End of the Year

 My Flickr Account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhuettl/

This will be my last blog post for Life Drawing 1. I can't believe how fast this year has gone, but I accomplished a lot in it. Coming into this class I knew I would be learning more about the human body and I was very excited to understand how to draw them more accurately. I really had a hard time in the beginning adjusting to the class. Like I said in my earlier posts, I have always had the habit of taking my time with my drawings and going for detail and shading. This class called for a very different style and it required me to try to change my ways.
I really feel like I have progressed a lot in this class and am very proud of that fact. Struggling in the beginning was very frustrating for me and I could not keep up with the short 30 second gesture drawings. Drawing the live models was very different at first, but it is amazing how normal it becomes as you do it more and more. Contour lines were a little difficult for me at first, but it really is amazing how much it makes a drawing look dimensional. In the beginning we were only drawing the spine and rib cage. I think this was a reason I had a hard time in the start of the semester because I felt like the drawing was really unfinished and didn't make much sense. After adding more to the drawing and eventually the head it was much better in my mind. I think the mannequins were necessary for learning the muscles, but it was difficult as well for me. The books we had to look at were hard to figure out sometimes and the muscles were a little confusing at times. Other than that though, the class was a lot of fun.     
I think my favorite part we had drawn was the head and skull. It is the part I feel that gives the most life to the figure. This led to our self-portraits, that I think I did alright on, I just wish my eyes were at the same angle as my nose and mouth. All in all though, this semester has been successful. I have learned a lot and will help in my drawing and sketching methods. Thank you Amy for being such a great professor this semester!

Let's work inside on this nice day!

Mon-Wed Long Drawing

As I sit inside on this nice day doing all of my work that is due this week I thought to myself, oh crap I have to do my blog. Not really in the mindset to write this so I am going to make it quick, and it might not make a whole lot of sense....sorry if this happens. This week we worked on the head more. We worked on a two day drawing of the head as we had both models in the room. It was a good experience drawing a model rather than just getting a partner to draw from because there was more time involved and I didn't have to worry about taking my time and making the other person hold their face for too long. I really like the long drawings because it really allows me to take my time and try to get the forms to look correct. On Monday since I knew it was a two day drawing, I worked really slow to the point where I almost wish I had another day after Wednesday. It looked "alright" but no way was I happy with it. I had trouble with the mouth and had erased it a thousand times (literally) and still could not get the likeness of the model. I think it looks too feminine. If this was a photograph I was working from then It would be a lot easier, but there is something about seeing 3d real space that makes it so much more difficult. We also got assigned our self-portrait final drawing this week. Thank god it isn't due until Friday because I think I would have a brain aneurysm if it was due before that. I am trying to organize my time some what so I decided it would be best to start it right away so I did. I already have a good foundation but my damn mouth is a problem again. Once I fix that I think it will look more like me. Good bye for now.

Nearing the End

This was another short week of class because we had Monday off. It was a good week though, although a strange one. Starting the head was a lot of fun last week and I was looking forward to drawing it more this week. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out we were drawing the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears because I thought we weren't going to get that stuff in Life Drawing 1. Although I wanted and needed to learn how to draw the entire figure, the face is something that has always caught my interest. I have always wanted to get better at drawing the facial features. I really think learning the basic structures of how these features come together will help a lot. I really think I have a lot of practice to do yet, as I only tried each once in class so far. I am sure by the end I will have a better wealth of knowledge. As you can see from my pictures, they still need some work. The nose seems a little too pointed to me and flat on the bottom...
I have really enjoyed the mannequins these last 2 weeks....because we didn't have to do them. I believe this next week will change that though. I also have not adjusted my mannequin since Amy looked at it and told me what to change. I hope I remember, I have been busy and haven't even wanted to deal with the mannequin lately. I think we only have one assignment left though, which is pretty awesome. It is not that I hated the mannequins, but more the time it took me to put the muscles on and try to do it right/but still not know if I was doing it right.
This semester sure did go fast, I can't believe it is so close to the end. I am beginning to get a bit worried about all of my classes at the moment, so I really just hope everything goes smoothly next week.

Easter Break!

