What is the correct drawing position?

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

Answers from Vladimir London,
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.

What is the correct drawing position

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.

how to hold a pencil

how to hold a pencil

How can I improve my rendering

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.

What is the correct drawing position

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

To learn how to draw skillfully,

Enroll in the Drawing Academy Course:
Three Monthly Installments
Pay for the course in 3 easy installments
  • Receive 15 new videos monthly (45 in total)
  • Incredible discount – $4,164
  • Bonuses - Fine Art eBooks and Videos
  • Drawing Academy Diploma of Excellence after course completion in 3 months
  • Personal coaching by Drawing Academy Tutors
  • Lifetime membership. Free after the 3rd month
Total cost: $291 USD (3 x $97)

Add to Cart

Complete Course - BEST VALUE
Get all video lessons for a one-time payment
  • Immediate access to all 45 video lessons
  • Incredible discount – $4,198
  • Bonuses - Fine Art eBooks and Videos
  • Drawing Academy Diploma of Excellence after course completion in 3 months
  • Personal coaching by Drawing Academy Tutors
  • Lifetime membership. No more payments
Total cost - Only $257 USD

Add to Cart

Categorized: Ask Tutors Questions

This Post Has 1 Comment

  1. Andreas says:

    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

Leave A Reply