Wooden Art Mannequins Figurines for Sketching and Drawing the Human Form

Reeves art mannequins

Reeves 12 inch Manikin Unvarnished

Reeves 16 inch Manikin Unvarnished

Inexpensive artists tools

Art mannequins are inexpensive artistic devices made in wood or plastic - used by artists to create poses for sketching, illustration, and more sophisticated pieces of art such as marble statues. Mannequins depict a snapshot of a pose or a motion of a person at a point in time.

Difficult to draw

The human figure or human form is one of the most difficult and important things an artist must learn to draw – taking many years to perfect and master. Ultimately the artist must be able to draw the human figure without having to reference a physical mannequin.

Drawing people is a skill

Once an artist understands what poses are possible he or she can draw people in their daily lives easier and art becomes more enjoyable. An appreciation for the difficulty of drawing the human form can only really be gained by picking up a pencil and paper and drawing people in their daily activities. The multitude of poses and stances people can take is unlimited. The skill and talent required to draw people is appreciated by all artists.

The Brain

The visual processing centres in the brain have an innate ability to detect human shapes and can easily spot flaws in poses and positioning of limbs within a painting. Our hunter instincts and survival abilities allow us to see human shapes hidden in amongst complex scenery.

Body Language

It takes an artist many years of practise to perfect their human drawing ability. Face, hands and feet are the most difficult to draw. People express themselves through body-language through their face, hands, and surprisingly even their feet. Posturing is taught to ballerinas and dancers to help them understand how to express themselves to their audiences through different parts of their bodies. One consideration of dance and ballet is that these are ways for us to express ourselves artistically through body positioning.

Easy to represent

The limbs, head, and torso are generally easy to represent as there are fewer joints and a lower range of motion associated with these parts of the body. It is interesting that we can sense when the position of an arm or even a finger has been drawn only slightly incorrectly. As people grow older their range of motion is reduced. Old people have less flexibility in their joints than young people, whereas babies are free to virtually position their limbs in any position.

Hands

Special hand mannequins can be used to visualize the position of fingers once the basic shapes have been achieved. Drawing hands is one of the most important skills an artist must learn.

Muscle Systems

Animators study the human skeleton and muscle system to allow them to draw human-like creatures in their keyframes. They design skeletons and imagine how skin and sinew might look placed over this framework. Cartoon characters are designed by first considering what the skeleton might look like. A rough skeleton showing the bones of the head, body, arms and legs is sketched by the cartoonist and a body is placed over the bones to help imagine what kind of different poses the character might take.

Practise Sketching

Books on human balance and posing and art classes can help the artist perfect their drawing ability. Photography magazines and books on the human skeletal system are useful for beginners. It is recommended you study these types of books, but the most important thing you can do is practise drawing in a sketch book. Sit on a bench and draw people as they walk-by.

Take photos

Getting balance right is difficult. Use a camera to take photos of active people. Then study the balance of the human body. Use an art mannequin to create different poses based on photographs. Make small alterations in these poses to see what different positions look realistic. Proficiency is only gained through practise.

Software

More sophisticated mannequins are used by 3D software to directly drive the joints of a 3D model within rendering software ( 3D Studio MAX , Blender). Joint actuators drive the position of virtual-joints in the 3D model within the software.

Poser 5.0 for Windows

e-Frontier Poser 8 (for PC/Mac) Also see Poser software

e-Frontier Poser Figure Artist 1 (Full Version) (PC/Mac)

Stick figures

Smaller mannequins or stick figures are also used by stage designers and choreographers to design theatrical plays – to visualize the position of actors and actresses on a small model of the stage.

Animation

Animation is the study of movement and an animator learns human-form and human-movement by sketching people in their daily lives. Talented animators use a variety of mediums including computer animation software (Flash, Flame, Character studio) and pencil and paper to design the characters we see in cartoons and movies. Rough draft story boards depicting characters within scenes are drawn by chief animators to describe to their animation teams what work will be done.

Animatronics

Mannequins with built-in electronics – for example – remotely controlled limbs and facial features. Sophisticated servo-motors and remote controls used puppeteers move the limbs of the mannequins to create the illusion that the creature is alive. This is the field of animatronics – the modern day equivalent of puppetry.

Child mannequins

There are different types of mannequins including: child mannequins, female and male mannequins. Artists also use animal "mannequins" – although strictly speaking the word mannequin should only be used for the human form.

The End

Whether you are a professional artist or just keen to learn to draw – mannequins are important tools to help you learn to draw people.

Other drawing equipment

Ciao Art Table, adjustable height & angle with A1 board

Top of the range: WACOM Cintiq 21UX Graphics Tablet + USB 2.0 7-port Hub Graphic tablet Peripheral COMPUTING bundle combo. Also see this less expensive entry level Wacom Pen

External Links

• Horse and Human mannequins for drawing - from Lawrence Art Materials - established 1859, based in Hove, UK
• 12 inch art mannequin - from MisterArt.com
• 3D Max Mannequin Models
• Tutorial: Turning a mannequin into a sketched person
• Stick figure video
• Learn to draw using Photoshop
• Wikis and Meanings: Posable

Related Links