Piotr as two figures in a composition •1

Piotr’s brief was to pose as two separate figures in an interactive situation. The artists’ brief was to combine the figures in a composition. This can be quite a challenge because you can only see the figures sequentially: as you are drawing the first pose you can only anticipate the second.

But I think awareness of what might surround a figure is a very useful imaginative skill to nurture.

However, since things can get complicated when it comes to combining figures, it is often better to draw the figures individually first, then redraw in combination.

Kathy’s single figure drawing (top) is actually a very satisfactory composition in its own right. She then redrew it, smaller and cropped, alongside the second figure.

The idea is that both figures are intently looking at something some distance away. I think the relative scale works to imply distance, but the positioning needs adjusting: something like this (below):

This shows the enormous value of the overlap when you are trying to create depth in a composition.

Something else that creates depth is the implication of changing planes: a simple horizontal division in the background does this. Like this, perhaps? (below) Adding background really enhances a composition, turning it into a scene rather than a couple of figure drawings.

Esther (below) conceived the two figures without needing to reposition, helping the process by drawing something (a moon?) to be focal point for both figures. Very good idea, I thought.

Sitting on the other side of the room, I had to draw the background figure first So I had to make sure I left loads of room for the second figure. (Below)