Tutored Life Drawing Blog Week 20: Foreshortening (Patreon)

Foreshortened poses are a common challenge when drawing the figure. The visual effects of perspective cause the proportions of the body to distort as the figure recedes into space, resulting in a perceived compression, or 'shortening' of longer forms. This change to expected proportions can make it difficult to draw the figure.

Foreshortening typically causes a few specific visual effects. This lesson will look at these, and discuss some possible ways to tackle the challenges they bring. Foreshortening isn't only restricted to figures, and can be observed in any subject, though this lesson will focus on drawing the figure.

Image above: 'Saphire'

Visual Effects of Foreshortening

When drawing the foreshortened figure, the most obvious effect is often how much 'shorter' or compressed the figure appears to be. This is most obvious when long forms are turned towards the viewer. However, as it is an effect of perspective, it is always happening – the effect might just be too small to notice.

The torso and upper proportion of the bent leg are strongly foreshortened in this pose, especially when compared to the length of the extended leg.

As long forms such as limbs point towards the viewer, they are seen 'end on' and the length of the limb tilts out of sight. This makes them appear shorter and thicker. However, this can occur in more subtle ways. For instance, the features of the face will converge ever so slightly on the far side, or the torso will slightly foreshorten as the figure leans forwards or back.

 In portraiture, foreshortening effects are noticeable in ¾ angles such as this. Even though this is a subtle effect, ignoring the effect foreshortening has on the angles of the features would cause them to appear crooked.

Another key feature of foreshortening is overlaps (this idea has been covered in Lesson 2 – Contour and Lesson 16 – Form), as the stacking of forms in space away from the viewer inevitably causes them to overlap.

These 1 minute quick contour sketches show foreshortening primarily through overlap, as they are purely lines.

Sometimes this is very obvious, with entire parts of the body being partly obscured by the forms in front of them, and other times it will be more subtle, such as interlocking forms and creases. Overlaps can occur whenever one contour line passes in front of another.

Ultimately, the effect of foreshortening is the recession of the figure into space, or in the case of drawing, into the page. The model, or parts of them, should appear to point into the picture plane to create the illusion of three dimensional space on a two dimensional format, such as paper. The deeper this recession, the more the figure 'shrinks' – the farther away forms are from the viewer, the smaller they get. This also means that forms in close proximity will appear larger than perhaps they ought to. A foot very close to the viewer might dwarf the head in size due to this effect.

Though the foreshortening on these poses doesn't appear too extreme, there is a significant difference between the size of the nearest and farthest legs.

Because of this, when the figure points into the picture plane more directly, the 'faster' the foreshortening appears to happen.

This is a more extreme example of how the figure scales down with distance; compare the size of her foot to the size of her head or hands.

Portraying Foreshortening in Drawing

The big three effects of foreshortening are the shortening of forms viewed end on, the introduction of overlapping forms, and the diminishment, or shrinking, of forms farther from the viewer. These can all work to trick visual perception, but there are some ways to deal with this.

One of the first things to check with a foreshortened figure is the height vs. the width of the area they take up. This is a relatively easy thing to check – hold a pencil up to the figure (or screen) with the tip aligned to the top of the figure, and line your thumb with the bottom-most part of the figure on the pencil. Then, holding the pencil this way, rotate it ninety degrees and compare the horizontal width. Is it more or less?

Here the vertical space the figure takes up is highlighted in red, and the horizontal space is indicated with blue. When comparing the width of the pose to the height, be careful with the extremities, such as extended limbs.

This comparison can be a quick check if there isn't much time. If this isn't an issue, try to work out the ratio of the two measurements, and use these to mark out a container for the figure.

Another way verticals and horizontals can help is by creating visual references. Vertical and horizontal lines are easy to recognise by sight, and by holding a pen or pencil up, it possible to follow its edge in a vertical or horizontal direction for a more reliable comparison.

In this sketch, vertical comparisons are used to line up the shoulder with the knee and the fingertips with the edge of the hair. Horizontal comparisons help place the other hand relative to the hair, and the feet – it is still useful to use slightly off comparisons, such as saying one thing is a little higher, as in the case of the feet here.

By imagining a vertical or horizontal lines, it is possible to see where parts of the figure align in the flattened picture plane. Angled lines can also be used to create negative shapes, as long as they are straight, but these can be less accurate. For more information, check Lesson 02 – Negative Space.

Negative shape is another useful tool in tackling foreshortened angles. Try to fence in negative shapes as simply as possible – avoid curved lines and use straights to form triangular, or squarish shapes.

Another tool from earlier lessons that can help with indicating foreshortening in the figure is cross contours. (See Lesson 16 – Form). When forms are foreshortened, their cross sections turn to face the viewer more. This is especially apparent with the limbs, as a cross section across an arm or leg is far smaller than the length of the limb.

These leg sketches where taken from the same pose viewed at different angles. Note how the cross sections change direction and narrow or widen as the figure rotates.

