Figure study

Article summary

c. 1500–1501 by Michelangelo. It is Michelangelo's only study drawn from a nude female model. It also may be the earliest extant European drawing of a nude female model. A figure study is a drawing or painting of the human body made in preparation for a more composed or finished work; or to learn drawing and painting techniques in general and the human figure in particular. By preference, figure studies are done from a live model, but may also include the use of other references and the imagination of the artist. The live model may be clothed, or nude, but is usually nude for student work in order to learn human anatomy, or by professionals who establish the underlying anatomy before adding clothing in the final work. A related term in sculpture is a maquette, a small scale model or rough draft of a proposed work. Drawings may also be preparatory for sculptural work. Preparatory studies may be compositional, representing the entire proposed work, or may only be of certain details, such as hands and feet. Studies may be sketches completed in a relatively short length of time, or very detailed depending upon the artist's preferred methods. Drawings may concentrate on shapes and form, while studies in painting media are about color and lighting.…

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