FIGURE IN FORESHORTENING

Foreshortening: “to reduce or distort (parts of a represented object that are not parallel to
the picture plane) in order to convey the illusion of three-dimensional space as perceived
by the human eye: often done according to the rules of perspective”.
(www.dictionary.com)

WEEK 1: SKETCHBOOK WORK: To be uploaded by Monday 8th June on https://

drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1aRXXqHaTh7l6R5XPbiIeMdMFdhj5mq7M

Artists of reference pages: (double spread)

1. Gather and study at least three masterpieces in which foreshortening is used. The
following are a few suggestions:

• The Mourning over the Dead Christ by Andrea Mantegna

• Conversion on the Way to Damascus by Caravaggio

• The Cross of St. John by Salvador Dali

• Reflection with Two Children by Lucian Freud

• Various paintings by Jenny Saville

2. Annotate these works by describing how foreshortening is being used and if it is

accentuating a particular definition to the artwork.

3. Create a pastiche of a zoomed in detail of one of the artworks chosen.

Visual Research:

1. Study 3 figures and/or sections of a figure in detail on three different A5 pages keeping in
mind the basic design principles of perspective, construction lines, and volume.

2. Photograph a person at home in different poses highlighting foreshortening. Experiment with

various angles - consider taking photos from above or below or at an exaggerated angle that
zooms into a body part and keeps the rest in foreshortening.

3. Experiment with painting and drawing these photos with mixed media that can best portray
your foreshortened figure composition.

Some examples from other students…

WEEK 2: A2 WORK: To be uploaded by Monday, 15th June on https://drive.google.com/
drive/u/1/folders/1aRXXqHaTh7l6R5XPbiIeMdMFdhj5mq7M

Figure in Foreshortening in Mixed Media.

Ask someone to pose for you either sitting or reclining that accentuates foreshortening.
The surrounding space around the figure is as important, so plan ahead your
composition.

Start off with priming the paper (alla prima) to remove any inhibitions of a white paper.

Work towards creating an overall mood to the work by:

- playing with the light on your sitter,

- the colour scheme of the overall work and

- posture of the sitter.

The same policy applies to late submissions. No works will be accepted beyond 19th
June as we need to assign the third assessment grades by then.

Goodluck!