Tutored Life Drawing Blog Week 19: The Figure in Context (Patreon)

When drawing, it is easy to get into the habit of just placing the figure on the page without much respect to their surroundings. In this week's lesson, it is time to have a look at creating a bit of context for the figure.

This lesson covers managing the visual space the figure sits in and integrating them into their environment, as well as suggesting ideas about narrative and emphasis. Whilst figure studies for their own sake are perfectly worthwhile, including setting can help generate more interesting artworks, and exercise our picture-making skills.

Above: 'Tilli'

Drawing Tips: Managing Shape and Space

When drawing a two dimensional image, the three dimensional space around the figure must be compressed down to flat shapes, where they become negative shapes. This offers a useful tool for drawing, especially once a frame is introduced. (Lesson 3 – Negative Shape covers this topic in detail.)

Here the negative shape around the figure is marked out in different colours. This helps break down the scene, and ensures the figure doesn't get too big for the painting panel.

Negative shape often produces abstracted shapes that cannot be anticipated, helping combat assumptions about what we are drawing. While they can be treated as 'voids' around the figure's pose, when the surroundings are taken into account, negative shape can also be created by drawing the objects around the figure. By ignoring the figure and drawing around them, we end up with a shape that defines them indirectly.

This image starts by blocking out the placement of the figure in simple shapes. Then negative shape is used to define the background shapes and silhouette of the figure, and helps define the contour details in the final stage.

The first suggestion for using negative shape is by starting with the rough placement of the pose and then defining the contour using the negative shape around the figure. Try to focus on abstract shapes created by the figure overlapping the surrounding environment instead of the figure itself. Negative shapes are often fragmented parts of other objects; when isolated, they are easier to draw because they don't look like anything.

A frame starts this drawing, and the broad shapes of the surroundings are drawn around the figure, until the figure's silhouette is resolved. As the ink is layered darker, the negative shapes are refined and show more detail. Only in the final stage are the figure's features added. This drawing is a study from a photograph by Emile Joachim Constant Puyo - Weiblicher Rückenakt am Spiegel  (Source: MKG Collection)

Another approach to drawing the negative shapes around the figure through the objects is starting with a frame. This can be either a viewfinder held up to the figure, or screen, if one is drawing from a video or photograph, or just an arbitrary container sketched on the page. The presence of a frame helps anchor the objects surrounding the figure, but also creates a limit to the surroundings. Once the frame is in place, it is possible to proceed by either working out from where the figure ought to be placed, or by working in from the frame's edge to the figure. What negative shapes are placed between the figure and the frame?

Integrating the Figure

When drawing the figure in a setting, one challenge is making them appear integrated into the space, as opposed to floating, or otherwise out of place. By existing in a physical space, the body interacts with it, coming into contact with surfaces and physically interacting with anything that can be manipulated, such as soft furnishings.

Contact points were briefly mentioned in the previous lesson (Lesson 18 – Balance) but are worth looking at in more detail. In any static pose, the figure must somehow be anchored to the ground, or some piece of furniture. This results in contact points.

Even just including indications of the furniture and cast shadows can help make the figure look grounded. This pose has a strong diagonal, and would look unbalanced without the supporting stool.

Shadows tend to be cast from these points, or they otherwise are going to fall within a shadow (for instance, if the figure is lit from above) – unless a figure is standing on a luminous surface! Contact points can also be indicated with occlusion shadows – these are small shadows created in gaps or crevices where light cannot reach, such as the floor under the feet. It is always worth showing even just a little bit of indication of setting such as the floor or an allusion to the chair they are seated on help make the figure look grounded.

Points of overlap between the figure and the fabric help integrate the figure into the setting. This drawing also focuses on of surfaces, both of the figure and the surroundings. This drawing is a study of a photograph by Alexandre (Albert Edouard Drains) – Aktsudie (Source: MKG Collection)

The figure is not the only thing that can change. Careful observation will show that the set is subject to change due to the figure's poses. Soft furnishings such a cushions and fabric will be squashed under their weight. Changes in pose will cast different shadows over the set, creating different tonal arrangements. Some poses may even involve more explicit interaction with the set, such as manipulating drapes, supporting oneself on props and the like.

Although overlapping elements in the setting can partially obscure the figure, they do help ensure the figure is within a setting. The figure here is both overlapping and overlapped by the arm of the chair, and sits in front of the drapery.

Overlaps, as mentioned previously, are useful for showing the depth of space around the figure. This is especially true of situations where the setting itself is overlapping the figure. Even small elements of this can help ground a figure within a three dimensional space, such as where figure sinks into cushions, or is slightly placed behind something.

Emphasis and Setting

There are always different options for creating emphasis in drawing, such as focusing on a particular quality, such as two dimensional patterns, or forms, or textures, making decisions regarding what surroundings to include, or by making changes to the composition to bring focus to specific elements. As previous lessons have shown, there are different qualities to a subject that can be conveyed with drawing, such as contour, shape, or form, as well as properties not covered, such as pattern, colour or texture.

These two sketches push emphasis on different elements, with the first highlighting the textures and patterns in the elements around the figure, who is central, whilst the second puts more attention to the shape patterns created by the setting, and the interior.

