Life Drawing Tutorials

The Blind Contour Demonstration by Harold B. Stone

The Blind Contour Exercise

A six-minute video demonstration of the time-honored and still very helpful blind contour exercise.

Looking at Blind Contour Drawings, by Harold B. Stone

Looking at Blind Contour Drawings

The semiblind exercise is a technique of using the blind contour exercise to produce presentable drawings. Practicing it will help you bring your line to life, develop n eight-minute video in which the instructor discusses the blind contour drawings the students have made.

The Semiblind Contour Exercise, by Harold B. Stone

The Semiblind Contour Exercise

Semiblind contour drawing is a method of using the blind contour exercise to create a presentable drawing. This nine-minute video demonstrates the exercise and shows students practicing it.

Introduction to Using Value in Life Drawing, by Harold B. Stone

The Three-Value Exercise

An eleven-minute video demonstration of three-value drawing, with a running commentary. The three-value exercise is a simplified form of value drawing, in which the picture is reduced to areas of black, gray and white.

Gesture Drawing With a Sumi Brush, by Harold B. Stone

Gesture Drawing With a Sumi Brush

A gesture drawing is a quick rendering of the balance and implied movement of the model's pose. Gesture drawings can be created using a variety of drawing media, but a sumi brush is a particularly useful tool for learning how to do it. This fourteen-minute video demonstrates how to create a set of gesture drawings using a sumi brush, and shows students practicing the exercise.

Introduction to the Figure-Ground Relationship, by Harold B. Stone

Introduction to the Figure-Ground Relationship

In life drawing, the figure-ground relationship is the set of techniques used to integrate the figure into the picture plane. This five-minute video demonstrates how to use contrast reversal and negative space to create a dialogue between the figure and its adjacent forms.