    This week we finished up the hand and moved to the head. This was a very enjoyable week for me and I really wish we had more than one day drawing the skull this week because I really enjoyed it. I am sure there will be plenty of time next week though. (Oh yeah, I forgot we have Monday off....well whenever we have a full week again.)
     Finishing up the hand was enjoyable because I finally got to drawing the skeleton hand. I really liked drawing this because it didn't move and I could basically take my time even during breaks. I really wish I would have drawn the skeleton hand first before drawing the model's hand because it allowed me to understand the structure more rather than just guessing on it. I actually think it would have helped me to draw the entire skeleton of the body first before drawing any of the model because then I would know exactly how it should be. (The mannequin doesn't really do it for me.)

    Drawing the skull was way more enjoyable than I thought it would be. I'm not sure what it is about it, but I was engaged and really interested the entire time. I think it may be that we have been drawing the parts if the body all semester and have still left it without a head or neck. The head gives more life to the human along with the hands. I don't think I am quite good at it after the first day of it, but I feel like this will allow me to better understand the form of the skull in the class periods ahead.  I also really wish I would have added some value to it or more contours because it still looks a little flat.
   We are also basically done with the mannequin as well so that is good news! Hope everyone has a happy Easter and a good break!

Hands

    Another week is over and it is probably a good thing. Motivation has been an issue this week for some reason. On Tuesday night I did all the clay that was assigned so I felt like I got ahead. Only to get behind in another class. But it is all okay because this weekend will hopefully get me in work mode once again. So at first when drawing the hand I started to outline it. This was my natural reaction and quickly realized that was not the correct route to take. Starting to draw in the bones was actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Unlike the rest of the body, I really started to get some planes sectioned off and created a side plane and top plane. It definitely all seemed to make sense. I think working on just the hand turned out a little better is because all I had to do was the hand. I'm sure my hand drawings could not be in a best of design show, but they turned out quite well for me as I can understand it.
    I only drew the models hands this week and did not get to the skeleton model like Amy asked us too. Maybe I will work on some of it over the weekend. Then again, maybe not. Ok, I am just going to put it out there....I won't. Too much other stuff to worry about. I was really happy when Amy checked my mannequin today. There were only a couple of problems that I have to fix which is reassuring that I didn't completely screw some of it up like I thought I did. As for next week I am really excited to start drawing the head. This is the only part that is missing from our drawings. I wonder if we are going to do the face, or if that is Life Drawing 2? I guess we will find out together.

Perfect

    The weather outside is perfect! It is getting harder and harder to focus indoors when all I want to do is enjoy the day. This week had been a perfect week for me in general. It seemed almost everything went right and I was in such a good mood. Monday in class I was doing much better in gesture drawings than I have in a long time. I just went with it rather than trying to make it look perfect. I decided to try a new approach so I did not focus on drawing the egg as much. I know this is probably bad, but it allowed me to draw in the ribs so much faster. This allowed to get more of the figure on the paper within the 30 seconds. I wouldn't say life drawing was the strongest example of a perfect week but there were other contributing factors. Didn't have any classes Tuesday which was a plus, and Off today(Friday) as well. I also bought a DSLR camera on Tuesday which should be arriving today! It has just been an exciting week.
    The mannequins have been alright to deal with this week. Amy checked mine on Wednesday and explained to me in better detail what the book was trying to tell me. There were a few things I had to change and I worked on fixing those muscles Wednesday night. I focused so much on the previous muscles that I barely started the new muscles assigned for Monday. Now that it is mid-program and that room is occupied I can't look at Amy's today. It may be for the best though, because if my camera comes today I highly doubt I will want to work on clay. I could probably take a picture of my clay though....yeah, I will do that. Sorry if my post didn't really address a whole lot, I am too distracted by the weather.

It is getting warmer!

    This week we worked on drawing and more on our mannequins. On Monday we had the option of either working on our mannequins or drawing from the model. I chose to draw all class period because I feel like I should take advantage of it since I could work on my mannequin at any time. I also enjoy drawing more than working on the mannequin, but anyways lets get back on track. It was a little strange having only a few of us drawing on Monday, however it was much needed practice. I am not sure if it was because I was in charge of the timer, but it was one of my best days of drawing yet I feel. I felt more relaxed about it and tried to work on my speed a little more. I managed to get more of the model into my drawings in a shorter period of time. I think I almost treated it like an open drawing session where I could do my own thing all class long.
    Wednesday went just as well. I feel like the problems I am having is with trying to get the angle of the pelvis and where the shoulder blades should be. Even so, there is a lot I have learned and managed to get right, so I don't feel as bad. I wouldn't say I am completely satisfied with my drawings this week, but to me I made some progress. This entire week has been a good one for me making progress in all of my classes. So I hope the changing weather is an indication of how the rest of the semester will go.
Friday was one of those days I really didn't feel like going to class. So when I learned it was cancelled, it was a sure sign that this was a terrific week.  I also worked on my mannequin all "class period" instead of after class like I was originally going to do.

