FINAL LIFE DRAWING ANALYSIS

               As I had mentioned previously in this blog, I was a little intimidated by life drawing initially since it’s been so long since I’ve taken a drawing class. Over the course of the semester my drawings have improved as I became more familiar with the actual anatomical structure of the human figure. I struggled with gesture drawings at first because I am an extremely slow drawer and I have a tendency to overanalyze. By doing so many gesture drawings, I was not only warming up, but learning to trust what my eye initially see’s. Another huge realization that I came to this semester while drawing the human figure is that much of what needs to be drawn cannot be seen. By learning to draw in the rib cage, pelvis, and shoulder blades it was actually easier to figure out the proportions of the human form. Along with this comes the muscle structure as well.  The definition of many muscles cannot be seen, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t there or that they aren’t important. As I was working on the clay maniken, I was able to connect not only the form of the human body, but also the function of the human body into my drawings. It was also interesting to have both a male and female model, because the male and female body are similar yet so different at the same time. With the male model it was a lot easier to see the muscle definition, as well as the bone structure. The moment this semester that I was able to connect and understand figure drawing the best was when we first began working with our male model. The reason is because, since I could see the definition of muscle and bone a lot easier, I was able to connect it with what we were learning about the bone and muscle structure. Through the cross contour drawings and planar analysis, I found myself beginning to capture the actual dimensionality of the human form a lot better. My weaknesses during the semester were gesture drawings and actually getting the entire form on the page. When I had more time allotted to draw I was able to get the entire body on the page, but when only getting 30 seconds to 2 minutes, I really struggled. I would also like to master the use of line variation much better. There are many shining moments with the use of line variation in my drawings, but I have a tendency to overwork my drawings. By overworking my drawings, I’ve noticed that most of my lines become heavy and one-note. Line variation brings freshness and movement to a drawing and when I overanalyze the human form and over work the drawing, I’ve noticed that the freshness of the drawing is easily lost. I think that after completing this semester, my strongest point would be my ability to capture fairly accurate proportions of the human figure. 

FLICKR LINK

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spenglerlisa/

FINAL IMAGES

WALKER/SCIENCE MUSEUM ADVENTURE

This is a drawing of the front leg of a Triceratops. At first I wasn't particularly enthusiastic about drawing the bones of dinosaurs, especially since there were small children running around everywhere. However as I started drawing, I rather enjoyed it. It was interesting to see how similar the bone structure of many of the dinosaurs are to humans. Especially since I was able to look at a bone and identify it. I could also imagine what the muscle structure of the creature would be like by examining the bone structure. Also since the Triceratops is such a massive creature, it was easier for me to notice the plane changes of the bones as compared to human bones. 

My favorite part of the Walker was the Joseph Bueys exhibit, whom I rather fancy as an artist. I am very familiar with the work of Bueys as an installation artist and the reasoning behind his use of fur and fat. I have never seen any of his work in person though, such as one of the felt suits that was hanging in the Walker. I of course had to take a few minutes and watch, what is probably his most famous piece "I Like America and America Likes Me". It was also interesting to view many of the materials he used in his instillation pieces, particularly noticing the age of the materials. 

Cross Contour Bone Drawing Critique 

There are certain portions of this pelvic bone drawing that appear to be 3-d, however the right half of the drawing seems to loose dimension. We discussed in critique the issue that I neglected to put long axis lines on the form which probably would have assisted the dimensionality of the form as well as showing the different planes of the bone better. There are certain areas of this drawing in which the value of the line is darker, which I believe works very well when trying to portray dimension. However for the most part, there is not very much variation with line in this drawing. The issue of line variation seemed to be a prevailing issue with each of our group members during the critique. Another issue with this drawing, mentioned during the critique was the use of cross-contour lines. There are shining moments in this drawing with the of cross-contour lines, however I feel all in all I should have played closer attention to the lines. I think that this would have also aided a better in showing more dimension in the right half of the drawing. 

