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.