I've been thinking about this for awhile now and one of the things I want to do in life is to help young artists grow. To appreciate the tools, both cheap and expensive...........traditional (mostly what I work with) and digital (which I'm not great with, but I can try). So, I've been putting together some things to explain tools I use and encourage people to ask me about them (in comments or whatever). I'll have some generic overviews and examples.........because I want to help people who love art, use the tools to find ways to do what they love.

So, part one: The use of a pose figure.

On the left is the pose figure I am using and on the right is the drawing I made from it. There are many, many ways to go about using a pose figure--in the digital realm now, you can now use digital figure models for your digital artwork. I admit I don't have familiarity with those, but I imagine you can do some of the same things you can with a traditional pose figure.

Pose figures come in many, many varieties and with many varieties of pricing. Digital model use may or may not come with a drawing program you purchase, or you may be able to purchase a packet/add-on that allows you to use models for posing in your digital artwork. You can get a cheap wooden doll at an art or hobby store for a starting price less than $10 (cost depends on the size you buy). The type of pose figure I have chosen to invest in comes from Bandai and their S.H.FiguARTS line--which has become a high standard for collectible figures. They have created these blanks, as pose figures for artists to use--they have a male and a female figure that often comes with multiple hands and accessories to pose with. The joints are highly articulated and can give you many poses beyond what a standard wooden doll does. The prices can vary from $40-60 per figure, depending on the package you get them in (and how many extras and accessories they can come with. They come in 3 colors (though at the time I purchased mine, only black was available), black, tan and grey.

Interestingly, these figures encourage you to trace the figures' poses you create and enhance them by taking a photo and inserting it into your digital drawing program--which I believe is a thing you can do with a digital model. But if you don't have digital capabilities or so forth, you can achieve the same effect by taking a photo and making a printout of the picture and tracing over it (with tracing paper or a lightbox).

But in a pinch for any kind of pose drawing--you can always use what you have at home--got some stuffed animals, anime figures or stuff like that..........which you can move limbs a little on them? Yep, you can use those to help you get started, too.

Having tools and learning to use them is a great way to boost your skills and career as an artist--they can even inspire you when your imagination may have stalled out! :D So, feel free to ask me questions about this idea or pose figures.

Pose figure from Bandai. Art by me. :)