Gesture Drawings

This image is representative of how I was drawing towards the beginning of the semester. I noticed that I had tried to capture some foreshortening in the left leg and arm as well as the right knee. I showed the distance by making the lines closer to me heavier and the lines further away lighter. In this image I can see how knowing the muscles would have made an extreme difference.

In this sketch I feel as if I accurately portrays my attempts to identify the ribcage and pelvic bone. The more I look back at the drawings I have made throughout the semester I realize how important knowing the muscles truly is. As I have noted in almost all of my sketches, knowing the thigh and leg muscle locations and what they look like would have helped to make the legs appear more rounded. I also noticed how knowing the shape of the rib cage has helped me to understand the shape of the upper body. I now feel as if I need to work on the muscles as well as capturing the feeling of a functional ribcage. 

This drawing was set up for us to work on foreshortening. Every time I look at this drawing I feel as if it was very successful for 30 minutes. However, the legs completely drive me insane with how extremely unproportionate they are to the rest of the body. I do enjoy the upper portrayal of the body. I particularly like how I gave the arm the appearance of foreshortening. I would have really liked to continue working on this pose because I feel as if I was heading in a positive direction. 

Gesture Drawings

I chose this 30-second image mainly because it was one of the first 30-second sketches I did in this class. I noticed that in the beginning of the semester I sketched the model not by identifying the spinal cord or the rib cage but by focusing on the outside area of the body leaving an outlined look. I do not believe that I did many things accurately in this sketch, however when I glanced at it I fully understood the pose that she was in without having to study it. In this sketch I clearly have not yet learned to begin with the line of axis, rib cage or pelvis and going from there. 

In this 1-minute sketch you can see that we have begun to learn to sketch the bones, rib cage, pelvis and spinal cord. I chose this image because I felt I successfully proportioned the model. The rib cage is at an angle and not straight up and down. The pelvis is at an angel with the stance giving the appearance of the weight being shifted to the right leg. The femur and tibia have slight curves to them also, showing a better idea of direction with the legs. When I look at this image I can instantly visualize the pose the model was standing in. 

This 1+ Minute sketch I feel is accurately showing what we have so far learned in the class. The line of axis is evident, rib cage, and slight foreshortening. When I see this sketch I realize that I have truly learned much more than I would have ever thought and we are only mid semester. I have seen that I have moved from outline and uncertainty to understanding the steps to think through and see in sketching the human body. This sketch definitely portrays the foreshortening we had learned thus far. With the lower portion of the body closer to me, the upper portion of the body appears to be further away. Especially seeing that the pelvic region is wider than the shoulders. When I look at this now I believe that I should have adjusted the angle of the feet and made them appear larger since they are suppose to appear closer. It also would have helped to lighten the lines that are further away and darken the lines that are closer. 

Long Drawings

If I can remember correctly, this 30-minute drawing was more focusing on the abdominal muscles and proportioning. I chose Image 1 as one of my better longer pose drawings because I feel I successfully placed the ribcage, pelvis, gluteal muscles and abdominal muscles on the model. Before I began the sketch I lightly placed a line of axis down the picture plane that I feel definitely helped to accurately angel the model. Now that I take a closer look at the image I have noticed that a few of my proportions are off. I feel as if the upper portion of the arm resting on the leg may be too long and the leg it is resting on is as well. Also now that we are becoming familiar with the muscles of the body, including the leg muscles in my sketch would have made things appear much more realistic. Now that I am familiar with foreshortening I have noticed a few places that I could have included that. The models body parts were close together so there was little negative space to focus on. I could have however used the space around her to figure my proportions such as the lines on the blanket or the table she was laying on.

