The Nude Figure and the Clothed Figure.

Michael Whynot. Study of mother and child. Red chalk.

Michael Whynot. Figure study. Red chalk.

Here are a couple of studies done this morning, one nude and one clothed. The drawing of nude figures, although beautiful in themselves, have also been used as preparation for clothed figures at least since the renaissance.

So much in drawing is about the understanding of form, and once the draftsman understands how the body is constructed, it then becomes a matter of wrapping the figure in clothing, just as an understanding of the skeletal system serves to ease the draftsman's ability to wrap the skeleton in muscles and flesh.