"Force" Method Critique

I've been figure drawing for about 4-5 months now and I'm beginning to be able to capture movement but my figures however still look and feel very stiff. I recently got Michael Matessi's book on the force method and it's helping but I find it quite difficult to put in to practice. These are my attempts using the method with on some 5 minute poses.

https://imgur.com/gallery/2VPq6RH

I was wondering what specific things I should work towards to make them more fluid. Thank you !!

• Benjeanty edited this post on April 12, 2020 8:06pm.
• Benjeanty edited this post on April 12, 2020 8:06pm. Reason: bad url
• Benjeanty edited this post on April 12, 2020 8:06pm. Reason: bad url

Those look nice! Something I think could help though is maybe try drawing a line of motion and figure out how the figure follows it. Even exercises like drawing a sinple line and then trying to figure out a pose that fits it can (in my experience) help figure out how a body can follow motion. Getting figures to feel like they have natural motion can be really hard, but I think you're along the right track!

Something else that might help is doing shorter timed drawings. The less time you have, the more you're forced to focus on the big shapes and general motion, which can be good for understanding flow.

• Eeveecat1248 edited this post on April 12, 2020 8:41pm.

Hi there! I've seen the three poses you use to practice, in a Nice job! A tip that hepls me a LOT with stiffness is to focus on the line of the SPINE. That line is very important to mark the lively movement they are making. And thinkig about how the pose is makign you feel is important too so you can understand completly the pose. GOOD LUCK!!

Well, I'm not quite familiar with the force method, but if it's a tool made the loosen up your figures then just keep at it! Your work looks very clean, so I can't tell if you're using line of action in your work and then erase it afterward. In any case, I find a line of action to be the n.o 1 method of keeping your work lively. And in general, maybe try a bit more of a messy look, if you don't focus too much on keeping everything squeaky clean then it's easier to let the figure flow more. I hope that makes sense! I think your work looks great so far!

it is a nice picture! If you are starting from drawing the gesture, I suggest you try to exaggerate the pose more when at the start of the drawing, and try to find the balance between the exaggeration and the structure. "When you broke the balance, you will see the border."