5 Reasons Why Figure Drawing is Important for Every Visual Artist

There are many things that bring us value as artists, and we all have certain types of art that we gravitate to. However, being a successful artist means employing a wide range of skills. Developing those skills is important for helping refine our craft. One of the most valuable activities for any visual artist is figure drawing. Let’s take a look at five reasons why figure drawing is important. 

1. Better Understanding of the Human Structure

Drawing people can be one of the most difficult things for many artists. Figure drawing provides a way to become better acquainted with human structure, form, and function. It provides a workshop that helps you to better capture human proportions, muscle anatomy, and other aspects of a believable figure. The more that someone engages in figure drawing, the better their confidence in detailing the human form gets. 

Additionally, there are relatively limited opportunities to be able to draw a nude body publicly. Figure drawing an important laboratory for this process where you can engage in live online life drawing with a nude model. Learning to draw models in long poses and short poses are both important components for enhancing your understanding and familiarity with human form and function. 

2. Learn Collaboratively 

One of the great opportunities that artists get from figure drawing whether in-person or live online life drawing is the opportunity to learn collaboratively from others. The ability to interact with other artists and see how they approach different aspects of the process such as contour drawing, shape, and volume can help you develop new techniques or come up with new ideas for improving your approach as well. 

Being able to see how others portray a nude model on paper can serve as an important method for your own growth as an artist. Effectively capturing human form and function, body flow, and other aspects of figure drawing is something that takes repetitive practice. Being able to engage in this in a collaborative manner can help accelerate learning. 

3. Learn to Create Better Designs

Much of the work as a visual artist involves creating character designs. Understanding form and function are critical for doing this effectively. Thus, you will likely find that practicing figure drawing helps you better develop the skills necessary to believably capture different aspects of character design including hands and feet, shape and volume, and even things like animal drawing. There are many transferable concepts and skills. 

As you gain a better understanding of how to detail the human structure on paper, you will be able better create designs and movements of figures. Thus, practicing figure drawing with nude models, clothed figures, and costume models can all enhance your ability to better be able better depict more believable characters in other forms of your work. 

4. General Skill Development

One of the qualities of an effective artist is that they are constantly striving to improve their overall skills. Being a visual artist involve a process of constant personal and professional growth. Figure drawing is an effective way to simultaneously work on a wide variety of different skills that will enhance your drawing in many areas. 

One way that figure drawing enhances your skills is to optimize your level of observation. It requires careful consideration of how to represent the subject on paper. This can help you better view your subjects in general. As you draw different body types, you will notice that your confidence in figure drawing will greatly improve. It also improves hand-eye coordination, understanding of muscle anatomy, and general understanding of how to represent anatomy and physiology. 

5.It Is a Relaxing Practice

Another reason that figure drawing is a worthwhile practice is that it is simply relaxing. Something about focusing on capturing the model on paper provides a calming effect. For many artists, figure drawing becomes a way to reduce stress and be peaceful, much like a meditation. It can become a great way to both socialize with others who share an interest and let the outside world melt away for some ever important stress relief. 

Ultimately, figure drawing can become a bit of a lifestyle, providing an enjoyable activity that also helps enhance your overall success as a visual artist. As such, many people find value in it. If you would like to take part in figure drawing, search out live online life drawing options or simple Google “life drawing workshops near me” then contact places about the opportunity for a trial class.