Two rears and a frontal view

Generally speaking I think it’s easier to draw rear views of a model than frontal views. This is because a rear view seldom shows any hands or feet and there are no facial details. This is why the 20 minutes sketch of the male model below is reasonably finished in the time of 20 minutes. The only extra work involved in a nude rear male is the detail required in the back muscles.

Rear standing male model. Sanguine crayon

Whereas there is hardly any foreshortening in the male model sketch above, in the nude female rear sketch below there is considerable foreshortening which added some difficulty, hence I took 30 minutes to complete it. I knew I would be using mainly sanguine pastel so I put a suitable coloured watercolour wash on my cartridge paper beforehand to tone in.

Rear of nude female reclining on a bed. Sanguine and brown pastels

The next drawing is also in pastel. I used this model quite a lot and as she was a blonde I seated her on a red support as a contrast to her light coloured skin and hair. I decided against introducing a dark background at the top as this would have clashed with the dark folds of the cloth and would have given the whole drawing a top heavy appearance.

Nude blonde seated on red support. Pastel on grey pastel paper.

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Tags: blonde front view, blonde on red support, rear female nude, rear male nude, reclining female nude, standing male nude