There are two moments in my adult life that changed how I draw and made me a better artist. The first was listening to an interview with comic book legend Jim Lee on Kevin Smith’s podcast Fatman on Batman. Mr. Lee talked about finishing school then drawing every single day like he had a job in comics (before he actually did) with tight deadlines. The purpose was to develop muscle memory so that even if he was having an “off day,” it wouldn’t impede his work. I had never thought of drawing in that context before and set out to do the same.
The Kubert School in Dover, NJ
The next thing was a progressive journey that ultimately lead to figure drawing. Long story short, I wanted to enroll in the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. At the time, my dad felt a smarter decision was to apply my talents to graphic design—a decision that ultimately proved to be the right one—but one that I continued to question for years after I graduated. Eventually, I stopped internally blaming my parents for not letting me attend a comic book school and just decided to go on my own. The punchline to this quick aside is that the school I went to catastrophically crashed and burned and shut down while the newly renamed Kubert School still stands proudly.
It was here that I met the accomplished Mike Barreiro, an extraordinary artist and my instructor for Life Drawing 101. Mike is a student from both the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and the aforementioned Kubert School where he would eventually end up teaching for five years. Mike has worked for DC, DC Vertigo, Marvel, Dark Horse, Defiant, and TecknoComix as well as an extensive freelance career in the Pittsburgh area. However, before I get to him in more detail, I want to sing my own personal praises about the lessons he taught me.
Some of Mike’s tremendous work including Sophia Loren, Tom Horn & Geronimo, and Endelyn Moongrave.
At multiple points in an artists life, they will create something that marks a step up in their personal journey into the craft. They may even feel that point hits their apex of ability (and years later they will often marvel at their ignorance towards that moment). Figure drawing (or Life Drawing as it’s also sometimes called) brought my own artistic abilities to a level I didn’t think was possible. It forces a creative person to be practical and a pragmatist to be open to a literal different perspective. To some, the idea of drawing a nude model for hours sounds taboo. I love teasing my mother all the time about this too.
Me and my mom, my biggest cheerleader.
But as I’ve done in the past, I wanted to be a lot more diplomatic about this and get some other artists perspectives on this as well. The main voice of course being an actual instructor, and my former teacher, Mike. I asked Mike what most modern day people might wonder, “Why take a figure drawing class when I can just Google ‘models posing’?” Mike responded;
Photos have a tendency to flatten an image. When you're drawing people it's important to emphasize the curvature of a figure. The second thing is you’re at the mercy of the photographer. If it's lighted poorly or out of focus you have to compensate for that in the drawing. Having a live model that you can pose and light the way you want to makes a huge difference in the quality of the finished drawing.
Thirsty Thursday, Cat Woman, and A Day at the Beach by Mike Barreiro
My own personal taste for a model over a photo is also the ability to move my easel and draw from a completely different angle. Few artists like having to do foreshortening, but it’s a great skill to learn. With figure drawing, you also want to draw different models and different poses. Sure, a beach–bodied super model seems ideal, but beauty doesn’t make a perfect model. So what does? Mike explains;
A good professional model will be able to hold a difficult pose for a short amount of time, can be very helpful by suggesting poses, and will let you know when they need to take a break. Dynamic posing is a very difficult job. Being in good condition is important.
Anca, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and Attitude by Mike Barreiro
Holding still is a super power in my opinion when it comes to having a good model. Again though, a “good” model doesn’t necessarily mean a chiselled god or goddess. As I continued to take classes, I began to crave variety. Not every model is going to appear in a high–end advertisement, but is there a benefit to drawing those different body types? Mike goes on to say;
Sure, it really depends on what you're using the drawing for. I'm usually looking for the unusual, something that's difficult to do out of your head, but all drawing is beneficial. Many illustrations have attractive people in them. If you're doing a slice of life illo (illustration) then different body shapes are important.
Pink Floyd, Marie Devereaux, and Yaphet Kotto by Mike Barreiro
Now here’s where art verses artist can really get combative. In a very condensed nutshell, my first artistic influence was Garfield by Jim Davis, and so all of my portraits resembled the bastard offspring of Jon Arbuckle and then in 2013, I was confronted with drawing actual human beings as they appeared directly in front of me. Drawing what you see as opposed to how your personal style interprets the subject. I initially found that daunting. That got me thinking about artists with very unique styles and their approach to figure drawing. That’s when I turned to C.W. Roederer—an exceptionally talented illustrator and designer—who also found figure drawing to bring a whole new level of ability to his craft. I asked him if it’s a struggle to move beyond his stylistic ways to draw more realistically? He replies,
I still struggle a lot with “this just looks like Muppets” or “this is just what every illustrator does” (specifically the whole “normally-drawn human but they have Peanuts eyes” thing). One of the best pieces of advice I got from my figure drawing instructor was NOT to just copy exactly what I see, but rather, take what I learned in that class, and mesh it with the more caricature/cartoon background I come from. I’d say good illustrative style comes from just looking at life and reshaping it with your own mental geometry.