We are Back!

    Back from Spring Break, and mother nature wasn't done messing with us yet. On Monday we were assigned some more clay muscles to put on our mannequins. These muscles are part of the shoulder girdle. I feel like we are really expanding our mannequins into an actual human and I can see it. It is amazing how complicated it is and yet how simply it works. Anyways, Monday we started to draw the shoulder blades on our drawings. It is great to have a model that it is easy to see pretty much everything we need to on. The way the light hits these markers really creates a prominent line. I was both frustrated and content with my drawings. It kind of seemed like I was just putting a curved line in for where the shoulders connect to the arms in the quick gesture drawings. Amy did come by and say it was the right idea, so it must be so. When she demonstrated on the back of the model where the shoulders were and had her move them, it really reminded me how amazing the human body really is.

My Friday Frustration

    A main issue I have and am trying to get better at is the size of my drawings. I tend to draw pretty small. Even in our longer drawings I intend to draw the size of the page, and I start to lay it out, and before I know it, it is all in the center of the page again with a lot of negative space on the top and bottom. I have gotten better since the beginning of the semester, but I need to push it. Wednesday was a weird day because of the snow and many people not in class. We had drawing time which was nice. Friday in our long drawing towards the end of class I was frustrated. I took my sweet time, and barely got the figure done in the hour. I spent A LOT of time trying to get the rib cage right. My view was where his leg was in front of his torso, so I had to try to x-ray through his knee to figure it out. As for the clay muscles, I worked on them after class. I intended to get them all done, but once I had 3 left I quit for the day. Why? So that I have more to do when I don't have time to do them, I suppose.

A New Week

    Well, it is Spring Break, and yet another blog post is in order. It may be the excitement of break or the long drive home, but I am exhausted. This week I think was an interesting one learning about the human foot. Starting the week working on clay models was a little disappointing because I wanted to draw, but it provided time to catch up. It was great to actually get to complete all of the clay that wasn't due until Friday so early. We learned about a lot of different muscles in the foot such as the Extensor Hallucis Longus and the Tibialis Anterior. It is very interesting discovering how these muscles fit within the foot and why you can see certain ones more easily.
    Drawing the foot was going well but I realized that I was outlining quite a bit. I tried to incorporate more contour lines in my drawings this week. I think this was more apparent in my final long drawing on Friday. I was at first drawing toes in and they did look kind of like sausage like we mentioned on Friday. I believe I fixed this with the new content we learned on Friday. Learning about the parts of the toes such as the metatarsals and the phlanges. Knowing what makes up the toes makes it easier to draw them because you know they should bend in certain places.
    On Friday we had some 5 minute drawings and an hour long drawing. This was great to really work out proportion and get contours in to shape the foot. It is so amazing how even one contour line can make something look 3-dimensional. I always knew this, i just came to re appreciate just how simple drawing can sometimes be. If one line can achieve this dimensionality. It makes me think if I am trying too hard sometimes. 

Mid-Term!!

Here is the link to my flickr! http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhuettl/sets/

