time with certain parts, or has a hard time putting more action into their poses, I can’t say enough good about this book. It has helped me out in so many ways in just the short time I have had it. You can see it in my most recent works (some are featured on my profile) such as Gaia – I would have never tried such a difficult pose before reading this book. I also am not afraid to show hands anymore, because he has made them so much simpler.

I have truly been inspired by this book, since getting it I have been much more creative with my art, and I take more risks. I am very pleased with what this book has done for me.

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Deals on not so new books
Soometimes it’s a good idea to go the cheap route
I know there are many starving artists out there as well (myself included) but art lesson/reference books aren’t the kind you want to just borrow from the library, it is a good idea to have them in your collection. Sometimes I open up my old books I haven’t looked at in years and it’s like I’ve never looked through them before – turn old inspiration into new – eBay is a good place to get good – and cheap art reference books.

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by David Burgess on May 10, 2018 0

Book Review: Figure It Out! by Christopher Hart

Christopher Hart’s book, “Figure It Out!” is basically a beginners guide to drawing the human form. It’s not an advanced book of everything you ever wanted to know about drawing the human body, but it is a book that will get most artists comfortable drawing the human figure. He’s got his own techniques, and a few unique examples for demonstration, and the most important thing about this book is simplification.

Christopher Hart has built himself a virtual empire when it comes to How-To drawing books. If you search Amazon for his name, literally thirty or more titles will be returned, in the search. Go to any bookstore, and the drawing section will be dominated by his name. He has garnered a bit of criticism, however, due to the fact that his drawing instruction is geared more towards the comic artists, than those looking to represent realism. He’s also been criticized for not doing all of his own drawing. Many of his books are filled with the art of other artists. However, much of the art is superb. Hart himself is not a recognized comic book artist, and he will routinely employ artists that are. However, what he does well is he covers all of his bases.

For me in particular, the book, “Figure It Out!” took me from being very tentative with my drawing of the human form, to feeling like I could conquer just about any pose. His instruction begins with the head as a basic shape, and then moves on to the body. He states that the body is more or less all about nailing down the torso, and he gives a great analysis about how to layout the torso with a few main angles. He then goes on to demonstrate the process by showing human poses using only stick figures. Simplification is his key.

Remember when you were a kid, and you’d draw stick figures? Well, guess what? You were, apparently, right to do this. Hart demonstrates this by nailing down intricate stick figures of the human form. He shows that this is all that’s necessary to get the form down. One of the chapters, called “Body Dynamics,” is dedicated to drawing dozens and dozens of stick figures, and by the end, I felt like I had a handle on manipulating the human form. Each successive chapter goes into more detail on fluffing up the human form, as in adding the muscles and the clothing. The book finishes with some fairly unique poses, that demonstrate the human form in all sorts of angles, specifically showing things like foreshortening, and hiding appendages, and some other complex poses.

The book isn’t an end all be all book of drawing the human form. It’s a starting point to get the confidence for the hard stuff, and it was all I needed to help me get over the hump, and help me feel more comfortable about tackling what I had up until that point felt was the overly complex human form. After reading the book, there are still things that may be out of my reach, but I certainly don’t feel like I need to shy away from anything either. In fact, most poses, I can bang out fairly quickly.

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by David Burgess on April 27, 2018 0

Photography Poses – A Posing Guide Just For You

Photography Poses Can Be Hard To Recall On The Spot – Unless You Have Them Written Down

Gathering up all of your favorite photography poses and putting them in a notebook can give you a reliable posing guide that you can take on all of your shoots. Having a notebook like this will not only help you deal with unexpected problems that may come up but also help you plan on exactly what type of image you want to get. It will provide an excellent reference for any model on what pose you want and will speed up the whole shooting process.

