Final post

I have many weaknesses and strengths when it comes to drawing. I have a problem with the speed in which I draw, I have always worked too fast. I also need to work on line weight and differing it to show depth. Also finding the planes for the parts of the body and representing them with lines instead of shading comes difficult to me. I learned a lot about taking time and looking at the object being drawn. To take the time to map out the general shape and proportions before you start to make it look like anything recognizable and adding details. Life drawing will be useful in all of my future art classes. You always have to draw and often quickly. It will also help me with rendering three dimensional forms on a two dimensional plane such as the computer. I believe I will take a lot away from this class. I will try to utilize the tools I have been given in my future in the arts.

Hands have always posed a problem for me. The proportions are difficult to get down. The details are not the difficult part for me. And taking object that are so round and making them planar is not an easy concept. I will need a lot of work before I stop avoiding hands or simplifying them which is what I have done all semester.

Working on each others faces is another new challenge. You have to look at the face in a new way. Though it does help that you can see the cheekbones and jaw and most of the lines are shown for you. Still presents a challenge to take a rounded form and make it angular. Also working with peoples faces and trying to get them to stay still long enough is very very difficult.

Large Shell Contour

Working on a larger scale I found that I needed to create an outline before I started my contour lines. In the group critique we discussed how I need to work with greater line variety and I agreed. Also my lines were too uniform almost creating a grid in certain areas. This I was not so aware of but once shown to me I can see where the suggestions were coming from. I am not sure what I am going to do with the ink wash contour drawings. Though the ability to use some sort of shading should help.

Working on the pelvis is proving to be difficult. I can find where the tops are supposed to be but after that i can't figure the rest out. Though I am continuously surprised by its relationship with the rib cage and how much that can be messed up. I am always making something much too small. I am getting better with it and hope to continue with my improvement. Working on the rib cage and the pelvis together helps working on their relationship and size.

Contour Drawing

I still continue to struggle with the idea of a cross contour drawing. The new shells definitely help though. Not only is this shell a better shape with more continuous curves but is also much much larger so I can actually see the detail I am supposed to be drawing. Though my second shell drawing is much improved upon from my first one there is still lots of work to be done. I need to work more on long contour lines showing detail and not flattening the shape. Also, working with foreshortening would improve my contour drawings.

Midterm Portfolio

I have always had an issue drawing objects placed in front of me. Normally I would take a picture and draw from that. This class as greatly helped me in this area. My proportions are improving because I am learning to look for landmarks on the human body, which can be transferred into any object I am drawing. Though, I have improved I still need much more improvement in this area. The placement of the form is also an issue. I may get the general areas such as the rib cage in relationship to the pelvis but the placement of the appendages still cause me issues. I want to fine-tune my proportion skills so I am able to draw the model in front of me without difficulty placing the parts of the body. I also have a major issue with contour drawing. This has been a weakness since I first did it. I don’t have a lot of experience with it and can’t seem to make it work out. I also need to clean up my line work. I have a tendency to draw many lines till I get it right and then erase the wrong ones. My mannequin has issues of its own that need to be addressed. I can see the relationship between the muscle or muscles they show but when trying to put them together without seeing it in front of me I am just guessing. I also tend to make the muscle a little too thick or meaty. If my mannequin were a real person he would be absolutely huge and put most body builders to shame. There are many things I want to learn but there is only so much time. I just hope to come out with a better grasp of drawing from life, that is the key thing I want to improve upon. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44023489@N06/

Awesome Video

I must say I was terribly amused by the video we recently watched. I am sure I wasn't supposed to be amused and was supposed to learn great knowledge, but what can I say I am easily amused. I think my favorite part was when he was stroking the skull of the skeleton while talking. Though I was very very annoyed with the constant coughing or throat clearing or whatever he was doing. The information would probably have been more useful if his drawings were easier to see. I basically saw nothing of what he drew. Another of my favorite parts was when he was naming the bones and he said, "though it's probably all Greek to you, but its probably Latin." I am having a hard time drawing the pelvis though. It probably doesnt help that I had to miss the class right after that video. I hope to catch onto it because it seems to be kind of important to get the shape of the body and the proportion. Then again everything seems to be important in creating the human form.

Barnabas McHowell

Barnabas was born into a strict religious family who was against the teachings of science. However he grew up wanting nothing more than to study the delicate art of science. The function of the human body was his true passion. In secret he would go to the library and read anatomy and medical books, soon he could name the muscles of the body better than most college students. His teachers noticed his skill for science and when it came time for him to look to colleges he was encouraged to study medicine. He told them he could not because his family believed it would be a sin to desecrate a body in that way. They told him to follow his heart and he went with his families wishes. He became a missionary and did many great deeds. Though he held a secret from his family; he had decided to donate his body to science. When he passed unfortunately by an attack of spider monkeys on a mission his family found out the horrible truth. They wept as their sons body was taken and strip of his muscles one by one. The muscles were then used to teach art students how to reconstruct the body one muscle at a time. His noble donation is what is creating great artists out of us.

I am having to completely reevaluate the way I approach drawing with this class. I have never had to draw not using the outline or shading. I also dont have a lot of experience with trying to think of the skeleton. I have never had the desire to learn about the body parts and structure, I just like to draw it instead. Halfway through the second class I discovered I was doing the gesture drawing entirely wrong. Though, this may have been a result of the teacher not seeing anything I had drawn; not entirely sure how I managed that. 

On another note, also slightly concerned I am going to do something to my ever important shell. I have decided to name my shell Birdie. I feel giving it a name and a personality keeps me more inclined to keep it safe. BIrdie's back story starts with her leaving her small town family's farm. She came to Stout to make it big as a model, but she could only find work as a life drawing model. So now she is working her way through modeling school by posing for contour drawings. She is living in my art supply box which moves from my locker and my dorm. She enjoys long walks on the beach and a good swim in the ocean. BIrdie enjoys a good seafood dinner and curling up for a nap...this is usually when I draw her so she is unaware and holds still. 

I have never actually created a blog before. This was a completely new experience for me! I am still not entirely sure on how all of this works ha ha.  So I am probably going to be changing my blog a lot in the upcoming days. If anyone has any suggestions please please let me know. At the moment I am watching The Lion King right now trying to set all of this up. I am looking forward to actually being able to draw something next week! I haven't done anything all summer. Not to mention I am completely done going over a syllabus for every class. 

NEW BLOG

I have decided to create a new blog. I am not a big fan of the other site I was using. Hopefully I can get more pictures and other information on here to make it more dynamic and at least somewhat interesting. I still dont know what i am doing and i still dont know what to write or post. But seeing other peoples blogs is helping out in that situation. I hope to take some more pictures soon of my work and the progression of it. I cant believe I already have seen such a difference in my technique and how much easier it comes to me.