[Digisaur]

That last image reminded me of an exercise I did in a figure drawing class. I posted it in hopes that it might help someone preparing for the various tutorials coming up.

When learning to draw the figure using basic forms, I found it extremely helpful to force yourself to use only one primitive shape per drawing. Draw someone using all triangles, squares, straight lines, simple curves, circles, etc. I posted one I did using only simple curves. Curves and circles are easiest, so you could start with that then try some more difficult shapes. It's really helpful, and makes for some bizarre images to boot ;-)
This model sat still of course, but it works for quick sketches in public as well. After you have done them separately it's not so hard to combine those shapes to make a face, hand, or body.
Once you get the hang of it your world will be tainted forever. All your friends will start looking like geometry, and you'll cut off your ear.
Hope that was helpful.

[freddy flicks stones]

There is actually a technique to doing such a practice, but not going to too many shape extremes. Sometimes large figurative rythyms lend themselves to obscure shapes, such as pyramidal, or triangular, but the exercises I was exposed to used either all box forms or all cylindrical or oblong spherical with semi capped ends, not rounded. The figure is 3 dimensional. Looking solely for squares or circles flattens your image, unless, again your looking for big figurative rythyms, or the whole pose on a page, or big parts of the whole pose. Otherwise you should try this exercise in three dimensions. I.E. squares, rectangles: or cylinders, and oblong sphers flattened at the ends.