Tag Archives: figure drawing in Brugge

Figure Drawing Brugge, July 1, 2026 Carbond pencil on recycled toned paper 35 x 50 cm

Figure Drawing in Brugge, July 1, 2026

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Figure Drawing Brugge, July 1, 2026 Carbond pencil on recycled toned paper 35 x 50 cm
15 minute figure study Brugge, Belgium. July 1, 2026 Carbon pencil on recycled toned paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fantastic model tonight. Willing and interested to do and create interesting poses. He even brought some of his own props. Cool! Thus the drawings selected here reflect the ambitious nature of some of his twists and turns.

Figure Drawing Brugge, July 1, 2026 Carbond pencil on recycled toned paper 35 x 50 cm
15 minute figure study Brugge, Belgium. July 1, 2026 Carbon pencil on recycled toned paper 35 x 50 cm

The graphical schematics I have been learning @ Watts are visible in some of the drawings, too. The spotlighted image above is perhaps the best example of that. What I find so helpful is not only the linear gesture of the Reilly rhythms, but also the mapping of basic geometrical shapes to anatomical features. It helps me to orient. Perspective and placement on the page are a challenge- as ever. I’m told it will improve with time – and practice. Ha! Glad there will be a number of sessions available here this summer for that.

15 minute figure Drawing Brugge, July 1, 2026 Carbon pencil on recycled toned paper 35 x 50 cm
15 minute figure study Brugge, Belgium. July 1, 2026 Carbon pencil on recycled toned paper. 35 x 50 cm

The drawings posted here then are 15 minute studies. They are purely linear studies. It takes me all that time just to get a coherent design down. If and when I can speed up, shading (which I do love), can be added. But why add on the window dressings if you haven’t built the house right?

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Figure Drawing, Bruges, October 2, 2024

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Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Finally, the local artists consider the summer holidays over so that figure drawing sessions here can resume. Hooray!! Personally, I see no reason to stop during the summer but it appears I am in the minority on that one. 😉

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

So we began again. My friend Dominique was our model. At first I felt a little rusty, in the sense that I was too slow, so there were lots of good starts – for a pose that ended far too soon. As the evening wore on, the poses lengthened and I warmed up.

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Fifteen minute figure study. Charcoal pencil on toned recycling paper. 35 x 50 cm

Here then are three keepers. My favorite is the spotlighted one above (available only in the online view). I like it because I feel that with this one especially I was able to get inside her pose and describe it from the inside-out. Yummy. The anatomy I have been learning this past year truly kicked in. It helped me to locate the important structures, to provide emphasis to the dynamic thrusts of her gesture: leaning against the wall with a protruding abdomen.

And I realized later that the importance of the intellect in figure drawing truly is outside the session. There you do your homework – so that in the moment, with the figure, you can truly let go – yet in an informed way. That’s craft. And in many ways all that (craft) has nothing to do with your ability to feel. We all feel, some perhaps more intensively than others, but when craft and feeling come together, yum, IMO that’s when the magic happens – and also effective aesthetic communication.