Foreshortening cross contour exercise
Here are some images to practise with that go along with the exercise we talked about in the foreshortening exercises lesson. First we will provide a version with just the lines, and then the photo, so draw the lines first and then try to add the arm. The main thing to get right with the lines are the distances and curvature. You can align each set of lines to each other to help get the distances right. Sorry about the armpit hair 😉
Here are some further photos you can use for the exercise, this time trying to just see the lines even though the arm is still there:
If you haven’t seen the series on foreshortening, which I think you’ll find really illuminating, check it out here.
Thanks so much for the foreshortening exercise. It’s really helpful as I have struggled with foreshortening for many years. My arms do look like arms. What I am still having trouble with is getting the distance between each line so the arm is in proportion. Also really enjoying and learning from the videos with you and your mother.
All the best,
Christine Nishimuta
Thanks for the support Christine! Yes foreshortening does take tons of practice – I’m still working on it too. I think it gets more fun and a bit less frustrating with each practice session, as long as those practice sessions are fairly regular. Good luck!
Thanks for the clear lessons! Much appreciated. Your instruction is clear and well ordered.
Btw, we draw the human figure…Armpit hair (if it’s there) is human and natural! As are nipples and crotches.
I understand the carefullness one want to practice on a instructional website, but find it a shame we treat the human body as something that is dirty. Especially as it is crystal clear nothing pornografic is being etalaged here.
#I get of my horse. I don’t even like them 😛
thanks again!
Hey Renske,
thanks for your support! I agree with you that the human figure is natural and nothing to be ashamed of. I only said sorry for the armpit hair because that is my armpit hair. So it’s a sort of self-conscious joke.
With regards the censoring of nudity we do on our tutorials, again I agree with you. It’s only because we kept getting in trouble with different platforms even though it’s obviously artistic and educational. We got banned from some things and got warnings on other things. Even on our censored youtube videos, they get flagged and youtube stops showing them to people. It takes a lot of work to build a presence on these platforms, so we don’t want to risk getting kicked off again.
Anyway, thanks again for your message!
This is so helpful, and I love all the tutorials on the channel.
Thanks so much. Always pleased to hear people are finding our resources helpful!
This has been wonderfully helpful as someone currently struggling with foreshortening, i’m surprised i never thought of trying to look at references with banding to help cement the spatial relationships of the basic shapes involved in foreshortening limbs. Still having a hell of a time with foreshortening hands, but then again maybe jumping in the deep end with the fonz fingergun pose was a little ambitious of me… Pinterest had grabbed this post’s images which is where I saw it, but thankfully someone found the original link so i can actually send proper thanks.