There are posing guides out there for sell, but I decided long ago to come up with my own posing guide that has all of the photography poses and notes I find interesting and useful. A guide made especially for me, by me. This lens will show you how I created such an invaluable notebook and exactly what you need to do to create one for yourself. Once you get yours made, I guarantee that you will feel naked on photo shoots without it. You may even have to eventually start another, because odds are good it will fill up very fast with photo poses and notes. Posing for photos is never easy; help yourself and your model by providing a useful reference.

Basic Setup of My Posing Guide

Contents, Photography Poses and Ideas

1-The first thing I did was to buy me a pocket-sized Moleskine notebook. Any notebook is acceptable, but I chose this brand because I wanted something durable.

2-I then decided how I wanted to divide up the notebook.

Section 1-Contents (3 pages).
I made up a few categories that was important to me and whenever a photography pose fit into that category I put its number in it. The categories were photography poses for men, women and both. The image to the right shows you what I’m talking about; the only difference is that each category had their own page. You can even highlight your favorite poses. The next step was to number the pages (starting after the contents). I numbered each page, as I wanted one page to have only one pose on it (front page-1, back of that page-2 and so on).

Section 2-The photography poses and notes (150 pages / bulk of content).

Section 3-Ideas section (30 or 40 pages).
These pages are set aside for interesting ideas that may come to you on your shoot you may want to try at some point in the future.

Image by YellowHammer.

Photo Poses For Couples

Coming up with photography poses for couples is all about letting it happen naturally.

The important thing to remember when posing couples is that less direction is often more. Let the couple do all the work. The interaction between two people who care about one another will always get you some interesting photos. The second most important thing is to get them to feel comfortable showing affection in front of you. A zoom lens is a good idea here, as the closer you are, the more uncomfortable they are likely to be.

One good trick to use is to have one tell what they like or find sexy about the other. They could take turns. Doing this often puts some kind of emotion in the shot, whether it be bad or good. Having them dress up in interesting clothes or putting them in interesting situations is a small part of it, but in my opinion, it’s all about the emotion and body language.

Don’t Want The People In Your Photos To Look So Stiff?

Then consider hiring a professional model.

One huge benefit of using professional models during a photo shoot is that they are used to being in front of a camera. I like to take pictures that don’t look posed. People who aren’t used to getting photos taken of them will often look stiff. The only drawback to using a modeling agency is that you usually have to pay them.

There are some websites such as Model Mayhem, One Model Place or Models.com in which you can sometimes trade time for prints, but not always. I am beginning to realize that hiring a model pays off in the long run, just be sure to know what you want to shoot as most charge by the hour.

Posing Tip #1

When doing portrait photography, try to get the subject to laugh and feel comfortable before the shoot. Try to build a good vibe between the two of you. Poses won’t look as stiff and your pictures will come out much better.

Example Interior Pages of Posing Guide
Photography poses and notes.

First let me start off by saying I made the writing a little too big; most people’s writing won’t be this big unless they’re using a Sharpie pen. The image that you see above is what is in the majority of my notebook. I number each photography pose, draw the figure and then add a few notes. If your the type of person who takes a lot of notes you could always use one side for the sketch and the other for notes in which case you would only have room in you notebook for half as many photography poses.

What you put in your notes will depend on what you like and what type of photographer you are. I like to put whether the image would be better for a male or female (or both), lighting preferences, mood, emotional state of model and clothing ideas. Keep in mind that you don’t have to fill the page; a bare minimum of how you feel when you see the image is all that is really necessary in the beginning. I promise that you’ll add more as you use the poses on shoots.

Sketch Photography Poses
The perfect thing to use in a posing guide.

Although you could use photography poses cut out from a magazine (fastened by tape or glue), I like to sketch stick figures in mine. I found that when I used actual pictures I often sub-consciously copied the style and sometimes even the clothes. With bare-bones sketches you can truly create your own unique image.

If you are dead set on some color, why not use some colored pencils? I often put down what color I would like to use as a background against certain skin tones, and seeing as I don’t know all the proper skin tone names, pencils come in really handy. Use them sparingly, though, or your posing ideas could turn into a bunch of style ideas.

