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Foreshortening Tips & Tricks

How I used foreshortening tricks of the trade when designing a hand for an upcoming painting.


Dealing with foreshortened elements in a painting can be incredibly daunting. It's tricky to get a leg or an arm to read right in an unconventional pose, but here are some tricks you can use to translate confusing positions into readable, easy-to-draw shapes.


Tips for Dealing with Foreshortening

  • Simplify complex forms into easy-to-manipulate shapes, e.g. boxes or cylinders

  • Draw through

  • Draw what you see as well as what you know

  • Looking right always trumps being right

  • Avoid foreshortening whenever possible


In this video I walk through how I used these tips in a practical way in a preparatory drawing for an upcoming painting.



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