Week 5

This week has gone really fast! The live model drawings and clay sculpture has been going really well, and we're moving quickly through the muscles. This past week has been learning more about the "quads" as well as the lower calf muscles. As I've said before, its really interesting learning with the clay models how to form the muscles and how they overlap on the bone; and its even more interesting to be able to recognize and render those shapes from a model. I'm actually a bit farther than what these pictures show, these are only of the spinal area and glutes, but I will have more pictures up soon of the lower leg.
                                              
My drawings this week have been getting more difficult, because we are learning about drawing the pelvis in relation to the spine and "egg shape" in the lungs. Its really hard to try and understand what the pelvis is doing in a pose. How are you supposed to draw something that you can barely tell is there?! The only guidelines are on the side near the upper thigh really....all the other planes on the pelvis are hidden...ugh! If I get anything out of this class I hope I'll be able to draw a pelvis accurately...baha

  
    

Week 4

Unfortunately I've been getting a bit lazy with my drawings. There hasn't been the same amount of enthusiasm as in the past couple weeks, and  partly because I've been swamped in other classes, and partly because I've started to feel at ease in the class. I think there was a certain amount of anxiousness and excitement with the start of this class that kept me focused and now I'm becoming more comfortable with the ways of drawing the human form, how to stand when drawing, and the understanding the anatomy. This can be a good thing, to feel comfortable with your drawing atmosphere, I just hope it doesn't get too far so that I start to slack off and not appreciate the opportunity I have in class time. I've realized....Its really tiring drawing for two hours straight! trying to get curves, and bones, and muscle shapes down right. It gets frustrating and your arms get tired, and sometimes you just want to call it quits. But drawing class is what you make of it.... If I let go of all the things I've been thinking about that day, the list of to-do's, the worries, the problems, and shut it out for just 2 hours while I'm drawing, its loads easier to loosen up and just draw. It becomes less of a chore when you enjoy being there.

I found this image while browsing around; a drawing by David Jon Kassan. He has really inspiring work and draws with really nice line quality. Great artist to admire and attempt to imitate!

Week 3

Another week of Life Drawing has just flown by; its crazy to think that we've been drawing from a live model for 3 weeks now. This week has been focused on finding the spinal cord  and also the "egg"" shape within the rib cage. Its not so much a challenge when you have point blank view, but it can get pretty tricky when the model twists and lines become deceiving. Towards the end of this week we started drawing from a male model, and it was like a whole new way of drawing. Many features were the same on both models, but a male model is very geometric and angular, compared to the delicate, graceful curves of a female model. Both are very fascinating to draw however. The muscle structure of a male is much more complex, and there are so many layers to them. For women I think that the muscles are very slender, or unseen because of extra fat...but in male models you can really refer to the clay manikins that we have in progress. You can see the neck muscles bulging a bit more, or on the bicep/tricep muscles of the arm. 

The manikins have been really helpful in understanding the anatomy of the human person. I struggle with remembering the long names, but I can at least recognize where they are on the model. 

These sketches are some 1-2 minute drawings from in class this week. I give a lot of credit to our in class models, the poses are beautiful. I definitely couldn't hold the poses for as long as they do, its really quite a talent to know what a good pose is that will help the artist in their sketches. 

This second image is of the first cross-contour of the male model. Again, drawing from a male model was very different. After drawing from a female so long, I just wanted to draw circles and curves like I have before, but  males (for the most part) have anything but- the  torso and shoulders being very geometric. I've got a long way to go before I grasp cross contours....I have a habit of just drawing across instead of following the actual 3D shape of what the skin and muscles are doing. I really have to force myself to see those shifting plains and shapes, like looking at a topographic map.

Week 2

This second week of life drawing has been quite inspiring. It had been awhile since I worked with charcoal or conte, so, as a graphic design major it felt really good to loosen my mind and my wrist and just draw. I am really excited for the opportunity to take this class, and am ready to soak it all up like a sponge . Drawing the human figure and studying our own anatomy is such an amazing thing; I feel there is so much to be grasped about the beauty of the human figure and how it has inspired so many of the classical artists in their work.

 Seeing the human figure and drawing from nude is s a humbling experience, because,from the drawer's perspective, when drawing a nude model, you have to leave all worldly expectations and presumptions about "what is beautiful" behind, and look at the body as a glorious work of art within itself. Not many people have the opportunity, within a respectful atmosphere, to draw the human form in all its simplicity- it makes me feel somewhat connected to the great classical artists, knowing that I'm drawing the same way they did. Times change, technology advances, but our humanity is constant. You might look at great art from the 13th century or marvel at Michelangelos' "Creation of Adam", but he was inspired by the same human figure that I will be drawing from, every week, in our small little art room of 20 people.  We still have ten toes and ten fingers, we still have interesting noses and ears. We still toil from labor and our feet become calloused with travel, we love from the same heart, and cradle with the same arms. Its like we're timeless gems that keep getting discovered over and over again,..each one is different, yet just as beautiful as the previous.

The first image is one of my  30sec. drawings from a model, and the second is an unfinished carving of a figure, slowly emerging out of stone. Its interesting to see how the human shape appears, whether you're adding or subtracting!