Having described an overview of the StArt Figure Drawing System and having posted a few tutorials on drawing the figure, I want to go a little further in discussing some specifics about this approach. To briefly recap, though, I’ve explained how we need a framework for categorizing the poses the human body can assume and the views from which an artist can draw them. Combined with information about how the body moves and some anatomical knowledge, we’ll then have a method for learning to draw the imagined figure that is systematic, accurate, and expansive, enabling you to draw the figure from most any vantage point, in most any pose.
Fig. 1. Every representational drawing from the imagination implies a certain view through an imaginary person’s eyes. If you were to draw the model in this diagram from her right-hand side at about her eye level, it would be as if through the eyes of the artist in the diagram.
Making Sense of the Many Views of the Figure
Let’s start by focusing on the different views from which an artist can depict the figure. Every representational drawing from the imagination implies a certain view through an imaginary person’s eyes. That person might be a character in a story you are telling, or it might be an undefined, omniscient viewer.
In either case, when we draw the figure, it is as if we are drawing it through the eyes of this imaginary viewer. Likewise, the real people who look at your drawing will see it as if through the eyes of this viewer.
For the sake of the examples that follow, let’s assume you are drawing the figure as it would appear to an imaginary artist (an imaginary—ahem—Stronger Artist; see figure 1). Because we are discussing drawing from the imagination, however, this imaginary artist isn’t bound by gravity or any physical restraints. Therefore, you can draw the figure from any view you wish—high or low, near or far, this side or that.
The question is, how do we make sense of all these different views? Fortunately, we can describe any view according to just three characteristics:
- the viewing angle in relation to the figure
- the viewing height in relation to the figure
- the viewing distance from the figure
The Viewing Angle
The viewing angle determines how the figure appears at a certain angle of rotation. If you think of the figure as the hub of a wheel, the viewing angle is one of the spokes leading connecting the figure to the viewer (in this case, our imaginary artist).
Though we could define such an angle using the 360 degrees of a circle, artists typically use terms that describe what side of the figure is most visible, such as a front view, rear view, and so on. The StArt System is based on eight standard viewing angles, as shown in figure 2.
Fig. 2. The eight standard viewing angles.
The Viewing Height
The viewing height refers to the elevation from which the figure is seen and drawn. We can also define this as the eye level of our imaginary artist drawing the figure.
Viewing heights in the StArt System are always defined in relation to the figure, not to the ground or any other reference. An eye-level view means that the eye level of the imaginary viewer is at the eye level of the figure. A waist-level view means the imaginary viewer’s eye level is at the waist level of the figure. Make sense?
There are six standard viewing heights in the StArt System:
• Eye level
• Waist level
• Mid-thigh level
• Bird’s eye—60 degrees above the mid-level of the figure
• High—30 degrees above the mid-level of the figure
• Worm’s eye—30 degrees below the mid-level of the figure
Note that the three extreme viewing heights—worm’s eye, high, and bird’s eye—are stated in degrees above or below the mid-level of the figure. This is because these views, because of their extremity, must be tilted downwards or upwards. Consequently, the actual height of the view will change as the viewing distance (see next section) increases or decreases. Regardless of changes in height or distance, however, the figure maintains a reasonably consistent appearance so long as each view remains at the same angle above or below the figure (fig. 3).
Fig. 3. The standard viewing heights and minimum viewing distances. The eye symbols indicate not only the viewing height, but the recommended minimum viewing distance for that height, for a drawing of a standing figure.
The Viewing Distance
Viewing distance simply refers to the distance from which the figure is drawn, or the distance of an imaginary viewer from the figure. Of the three characteristics of any view, viewing distance is least critical in the StArt System. Though distance certainly causes changes in the apparent size of the figure and the amount of detail that can be seen, it has a lesser effect on edge and form relationships.
One factor that must be considered with regard to viewing distance, however, is the minimum viewing distance from which certain poses can be clearly seen. This distance varies depending on the viewing height, and has to do with how easily the entire figure can be taken in to a viewer’s field of vision. If the viewing distance is too close, parts of the figure that are farther away from the center of vision (typically, the lower legs and feet in most views) will appear as if viewed from above, and the proportions of the figure will be distorted.
In figure 3, the eye symbols indicate not only the viewing height, but the recommended minimum viewing distance for that height. For an eye-level view of a standing figure, for instance, the minimum distance is 14 feet, whereas for a waist-level view the minimum distance is only 10 feet. These distances are not hard and fast rules; they are merely recommendations which I’ve followed in rendering the StArt model drawings.
The topic of viewing distances is a complex one, and will require a separate discussion to fully explain. For our purposes in understanding the foundations of the StArt System, however, the description given here should suffice.
This has been a necessarily long post, and there’s still more to be said about the different views of the figure. I’ll wrap up this discussion in the next post, and talk about tying together the three characteristics of viewing angle, height, and distance. Join me again soon!
Viewing height and viewing angle were never things that I took into consideration when drawing the figure. Almost all of my experience drawing the figure was drawing from observation in a classroom setting, so this makes sense. The viewing height was briefly touched upon for things such as the eye level and how features of the face look different when not viewed from eye level, but nothing beyond that.
When drawing the figure from observation, especially in a classroom, these thing usually aren’t considered because viewing options are limited. It is rare that you might have the opportunity to draw someone from a bird’s eye view from observation, but with such a systematic approach an imagined drawing becomes possible. With this in consideration, I am excited at the possibilities that learning how to draw the imagined figure open up.
Emily…You aren’t alone when you say you haven’t considered issues such as viewing height or angle when drawing the figure. When we draw the figure from observation of a live model, we tend to think of the model as determining the viewing angle, since the model is regularly changing pose and direction but the students are stuck in one location. However, the direction the model faces is in direct relationship with the position of the viewer, and it is the relationship of these factors that determines how the model ultimately appears (along with the pose the model takes, of course). I think artists begin to think more about the characteristics of different views when they start drawing the figure from the imagination, which is one reason why such drawing is an important complement to drawing from observation.