    Well, it is already Mid-term and this semester seems to be flying by. Life Drawing so far has been a real interesting experience. I have always wanted to take this class to learn to draw the human body better. The semester started out slow, just learning about the spinal column. It wasn't always easy though, trying to figure out what the spine would curve like in different positions. Adding in the egg shape for the rib cage was harder than I thought it would be. Trying to get the proportion right can be very frustrating at times. The models we have had have been great. It is fairly easy to see the ribs and the spine on them to make it easy to see the "markers, " and draw from them. As you can see in many of my drawings, I have been working on getting the ribs to be more in proportion. I have been drawing them too long most of the time. In the drawing to the right I was working on getting the pelvis to be the same width as the rib cage.
     As confusing as the angle of the ribs can be, it is easy in comparison to the pelvis in my opinion. At first it took me a while to understand the spacing between where the ribs end and the pelvis begins. I think I have made a lot of progress with that. I can get the normal anterior and posterior standing view right for the most part I think. What I find kind of confusing is when the model is sitting or at a strange angle or position. I am still trying to get right what angle the pelvis would actually be at in these positions. I have made some progress with this, but I still feel like I have a lot to learn.
    The 30 second drawings were very irritating to me at first because I would draw so slow that I would only have half the figure in by the time the buzzer went off. I have always been more into drawing detail so I had some habits to break. I am happy to say that throughout this first half of the semester I have improved my speed at drawing the quick gestures.
    The manikins have been interesting as well. I think it is interesting learning about the different muscles in the body so that we know what is making up the parts of the body. I didn't initially think we were going to get into the muscles as in depth as we are, so it was a nice surprise. As tedious as the clay muscles can be I think it is a good learning tool so we can get a visual of it on a body rather than just reading about it or taking notes in lecture.
    This second half of the semester I think I will see a huge leap of improvement. I am going to have to work on my proportion and how I handle foreshortening. I also have to do more with contour lines. The way I see it, this first semester was building a base knowledge of the spine, ribs, and pelvis. I don't know if there are any specifics I would like to learn since I am sure we will get to the legs and arms. I suppose I would like to have a better understanding of hands and feet. I am just assuming we are not going to get to the face in this life drawing class. I am not sure what we will learn next or what we will get to cover. All I know is I am excited to find out!

Last week before mid-term

    This week was a productive one for me. It was a very strange day on Monday with the snow we were getting. It seemed all day that barely anyone was in class. As a result we worked on our clay manikins the entire class period. This was a nice break from drawing and gave me a chance to get the new assignment done. This was similar to Friday when we worked on manikens and had time to get it looked at. I really enjoyed Friday's class because I had time to get the new assignment done and didn't have to work on them over the weekend. We had enough time to get our manikens checked too. I was really happy because it was the first time mine was checked to see if I had the right idea with the placement of the muscles.

    On Wednesday we did some drawing all class period. I feel like I have progressed greatly during this class period. It may not show in all of my drawings because it happened toward the end of the class period, but my confidence and understanding took a leap. My proportion is starting to get a lot better and I find myself getting better at drawing more of the figure in the 30 second drawings. Our last drawing of the day, I think it was 20 minutes, was the turning point. I had time to really analyze what it was I saw and found it easy to pinpoint where the ribs ended. I got a little confused on the placement of the pelvis, and after Amy looked at it I felt relieved. I had it basically right, just needed a few tweaks on the pelvis. I really understood what I was doing wrong and wasn't as frustrated with it.

The 4th Week (I need to come up with better titles)

    This week in Life Drawing we learned about the pelvis and how it fits in relation to the body. We are now drawing the spinal column, an egg for the rib cage, and the pelvis. I think it is great that these 3 parts are all we have to worry about right now. However, it doesn't mean it is easy. In fact, trying to get the proportion and the shapes right are kind of challenging for me right now. I'm not sure if the facial hair I am currently growing on my face has something to do with it, but this week has been an off one for me.

    I have had a hard time focusing lately for some reason. I think it is because my mind is on all of my other classes, but lets get back on track. After drawing what I believed to be an acceptable pelvis, I soon realized to some disappointment that it was indeed incorrect. I was drawing it a little too small and either too low or too high. We were given pointers on how to get the proportion right, which was extremely helpful. Drawing within two cubes is a really easy way to get it right. However, it is not as easy when the pose is anything other than straight on. I find it difficult to get the placement right when the body is twisted in different positions, and when there is foreshortening. Our last drawing on Friday was a 45 minute one. The angle I was at was one with a lot of foreshortening in the chest and stomach. I initially had some trouble in the beginning, but then I was quite happy with how it was turning out. I thought it was looking great, until the last 5 minutes when I realized that it was a little long and there was not that much foreshortening in my drawing. Looking at the model and back at my drawing I found that the arm would have to be 2 feet wide to get the same placement. I was bummed out.

Third Week!