This becomes even more open to manipulation when drawing context for the figure, as using different elements will generate different layouts and patterns on the page. An image focusing heavily on colour can incorporate a richly coloured set and have a very different end result to an approach that highlights texture, for instance.

The inclusion of props in a setting can also add to the narrative context – even simple indications, such as this easel, can help.

Providing context for the figure can also open up a narrative element to the image. Narrative can be as straightforward as showing a life class and the people in it, or when working from a screen, the surrounding desk and home environment, showing the context of an online class. However, narrative can be invented, and this is especially true when working from photographic reference, as the figure can be incorporated into different compositions. Other photographic reference can be combined to build up a new narrative in the drawing, or to construct a scene from imagination.

The framing in this sketch puts a bit of emphasis on the pattern in the set, whilst cropping out part of the model. The set does a lot of work to lead the eye to the model, who is very much central due to the cropping. Empty space above the figure helps balance the visually busy areas.

With these possibilities, the importance of framing can often be overlooked. Even if a frame is not drawn on the page, the sheet of paper itself has limits, so there is always some kind of frame restraining our drawing. It is easy to fall into the habit of placing the figure in the dead centre of the page, taking up most of the vertical space. When central, the model will draw the most attention, but by devoting more of the image area to the setting, the context starts to take on greater importance.

Different Ways of Portraying the Figure in Settings

 Edouard Vuillard - 'Personnages dans un intérieur. Le travail' (Source: Paris Musées)

Vuillard is known for putting heavy emphasis on pattern in his work, sometimes to the point that the figure figured is almost camouflaged in the richness of the setting. In this example, pattern is used to define the figures, with the rich fabrics contrasting in pattern and colour. The setting itself is also laid out in shape and pattern; the bookcase in particular creates an effective backdrop by contrasting the more organic and flowing patterns with a rigid array of vertical rectangles. The overall effect is intense to look at, and absorbs the figures into the image.

Mary Cassat – 'Woman Bathing' (Source: Art Institute of Chicago)

This is one of a series of prints created by Cassat inspired by the techniques of Japanese woodblock prints, with a focus on figures in interiors. Here, perspective is distorted in order to better serve the negative shape around the figure, and showcase the interior more. With this almost orthographic perspective, the props around the figure are shown more clearly, aiding the narrative – a more realistic portrayal of perspective would obscure them with the figure itself.

Key Points to Remember When Drawing the Figure in Context

• Negative shape is a useful tool for drawing the setting around the figure, without getting too involved in the detail.
• Contact points, cast shadows and other interactions with a setting help the figure look more integrated into a scene.
• Highlighting different parts of the image and different drawing properties can drastically change the emphasis.

Over to You – Drawing Settings

Recommended Materials: Any materials

Further Reading: Lesson 2 – Contour, Lesson 3 – Negative Space 

Exercise 1: Contour Drawing

Contour drawing is an excellent exercise to start exploring drawing spaces, if the subject is intimidating. This exercise can be done with, or without a figure. Though best done from life, it is possible to do from a photograph. The best subjects are cluttered, messy spaces!

There are a couple of approaches to try. The first involves picking a spot in the foreground, and steadily following the edge of what you see through the scene, slowly working back into space. You should be looking at the subject nearly constantly; only glance down occasionally to check where your pen or pencil is.

The other option is to start at the farthest point from you in the scene – if it includes a window, it would the furthest point in the distance! From there, work your way steadily closer in space. This version is more challenging, as if you start by drawing too large, you will run out of space for the foreground elements of the drawing.

This contour drawing was started in the foreground and works towards the farthest point.

Exercise 2: Start with the Setting

To start this drawing, begin by drawing a frame on your page – it can be smaller, or take up the whole sheet of paper – even if you want to draw at paper size, ensure you start with a frame.

From here, start somewhere at the edge of the frame and work your way in. For instance, starting at the bottom of the frame, draw the foreground in front of you and work up towards the centre. Try to draw all of the setting first, if there is a figure in your scene.

If you are working from a screen, one approach to this exercise is to draw the surroundings of the screen, such as your desk, part of the room you are in.

This drawing was started with the initial frame and wanders through the desk setting before reaching the figure.

Exercise 3: Figure in an Imagined Setting

For this exercise, it is probably easiest to work with photo reference, although it is certainly possible to work from life or a combination of sources.

In this exercise, when drawing from the figure, try to integrate them into an imagined space. This space can be purely from imagination, or can be referenced from another photographic source. Try to think about how the figure is fitting into the new environment – where do they make contact with their surroundings, are they interacting with the setting in any way? The space you draw is entirely up to you – it could be an interior or exterior location from reality, or something entirely imagined and fabricated.

The environment around this figure was drawn from a combination of photographic reference and imagination.

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Further links

>> Watch the Week 19: Balance main lesson HERE (Student & Life Tiers)  
>> Watch the Week 19: Balance demo HERE (Student & Life Tiers)
>> Practice drawing from our Drawing Circus Photo-sets HERE (All Tiers)

Find links to the whole Tutored Life Drawing Course HERE