Mike and C.W. both provide great insights into their respective approaches, but what about someone who’s never taken a traditional figure drawing class? That’s when I turned to my friend Maria Chamra. Maria is an incredible self–trained artist who teaches “Paint & Sip” classes, has had her work featured in several galleries including the Pollak Theater at Monmouth University, and has done tons of unique freelance around Jersey. I had done an alternative drawing event with Maria in the form of Dr. Sketchy’s in Asbury Park back in 2019. It was an unconventional approach to gesture drawing, but it was a total blast. I had been bugging Maria to take a figure drawing class with me ever since and finally convinced her just last week to come along to the duCret School of Art. She talks about her experience;
I loved how different it was from my previous figure drawing classes. Professional and almost relaxing. Everyone was in their own little world. It was wonderful to put some time aside to refine my skills, focus on shapes, and becoming quicker and sharper at laying down the subject. I struggle with getting caught up in details. I made a point to use the quick one minute poses as an exercise to throw all the shapes down first and then go back in and refine the details. I felt more comfortable as the session went on.
So there you have it, high praise and an all around consensus that figure drawing is a game changer when it comes to “upping your game.” Nothing more needs to be said about… oh, right; the elephant in the room.
Some of my own charcoal drawings from various figure drawing classes over the years.
Figure Drawing studio at duCret
Okay, so let’s talk about being in a room with other artists all keenly studying a naked person. I admit, while the first time had a brief moment of surprise, that all goes out the window practically instantly. You take on the perspective of how I assume doctors examine their patients. You become aware of structure, lighting, weight displacement, and—from a religious standpoint—the beauty of the human body. I don’t mean in a fit or attractive way, but just the extraordinary appearance of all humans, how we’re put together and how those bodies interact with the space around them. Of course, if you’ve never taken a figure drawing course, it’s the most asked question you get. Maria puts it this way;
I have done Dr. Sketchy and figure drawing in the past but never with a nude model. I felt I was going to be a bit shy and apprehensive when it came to it, but it was more of a focus on how muscles work and the anatomy of the human body. I found it challenging in a positive way!
Maria and I at Dr. Sketchy’s in Asbury Park, 2019
C.W. speaks to the warm–up exercises of quick poses that forces an artist to push past any unfamiliarity.
The first model I ever drew was a girl, and that was the first time I ever saw a topless girl in the same space as me, so I definitely felt a little flush at the start of it. But figure drawing, if you’re serious about it, really doesn’t leave a lot of room for that outside of first impressions like that. With the mix of artistic math zooming through your head and the adrenaline of just two minutes for a presentable drawing, you don’t really pay attention to the person anymore.
Mike, who’s done and seen it all when it comes to nude models, puts it succinctly;
To each their own. It's not for everyone. Artists throughout time appreciate the human form. It's a stroke of creative genius. What better way to appreciate the divine on Earth?
If you are an artist/illustrator of any kind; regardless of ability, style, or experience and you haven’t taken a figure drawing class, do it! When I was a kid, someone in my family who was eager to encourage my artistic inclinations bought me a copy of Jack Hamm’s Drawing The Head & Figure of which I still have today. This book was very helpful when it came to learning how to draw anatomy even if it was in the crude form of a Garfield comic strip. Looking through it though, I never believed even for a second that I could draw like Mr. Hamm (and most might argue I still can’t). It took an actual figure drawing class to break that stigma and push me in ways I never even thought possible! In the words of Mike Barreiro himself,
Get up and move around. A new perspective can be helpful.
A huge thank you to my former teacher Mike Barreiro for taking the time to answer all my questions. This post not only gave me a chance to talk about something I love, but gave me an excuse to chat him up again outside of constantly fawning over his work in the comments. Speaking of which, you should totally do the same and follow him on Instagram and Facebook and check out his website: mikebarreiroart.com
“To the best student, Dave.” my signed copy of Kamandi Mike inked that he signed for me!
Special thanks to C.W. Roederer for his time and thoughts, you have not heard from him for the last time on this blog, I can assure you! Follow him on Instagram and check out more of his work on his website: cwroederer.com
Thank you SO much to Maria Chamra for not only contributing to this post but for letting me drag her all the way up to Plainfield, New Jersey to be my accountable art buddy yet again. Absolutely go follow her on Instagram and Facebook and check out her work at her website: mariachamra.com
Junk Drawer Comics by Jay Fosgitt who will be talking about writing comics here next week!