Foreshortening is one of those things we artists are often
burdened with. In order to keep our
drawing fresh and dynamic we often have to rely on the use of severe
perspective. To make that effective we
have to understand what is happening when we view something, especially a human
form flat on. Eyeballing just doesn’t
work. Your mind is conditioned to see the
whole form and not the severe shapes they are made of. You have to measure and measure again. The relationships of the sizes are just too
off of the norm of proportions to just think you KNOW how it should look.
I found this exercise fun and
interesting. I have as a rule, avoided severe angles for the very reason
that they cause foreshortening, instead of embracing them and trying to draw
what I "see". I'm happy to be covering this again. I've
been looking forward to it.
When I did the 100 days of hands I
found that I was often faced with hands that are foreshortened as well. The fingers facing toward the viewer or
away. Knowing that the normal
proportions don’t apply is the key.
Measure, measure, measure.
Severe perspective can give your
drawings and illustrations visual interest that you can't achieve with standard
straight-on imagery. It's important to know how to achieve this in a believable
way. Try it for yourself and see if you
like the process.
In my drawing of my husband his head is closer to me and his
feet are much farther away causing them to much smaller than normal. The same with the hand (#21 & #24). Because the fingers are bent we can see more
of them but the palm is nearly flat on to the viewer and therefore, very little
of it can be seen, even though we know the palm measure larger in area than the
fingers.
The feet too can be subject to foreshortening. In these, #7, #22 and #23 one foot faces side
view but the other is pointed directly at the viewer causing foreshortening.
Give it a try for yourself.
What have you to loose?
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