Drawing Demo: Butler With Flowers-Heinrich Kley

Demonstration of a system to rotate a pose in a reference image. Try it out on your own reference poses!

Figure 1: The reference used for this demonstration: an illustration by Heinrich Kley.

Figure 2: The ‘landmarks”: notice the relative alignment of the elbows, hands, et cetera. These will have to be observed for the final result to be believable.

You should do each of the steps below multiple times as quick sketches in your sketchbook until you feel you can sketch them confidently.

Figure 3: Repeatedly Draw the outline and the internal shapes. The outline and shapes studies will help you get a grasp of the proportions of the parts of the figure and the relative orientations of the elements it is constructed from.

Figure 4: Do form studies to understand the underlying form. They will help you construct the figure more accurately later.

Draw these repeatedly until you have a feel for the proportions and can do it from memory. This will help you place the forms more accurately.

Figure 5a: Draw a stick figure of the pose. This is the essence of the pose. You can get the relative proportions right, and also some of the landmarks as discovered in figure 2.

Figures 5b-d: Now you can try to rotate the stick figure so that you can rotate the figure later. If you're unsure, take on the pose yourself, and look at yourself in the mirror.

It is important to note that this isn’t about getting it ‘right’. There is information that is missing in the initial illustration, and it is your task to imagine it, to come up with something that is believable and pleasing to look at.

Figure 6a-d: Do a line drawing of the figure. Draw the underlying form if necessary to get it right.

Figure 7a-d: Try rendering. You don't have to follow the reference, you can make it your own.