Posing Tip #2

This one is also about making your model feel comfortable. When going out on public shoots take with you some sheets or shower curtains and hangers so you can jury rig a place for your subject to change in private. You don’t want them to change out in the open.

11 Great Photography Poses

Great Photos That You Can Actually Own

Most photos that are actually being sold to the public are fantastic sources for inspiration not only for poses, but point of view and style as well. They will give you all kinds of photo shoot ideas and can help you become a better photographer if you’re willing to study them.

Lucinda in London, 1959 (12 x 12 in. Art Print)
Photo by Georges Dambier

Man Balancing in a Dance, Yoga Pose (16 x 16 in. Photographic Print)
Photo by Monsoon Images

Fashion Model Wearing Amazing Hat (22 x 28 in. Art Print)
By John French

Mountain Biker on Cliffs, Turnagain Arm, Alaska, USA
16 x 12 in. Photographic Print
Photo by Paul Souders

Little Ballerina (9 x 12 in. Art Print)
By David Handley

Cowgirl in Heaven (20 x 16 in. Art Print)
Photo by David R. Stoecklein

Woman Floating In Water / Weeki Wachee Spring, Florida
16 x 16 in. Photographic Print
By Toni Frissell

How to Make You Love Me by Elizabeth May
16 x 16 in. Photographic Print

Cowboy and Cowgirl Silhouetted on a Ridge in the Big Horn Mountains, Wyoming, USA
12 x 9 in. Photographic Print
By Joe Restuccia III

Marilyn Monroe – 24 x 36 in. Poster

Clint Eastwood – 14 x 11 in. Photo

Knowledge – 18 x 24 in. Art Print

A Great Place To Go For Posing Ideas

Wonderful ways to direct your subject.

Pose Maniacs is a website that has thousands of 3-D rendered models that you can actually rotate to get a full all around view of the pose you’re interested in. It is mainly used by artists learning to draw the human form, but I’ve found it perfect for getting good ideas for the camera as well. The only drawbacks are that the models have no skin (so you can see muscles) and in some of the poses there are only subtle differences. Despite this, the site is worth a visit. Below is the link.

Posing Tip #3

Never have more people than you need on a photo shoot and always allow the model to bring someone along if that makes them feel more comfortable. A comfortable model is always more photogenic and relaxed. You are also likely to get more natural poses from them than you would otherwise.

Want To Shoot In Low Light?

You need the right kind of lens.

Ever notice that when you take photos in low light that they are often not as sharp as they should be? One easy remedy to that is to use a lens with a lower f-stop. Either a 1.4 or 1.8 is recommended when shooting people less than ideal lighting conditions. This is the lens you’re going to need for when shooting at dusk, dawn or night, and when combined with a sexy pose will produce an amazing picture. You really won’t believe the difference until you experience it for yourself.

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by David Burgess on April 26, 2018 0

The Story of Dragon and Angel – My Photographs of Two Contrasting Beauties

The Story of a Dragon Princess and an Angel

In this article, I would like to tell a story of my third photo shoot project in India titled “The Story of Dragon and Angel”. I did this work just a month after I published my photography work titled “The Dragon Princess”. This is a sequel of my previous work, and my main idea was to expose two different types of beauties those are contrasting each other.

Compared to the previous photo shoot, I felt that the photos I created are more satisfying. I tried different techniques that I’ve never tried before and went a little bit more extreme in post-processing the images. Besides the photographs, I also want to talk about my concepts and preparation of this photo shoot. I am looking forward for your feedback and comments, as always.

The concept

A little story behind the photo shoot
The Story of Dragon and Angel After publishing my first photography work titled “The Dragon Princess”, I felt that I wanted to create something more impressive. Thus, I came with the concept of juxtaposing two different kinds of beauty; the traditional and the modern style. However, I still wanted this work to have relation with my previous work because I felt there was something “unfinished” from the story of The Dragon Princess.

