Enlarging a Seated Figure for a 90 cm Relief Panel
An examinee has made a 4B pencil study of a seated woman on A4 paper (210 × 297 mm). The figure measures 24 cm from head to heel and the head is 3 cm high. The brief requires a clay relief panel 90 cm high × 60 cm wide, with the figure occupying about 80% of the panel height and positioned slightly off-centre. The student plans to enlarge the sketch by the grid method, using 2 cm squares, and has already ruled the panel into 5 cm squares. A teacher points out that the enlargement will make the head 7.5 cm, which is too large for the intended figure height, and that the foreshortened forearm has been drawn as if seen from the side. The sketch is smudged where the hand rested. The deadline for the blocked-in relief is in two days. Explain how you would diagnose and correct the scale, the drawing errors, and the transfer, without photocopying the sketch.
1. Check the scale arithmetic and specify a grid that makes the figure about 80% of the 90 cm panel. Show your working.
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80% of 90 cm = 72 cm. The sketch figure is 24 cm, so the required enlargement factor is 72 ÷ 24 = 3.0. A 3 cm head therefore becomes 9 cm, and the head-to-body ratio stays 1:8. The student's 5 cm grid against 2 cm squares is a factor of 2.5, giving a 60 cm figure and a 7.5 cm head. That is internally consistent: 7.5/60 is still 1:8. So the teacher's statement that the head is 'too large' is misleading; the figure as a whole is too small for the brief. To meet the brief, use 6 cm squares on the panel for every 2 cm square on the sketch (factor 3), or rule a 3 cm grid on the sketch and 9 cm on the panel. I would mark the panel's centre line and the 80% height line first, then place the figure so that the head top and heel fall on those lines.
2. How would you correct the foreshortened forearm and the smudged drawing without losing the pose?
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The forearm is wrong because the student drew the outline as a side view instead of constructing the cylinder pointing towards the viewer. I would block in the upper arm and forearm as two tapered cylinders, mark the elbow and wrist joints, and check the apparent length against head units: in a seated pose the foreshortened forearm may be only about one head-length on paper. I would sight the angle of the forearm against a vertical plumb line and use a mirror to check the ellipse of the wrist. For the smudge, do not try to erase heavily on the original; a kneaded eraser only lifts some graphite and burnishes the paper. Instead, make a clean 1:1 line drawing at final scale on a fresh sheet or directly on the panel, using the sketch only as a reference. Work from the top left with a bridge hand or a sheet of clean paper under the hand.
3. Plan the transfer and the off-centre placement so that the relief reads well in clay.
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Lightly rule the grid in charcoal or a 2H pencil, not graphite that will smear into the clay. Transfer only landmarks first - head top, chin, shoulder, elbow, wrist, knee, heel, and the seat line - then connect them. Check the whole figure by measuring diagonals from the panel corners and by stepping back three metres. For an off-centre placement, put the figure's weight on the left third and let the gaze or the knee lead into the larger empty space on the right; that empty space is active negative space, not leftover. Leave at least 6-8 cm margin on the tight side so the figure is not crowded by the frame. Build the clay in shallow layers, keeping the highest point of the relief under about 6-8 cm, and check the profile from the side. Do not press the graphite sketch into the clay, because graphite can contaminate the surface and show through the finish.