Figural Drawings

Figural drawing includes any composition created with traditional drawing media featuring recognizable figures. This type of art corresponds to the oldest mode of artistic expression, hearkening back to the depiction of humans, flora, and fauna rendered on the walls of caves.

Figural drawing may best be understood as the antithesis of abstract drawing. While abstract drawing seeks to represent interior, cosmic, or ethereal realities through forms that often bear no resemblance to anything tangible, figural drawing features recognizable images.

Notable figural drawings from famous artists are often highly competitive at auction. As an art form, figural drawing continues to flourish today with artists such as Mark Tansey and Elizabeth Peyton reinventing this timeless tradition within the context of contemporary art.

Quick Facts

• The caves of Lascaux are one of the earliest examples of figural drawing. These drawings etched on caves in the Dordogne region include more than 900 images of humans, cattle, and other animal life from this period
• A figural drawing relates to any work that centers around the human body whether clothed or nude
• The tradition of drawing the human body appears as a predominant aspect of virtually every culture’s artistic legacy. Many of the most famous works of art, such as "Venus of Orbino" by Titian, depict the nude female body