What is the correct drawing position?
Question from Andreas, Drawing Academy student
Hi Vladimir and Natalie!
My name is Andreas and I live in Sweden. I have been drawing and painting all my life, but for the last year I have been thinking about becoming an artist full time and since I found your site I think I can fulfill my desire. Thank you so very much!:)
Anyway, my question concerns the position I should draw in. I have both an upright easel and a drawing table at home that I can choose any angle I want to work in. For most of the time I draw sitting on a chair in front of the table and it works well, but then I saw in the video of “how to hold the pencil” that standing is the best position.
I have now been trying this for a few days and I can see the benefits of it. I also want to get the right habits since this is what I’m planning to do for the rest of my life, but I have the problem that my shoulder starts to hurt after standing drawing for a while and I have to stop. My question is, should I get back to the drawing table?
Thank you, in advance! / Andreas
Drawing Academy Tutor
Hi Andreas,
Many thanks for your question.
Both positions – sitting and standing can be used for drawing. It depends on the scale of an artwork and medium of your choice.
if you draw from life or do a bigger scale drawing where you need to measure and compare angles and proportions in pencil, then upright easel with a “candle” pencil grip will give you more freedom.
You can also sit in front of the vertically-positioned drawing easel.
However, if you do a small-scale drawing, then sitting position with a tilted board (20…45 degrees) will be good in combination with a “writing” pencil grip.
Also, talking of mediums, drawing in graphite pencil can be done in vertical and horizontal positions, while painting in watercolor, for example, requires 15 to 20 degree tilt of the easel.
Regarding the shoulder pain, most likely it is due to muscles not used to such positions. With practice, your upper arm muscles will get used to holding a lifted arm for longer periods of time.
I started drawing in front of a standing easel from the age of 9 and never had such experience. I guess, there’s nothing to worry about unless you have some unrelated problems with a shoulder joint; however, I will not go medical here. : )
Best regards,
Vladimir
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Hi Vladimir! Thanks for such a fast answer. I will try to continue drawing standing because I think you are right about my shoulder pain, this is just new to me:) Thanks for a great website!!/ Andreas