Image 2 was the first male model we had for our life drawing class. I chose Image 2 because I feel that I was successfully able to make the proportions of the model accurate. I also chose this drawing because I struggled greatly with angel of the right leg. It was difficult for me to place what I saw on paper. I could see the kneecap facing me but the front of the leg was facing the same direction as the left leg. I also feel that I began to portray the view of the upper back with success as far as foreshortening is concerned. The positioning of the model did change in class since the model had to take a five-minute break and placing him back in the correct spot was impossible. Unfortunately in my last 20 minutes the angel of my spot was almost entirely off. I feel that if I were to have spent more time on working with what I originally had as opposed to erasing what I had to sync with what had changed on my drawing, I would be slightly more successful. In this image the viewer can see that I began with a line of axis and proceeded with the ribcage and pelvis, which is what Amy taught us towards the beginning of the semester. I also worked on my use of my negative space between both of the legs as well as the arm to the stomach. I also really would like to have portrayed the intensity in the models stance. He was gripping the staff as well as pressing down with his foot extremely hard, to the point where he was shaking and sweating. I wished that I could have learned to portray that intensity in my image.

With the practice of foreshortening towards mid semester I discovered that it is easy to see but difficult to place on paper. Knowing this image is very incomplete, with Image 3 I feel that the foreshortening of the leg is so far the most clear out of my drawings. It is here that Amy taught us about really focusing on negative space and using the other body parts to see it. I began this drawing with a line of axis as I do with all of them and then led to the ribcage and finally the pelvis. I tried to focus on the pelvis because once that was accurately placed on the model I would be able to accurately place the legs. I remember while doing this drawing that it was hard to get the foreshortening angel with the calf to the foot of the left leg. At the angel it was at the foot should have appeared larger and the knee should have had lighter lines. When I look at this image I feel very satisfied in the direction that I was heading on that day. I wish whenever I see it that I could go back to that day and continue to draw the model. 

Mid Semester Reflection

The blog that I have found to be most interesting so far is this semester is Marc Anderson’s. I enjoyed how he updated his blog with the work that he has done because it is humorous and enjoyable to look at. He has a great talent in character drawings and his concepts are relevant to today’s topics.

Im not much of a blogging fan, I do however enjoy the fact that I am able to see fellow student blogs and check the things they have updated. I enjoy viewing other student’s work and watching the progress they slowly make. I also believe that it is a great way to keep updated on what others find interesting as art.

What I find frustrating with the blogs is having to update them. I enjoy using them but I don’t enjoy having to find something to post just to keep up with the once a week update and comment routine. It keeps me busy but having to find something to update my blog with becomes distracting and eventually the only thing I have done is sit on my computer wasting time.

There is not really anything that I would like to post that I haven’t. I feel that if I found something interesting to share with others I would not have any hesitation to post it.

As far as comments I feel I could leave more, I am trying to leave comments that I feel are necessary and useful as opposed to leaving comments that critique little and finish with expressing their likeness of the work.

With others commenting on my posts I have replied back as quick as possible if it was necessary. However I have not had many comments left on my blog to be able to respond back.

If I could choose a blog assignment I think that it would be to have someone walk around with a camera and take pictures of whatever they could find, then choose one picture out of the bunch they enjoyed the most and why. It sounds like a silly assignment but it would be interesting to see what images people captured and what they chose as their top image.

As far as my blog this semester I believe that my image quality is real well but I could work on the scaling of the images so they are more formally presented. With responding to other students and their blogs I do believe that I could comment more often on other students work and the progress that I might possibly see being that I am in the same class. The responses that I have left so far were long and critical which is how I had been trying to make all my comments. My own blogging has not been updated as much as I feel that I could have, the challenge I was having was finding things to update my blog with. I know Amy gave us ideas of what to post so I tried to leave posts of websites I found were useful for fellow art students and homework assignments I had in other art and design classes. I feel that when other students look at my blog they are able to see my progress as an artist but they only see the life drawing progress that I have made. I took the life drawing class to force myself into learning how to draw the human body (something which I feel I am not very successful at). I do believe that I have learned so much more useful information in this class that I could use in my future as an artist than I could have learned in any other class. I find myself becoming frustrated at times in this class with learning how to view the body in different ways and portraying them properly on paper. When I leave the classroom I feel that have learned so much because I am challenged every time I attend class. When others see my blog they probably see me as a progressing artist slowly learning my way through college. I would like to update my blog more often with things that I find interesting in my life to help others see how I truly feel as an artist.