If cross contour lines follow the cross section, or even partially align with it, they help show foreshortening by indicating the direction the limb is pointing in, as the cross-contour will arch away from the end of the limb facing the viewer. Another feature that indicates foreshortening is how curved the cross sectional line is – a more curved the line shows stronger foreshortening.

The cross contour lines used to add hatching to this sketch roughly adhere to the cross sections of the forms, at least in their direction.

Effective Foreshortening

Francesco Allegrini - 'Study of a Reclining Male Figure' (Source: Minneapolis Institute of Art)

This sketch is a great example of how simple line elements can portray foreshortening. The figure is rendered in very few lines, but careful use of shape and overlap help indicate how the slightly overhead view foreshortens the torso, which is rather compressed in the space of the image, as well as other forms. In particular, the lower leg is almost seen end on from this angle, and this is expressed by careful observation of the change in curvature between the front of the shin versus the more rounded back of the calf.

Auguste Rodin - 'Nude Female Figure Holding Left Foot' (Source: New York MET)

This sketch by Rodin shows how foreshortening can have a radical effect on the overall shape of the figure, diverging from our usual expectations of what the body might look like, especially in silhouette. As she hunches over and grasps her leg, her torso is compressed, twisted and seen partially from above. The lower leg itself is also drastically foreshortened, so the silhouette of the foot appears to protrude from the knee.

Annibale Carracci - Hercules and Antaeus (Source: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum)

This drawing shows a more extravagant example of foreshortening, as well as demonstrating that this effect is not exclusive to 'end on' poses – foreshortening can also be a product of high or low angles relative to the viewer. This isn't something that is commonly seen in life drawing sessions, as models are typically at around the same level as the attendees, though auditorium set ups and specific camera angles for streamed sessions can produce in this effect. These angles, especially in this example, can be used to great effect in producing more dynamic gestures, and can also play a role in adding context to poses. Look for these effects in film and other media – how are high and low camera angles used?

Key Points to Remember About Foreshortening

• Foreshortening is the compression, or other distortion, of expected forms by perspective.
• Vertical and horizontal comparisons, negative shape observations, and cross contours can help us draw the foreshortened figure with more observational accuracy.
• Contour and shape both change radically with foreshortened poses, and can be utilised to show foreshortening with minimal details.

Over to You – Expressing Foreshortening in Drawing

Recommended Materials: Something wet or chunky for drawing shape, any linear drawing materials.

Further Reading: Lesson 02 – Contour, Lesson 03 – Negative Space, Lesson 16 – Form 

Exercise 1: Foreshortened Fingers Contour Drawing

If you are unfamiliar with contour drawing, this topic is covered in Lesson 2 – Contour.

For this exercise, pose your non-dominant hand so the fingertips and thumb are all touching, and point it towards your face. Starting from the centre, such as the crease between the fingertips, or with a fingernail, follow the edges as you draw the contours, and work out until the entire hand is drawn. In this process, draw 'into' the page, slowly working up from the fingertips, into the creases on the hand, and finally the most external contour of the hand.

Through this process, try to look at the hand as much as possible – only glance back to your drawing when you need to start a new line or check where the tip of your pencil is. If you like, you may do this exercise as a completely blind contour drawing.

Contour drawing of a hand.

Exercise 2: Foreshortened Figure in Shape

This exercise requires some form of wet or chunky media (such as charcoal, ink, conté sticks, or watercolour) that is good for creating areas of tone or colour, and something that is suitable for line drawing. This can be done in a life class, or you can select some reference of some unusual foreshortened poses.

Start the drawing by only sketching out the silhouette of the figure as closely as you can. Don't worry about the details too much as this can be quite quick and simple, but should be carefully observed. A strongly foreshortened pose will likely create a more abstract shape. Once this is done (you may want to wait for wet media to dry), come back and add the contours of the figure to the shape. Try to focus on the contour drawing and use the shape as an anchor.

When doing this exercise, focus on how foreshortening has affected the overall silhouette of the figure.

These figures where drawn with the watercolour shape first. Once this dried, the contour lines where added.

Exercise 3: Cross Contours and Foreshortening

This exercise can be done from photo reference of life models, or a real class, or using a still life subject – preferably something that has some disparity in its length vs. its width so the foreshortening is more obvious.

Using cross-contour lines, try to sculpt out the form by following the direction cross contours of the form you see. Start with the nearest part of the figure first, and work 'into the page' by moving from this close point to the most distant. Focus on visualising the cross sections of the figure and avoid drawing any contour lines, or layout for the figure - don't worry if the proportions drift a bit!

This results in more circular marks for 'end-on' forms, and more narrow elliptical marks for forms that are more side-on. Try to avoid scribbling and be mindful of the marks you make.

If you are working from a still life subject, try rotating it and repeating this exercise from a few different angles.

Cross contour lines are used to construct these two figures from scratch, working from the fingertips and into the figure.

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Further links

>> Watch the Week 20: Foreshortening main lesson HERE (Student & Life Tiers)  
>> Watch the Week 20: Foreshortening demo HERE (Student & Life Tiers)

Find links to the whole Tutored Life Drawing Course HERE