Drawing from the Manikin

Creating realistic representations of the human form in paintings or drawings has always been a challenge for new and intermediate artists. In order to increase your skills in this area, it’s necessary to practice drawing the human body over and over, until you get comfortable with its contours, lines, and shapes.

Unless you have a lot of friends willing to pose for you, or a lot of money to pay live models, you’re probably going to have trouble improving in this area. That’s why the creative minds behind On-Air Video produced this art instruction workshop about drawing from the manikin, a studio staple for artists for many years.

The manikin is a simple recreation of the human form, usually made from wood, which can be positioned in any way you want to facilitate the drawing or painting of a human body. One of the great things about using the manikin as a drawing tool is that it never needs a break, never has to move and scratch its nose, and never asks you to pay by the hour to get it to pose for you.

For beginning and intermediate artists that really want the chance to practice creating realistic human forms, this tool is an affordable alternative to live models, but you need to have some knowledge about how to use it correctly. The host of this drawing instruction DVD is Larry Withers, who provides a series of useful demonstrations on drawing the human form from several angles, and creating action poses using the manikin.

Students will get the chance to learn how to pose and render the manikin, and then how to transform their drawings by smoothing out the contours, adding muscle groups and landmarks to create a life-like figure drawing. As an added benefit, this art instruction video also includes a "Special Features" section where students can view numerous drawings and anatomical diagrams to aid in their artistic studies. Those who view the workshop on their computer can also download these illustrations as PDF files for later viewing.