    In this 3rd week of Life Drawing we focused on the spinal column and rib cage. This was extremely helpful in getting the right proportion and looking for markers on the body while drawing. We learned how to draw an egg shape for the rib cage. Drawing a line for the spine, and egg for the ribs, and a smaller circle for the opening of the neck is very helpful in getting a good base structure. If we can get this important base of knowledge down, it will allow us to add to it while being anatomically correct.
    At first I realized I was making this egg shape very long and a little too skinny. This really threw off the proportion of the drawing. I really focused on all of the curves of the model to find the correct markers needed to know where the bottom of the egg would be. To be honest, I have been very frustrated with my drawings so far. I think it is a combination of the 30 second time limit and the drawings not looking like anything but a curved line with an egg shape on it. Lately however, I have been a little better at drawing quick and putting in some more reference points such as the shoulders. This greatly improves the look of the form, and I am much happier with how they look now. 

    Working on the clay model has been helpful as well. Learning about these muscles and how they fit in and overlap others will be helpful when giving the drawing a more 3-dimensional look. Actually creating these muscles and placing them on the mannequin in the correct way is a good learning exercise, much better than just learning about it in lecture.
    Overall, this week has been a good one in terms of further developing a knowledge of the human body and my drawing speed. I am slowly starting to break away from my old habits of taking my time. The 30 second time limit will be helpful in making sure we get the overall proportion and pose down the first time without having to rework a lot. This will help in how we draw anything in the future.

Digital Painting

Over winter break I had some time to work
on some personal projects. One of the projects I worked on is this digital painting of Avril Lavigne I did on photoshop. This was my first attempt at a photoshop digital painting, and I just finished it about a day ago.
I am quite happy with how it turned out. I have to remind myself that it was my first attempt and could always do better with more practice. What do you think?

1st-2nd Week of Life Drawing

     In this first week we jumped right into gesture drawing. It took a while to get adjusted to drawing the figure. I feel like it will still take some time to get into the mindset as I have not had a drawing course in 2 years. So when we were told we had to get the gesture down in 30 seconds it took me by surprise. I found out that I was slow. In the first few 30 second durations I only got half the figure in. I knew that I was going to have to learn how to change my habits and try some new techniques.

Clay Model

     Slowly it is getting easier and I can see a small progression already. We did our first long drawing for 30 minutes. Our instructions were to draw slowly. If we only had 3 lines by the end, but they were "good" lines, that was all we were shooting for. So about 15 minutes into the drawing I had the whole part of the figure done. So I had to start over and SLOW down. Now I was going too fast! I was still in the mindset of drawing quick from the 30 second gestures, that drawing slowly for 30 minutes was a quick change.
     I am actually really glad we are standing at easels as we draw. It helps with drawing technique and staying alert. It also gives us a better perspective angle to the model. Speaking of models, we also got our clay skeleton models this week. We had to dissect the clay from the other class off of the model and clean them up. All clean for a semester's worth of learning and adding it all back again. I believe this model is going to take some time, but will be worth it in the end. I know by the end of the semester I will know a great deal more about the human body than when I came in to this class.

A Little About Myself

My name is Ryan Huettl. I am a Junior in the Graphic Design concentration at UW- Stout. I am from the Green Bay, WI area. I have always been interested in art. My mom was a musician and would paint and draw as I was growing up. This led to me drawing every chance I got. My mom recently got remarried and her new husband is actually a graphic designer/illustrator. This is what really influenced me to become a graphic designer.

Pres Tech Marker Render -2010

 Getting into an art and design concentration, I knew that Life Drawing was going to be a part of it. I had always wanted to learn to draw people better and this class will give me a great opportunity in doing so. After all of the classes I have taken here, Life Drawing was one that I was most excited for. I am happy that the wait is over and I made room for it in my schedule. My experience at UW-Stout has been great, and I am learning something new every day.

Microscopic view- 2009

As an artist I enjoy experimenting with different mediums and procedures. I like to put a lot of detail into my work. I am very critical of my own work as well, because I always want to push the detail. If something I have done looks unfinished or looks as though I could have taken it farther, I am unhappy. This only makes me work harder though, so it is for the best. With a focus on detail, comes a lot of time spent on each drawing. Drawing faster is one aspect of my process that I need to work on, and this class will help with that.

I like doing a lot of personal projects as well as the projects we do in class. The knowledge I gain in school makes my process more efficient and looks much better than it did years ago when I thought it looked "good."