Thus, I contacted Pema, my classmate from Bhutan who is also the model of the previous photo shoot. I explained about her concept, and asked her whether she has a friend who is suitable with my concept. Then she introduced me to her friend, Disket, Disket is a lovely young lady from Ladakh, a region in the northern part of India. At that time she was still studying in of one of the most famous law schools in Hyderabad.

I talked to Disket about my plan. At that time, three of us were in the middle of our final year examinations, each of us planned to leave Hyderabad right after finishing our exam. Tbus, finding the date for the photo shoot was a little bit difficult as we have very limited time. After long discussion and considering various options, we decided to do the photo shoot in between our exams.

Technically, I didn’t do much preparation for this photo shoot. I just made sure that the battery was fully charged, and focused more on finding good references for an outdoor photo shoot with two models. Besides my favorite Canon EOS 550D, I also brought the Sony NEX-3 as I wanted to compare the image quality of those camera.

The Photo Shoot

It was an extremely hot day
The Story of Dragon and Angel

I arrived at the location of the photo shoot on 3.30 PM after a long drive from my place. It was a very hot day, approximately around 36 degree Celsius, not the best weather for an outdoor photo shoot. It was difficult to us to perform at our best due to the hot weather, especially Pema because she had to wore very thick Kira (a set of Bhutanese traditional dress).

I started by taking photos of each of the model individually in various poses. As I did two previous photo shoots with Pema, it wasn’t so difficult for us to work together. Surprisingly, I didn’t have any problem working with Disket at all, as she looked very photogenic and comfortable in front of the camera. After finishing with the individual photos, I moved to the next stage : posing the models together. I found that it was very difficult for an amateur like me to be able to create a good composition with two main subjects on the screen, and the most difficult thing was to determine the good focus point.

As I explained before, I wanted to juxtapose two completely different styles of beauties. So, I projected Pema with her traditional green-colored Kira to be the one that looks tougher and more dominant, beautiful but and has special power, just as the most oriental princesses in the TV dramas. On the other hand, Disket with her white dress should be more feminine and angelic; just as the characteristics of the most Western princesses in a story.

We tried different poses of the model, with flowers, apples, knife, and blue colored liquid in a glass. I tried to create various metaphors with those properties, and compile a story from those photos. We finished taking all of the pictures in three hours, and it took about three days for me to do the post processing of the image before publishing them online.

Tips for doing an outdoor photo shoot on a hot day

Here are some things that I learned as an amateur from doing a photo shoot on a very hot day. Hopefully they are useful for you.

1. If you are not working with professional models, make sure they know each other well
I was lucky because Pema and Disket are good friends, thus they could be more relaxed during the photo shoot. Because they were good friend, the pressures due to the various uncomfortable cirumstances (including the hot weather) became less because they can freely laugh and express their opinion to each other.

2. Bring your portable devices filled with references photos in case you ran out of idea in the middle of the photo shoot
Especially if you are working alone and doesn’t have style director or assistant during the photo shoot. Try to save all of the references photos that you find online a day before the photo shoot in a device that can be easily carried and viewed. For me, I stored those photos in my iPad. Whenever I feel I run out of idea, I just take my iPad out and refer to the images. Note down also various poses that you want to take.

3. Watch the ISO level
In a bright, sunny day, be sure to set the ISO level as low as possible to reduce the image noise. Always set your ISO manually, and I believe you don’t need to go higher than 200 in a hot day. Also try to use light meter to determine the best level of exposure in your camera.

4. Don’t forget to carry a towel and a bottle of water, for you and the model
You will be surprised to know that you require a lot of energy to take photos. You need to move a lot, and this make you would sweat a lot. A towel and a bottle of water could keep you away from dehidration so you would able to work at your best performance.

5. Take rests
No need to be hurry. If the weather is extremely hot, take 10 minutes a break every half an hour or so, to keep you and your model away from exhaustion. Use the resting period to look for the references, review your photos, and talk to the models to make them feel more comfortable working with you.

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