Figure Drawing Midterm Synopsis

                  I would like to start out this synopsis by proclaiming that I have learned far more about the human muscle structure and drawing the human figure than I ever thought I would. As stated previously, it has been a while since I have taken a drawing course so I was a bit intimidated, especially since the human body is so complex. Each and every class period, I’m not only learning, but also re-learning what I’ve already been taught.

MANIKEN

                  My concentration is ceramics, so I initially thought that working with clay would come easily for me. Little did I know the intricacy of the human muscle structure would destroy my false hope. By working on the maniken throughout the semester and learning about the human muscle structure I have found that it is easier to translate and exaggerate that in one’s drawings. It was particularly interesting for me to see the difference between the male and female models. The muscle structure in the male model was far more prominent and identifiable. On the male model I was able to identify the ribs and the pelvis, along with the abdomen, quads, adductors, and hamstrings to a higher degree.

GESTURE DRAWINGS

                  My biggest problem with gesture drawings is that I can’t seem to place the entire body on the page, which is something I’m working on and improving. I also have a tendency to draw very slow and constantly over-think my work. I need to learn to trust my eyes. I found it extremely helpful when we were introduced to the rib cage, spinal column and pelvis. The two gesture drawings that I have chosen for my blog, though not the best, exhibit the spinal column, rib cage and pelvis. These drawings also show the entire figure in one space, as well as some line variation. I feel that gesture drawing one captures the movement of the line a little better than gesture drawing two, which is something that I need to work on as well.

LONG DRAWINGS

                  Long drawing three on the blog is actually one of the first long drawings that I did this semester. This drawing was just focusing on the torso of the model in a one-hour period. I chose this drawing as one of my best because there is line variation, cross contour lines, as well as the ribs and pelvis. Long drawing two is actually the last long drawing that I did before the midterm. I feel that this is my best drawing to date because of the use of cross contour lines and line variation. I also felt that because we were given two hours to work on this drawing, I was able to pay close attention to detail and proportions. Looking closer at long drawing two, I noticed that I was able to capture the muscles in the legs, which is what we are currently working on with our manikens. Long drawing three was done over a one hour time period, and though unfinished I feel there is a good use of gestural lines along with fairly accurate proportions. The biggest improvement I feel I need to make thus far in the semester is to fit the entire body on the picture plane. I would also like to work on being more gestural with my lines and less stiff when I draw. I think that one of my greatest strengths so far this semester is that, when given a longer period of time; I am able to capture the proportions of the body fairly accurately. I still need to work hard on trusting my eyes.

Long Drawing Three (1 hour focusing on the torso)

Long Drawing Two (2 hours)

Long Drawing One (1 hour)

Gesture Drawing Two (1 minute)

Gesture Drawing One (1 minute)

Maniken Side View

Maniken Rear View

Maniken Frontal View

There are many interesting drawing techniques that I am learning, while attempting to draw the human figure. One of the differences in my current drawings as compared to the drawings towards the beginning of this semester are the use of cross contour lines. I find the use of cross contour lines very helpful in achieving a more affective visual concept of volume. It has also been extremely helpful to begin by drawing the spinal column. Drawing the spinal column first has really helped me figure out the proportions of the human body, as well as the curvature. 

I thought it was extremely helpful to focus on one specific area of the body and work on a larger scale with cross contour. This exercise actually helped me imagine the body on the picture plan other than two dimensionally. Even though this looks like a bunch of zebra stripes, it was helpful. The one thing that I struggled with when attempting the cross contour drawing, was focusing on each part of the area I was drawing little by little. My eyes would loose their spot on the body at times and then I would have to figure out where I left off.

It's been a while since I've taken drawing two, (I believe four semesters) so I was a bit nervous when we started doing gesture drawings. One of the biggest issues that I came across with the 30 second and 1 minute gesture drawings was to fit the entire form into the designated area, as you can see from the image to the left. Even though I feel that this is my best gesture drawing so far, I'm a bit disappointed that it's not the entire body. I found it extremely helpful to imagine the pelvis as the middle horizontal plane, but I still had problems getting the entire body on the page. I'm used to working on an extremely large scale, so I have a feeling this is going to take a while.