Are Figures a Weak Spot in Your Urban Sketching?

Figures can present a challenge when drawing streetscapes. Intuitively we know exactly when a figure looks unlikely or even impossible. This is not the attention we want anywhere on our drawing. This video demos a simple technique for drawing credible and even interesting figures easily in our streetscape. The most practical tip is the very last one, so don't miss it!
#drawingvideo #howtodraw #stephentraversart #drawingtips #drawing #artvideo #artist #artist

[@HughCulver]

A simple lesson for me - keep the heads at the same height, vary the line the feet are at. Thanks for that!

[@stephentraversart]

Happy to help!😀

[@kenschwartz2035]

I avoid figures at all cost at this point, but I know I’ll eventually have to take the plunge. They do add so much to the drawing. Thank you again!

[@stephentraversart]

Start with drawing just figures on scrap paper. Each one is less than a minute so you can improve quickly. 😀

[@JEBavido]

At the end you mentioned not drawing in clothing details until you saw what needed to be fixed or adjusted in the figure. I find it also helps to hatch figures in darker clothing where they aid in balancing my composition or aid in drawing the observer’s eye where I want it to go. Thanks for this helpful video!

[@stephentraversart]

Another good point. Thanks for sharing 😀

[@salsal3235]

Thank you for this video as i always struggle drawing figures in streetscapes 🖤

[@stephentraversart]

Hope it’s helpful then 😀

[@staywithme7861]

Thank you I really needed this. I do a lot of figure drawing but crowd shots always stumped me. I'm very used to doing gestures but this helped me figure out what type of short hand I need to use.

[@Milton1079]

Very helpful, Stephen. Thank you. Given how much figures add, is it sometimes worth inserting them even where they don't appear in the reference? I suppose one challenge with doing this would be that you wouldn't have the accuracy of scale automatically present when they're already in the photo.

[@stephentraversart]

Hopefully you could line it up using the architectural details on the same plane. 😀

[@Steviepinhead]

As with clouds, not a common subject or in the "wheelhouse" of your primary interests, but yet a subject on which you have valuable observations to get across to the fledgling artist.

[@stephentraversart]

Thanks Stevie. Certainly a useful skill to develop 😀