End of the Year

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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.