The Last One

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This is the last post of the semester and, man, has it come quickly!

I have been looking forward to life drawing since I started here at Stout. Coming into this class I thought I could already draw people reasonably well. Guess what; I was wrong.

The gesture drawing came naturally to me. I draw quickly and have done gestures before. My grasp on the movement in the figure was decent but looking back through my work I had no idea about proportion or the form of limbs.

Being fast at drawing actually became a setback once we started on longer drawings. Although I had a reasonably good eye for angles I lacked the focus and patience that my colleagues had. I think, I hope, that I have since remedied this. Now I can easily stay on one drawing for two hours, though much over that is a stretch.

One thing I have learned is the logical application of light. This has always been troublesome for me. The introduction of planes to my thought process allowed me to visualize lighting without having to see an example, something that will definitely come in handy.

The mannequin was also a wonderful tool in allowing me to visualize. As every muscle looks different angle it forced us to process it three dimensionally, making us register how each muscle works together with all the others.  It was probably the most frustrating part of the class, to spend hours on the muscles just to come into class and find that they are all wrong. Despite this, by the end I loved it. It was nice to use my hands, and work with a media other than the computer or paper.

I hope to find my place somewhere in the animating world and for this goal knowledge of the figure is essential. To know which muscles are needed for each motion. Which parts of the form can be manipulated without and which ones can’t. 

Although I took this class hoping to gain knowledge of the realistic figure (which I did) I have also seen my stylized drawings improve drastically. This I credit to the class. I have enjoyed it and hope to take the next one eventually.

 

The Face and all

I enjoyed drawing this week. On Monday we started a long drawing of the head, features and all. It was more difficult than I expected even though we had already been working on all of the features separately. But we did it anyway. The class split into two groups to draw the two models. In retrospect the view I drew from was too straight on. I feel that I still did a decent job of it. On Wednesday we continued the portraits. I worked on this drawing for almost four hours. At the start of the semester I found it hard to spend over five minutes on one picture. What a difference!

On Friday we returned to the full figure. It was bad. We’ve been working on the head and facial features for about two weeks now and while it was really enjoyable and definitely good to know, it showed me how huge a difference not practicing makes. Friday’s drawing started with quick gestures as we used to do. The break really showed. The first ten of them were terrible but I picked it up again pretty quickly. It’s nice to know that even if I do let my practice slide a little that I’ll be able to come back to it. Especially as I won’t be able to take life-drawing-two next semester. Maybe in the Spring.

For the long drawing I originally got a bad angle where most of the drawing would have been leg and wanted to do a full figure. So I moved when I got the chance. It was as though I had completely forgotten how to draw. I honestly didn’t know where to start. After about 20 minutes worth or failure I thought, ‘I don’t know what to do, so lets start from the start’. I went from spine to egg through all the limbs. This may seem obvious but I didn’t use to follow the formula that specifically. Anyway the drawing turned out ok. When we finished up for the day there was still something off about it. That’s ok though, we work on it again on Monday and I’ll have fresh eyes for it.

As we near the end of the semester the classes and weeks blur together. I don’t think this is a good sign. Maybe I’m getting old. I do remember that this week has been more sociable than most. We have been pairing up (or in my case clumping together with at least two others) and drawing each other. It has definitely given me a new appreciation for the models. I discovered that I could never do it. I don’t know why I thought I’d be able to sit still for that long... An absolutely impossible event.

Anyway, we didn’t have class on Monday due to Spring break. I am looking forward to the lecture on the structure of the skull. I hope it will help me improve on the structure of my skulls, they were looking either very squished or very stretched last week.

We also learnt eyes and nose time. Noses were difficult at first, at least until I started to think of them as a series of planes. It definitely helps, the only drawback is that then I make them a little over defined. 

Actually now that I look at this one again I think I need to work on noses. It looks a little wonky. 

Eyes weren’t too bad from the start. I don’t know how well I followed Amy’s way of drawing them but I like the way they turned out. Do you guys  think I need to improve on anything specifically?

Mouths and ears were harder. My ears looked like flat objects with patterns on them but Amy reminded me to use contour lines ( which I had been forgetting for no apparent reason) and they stated to look much better. Mouths were straight forward except I kept making them fuller than they need to be. Also I need to remember not to let the corners of the mouth meet.

I heard that the final project for this class will be a self portrait but I haven't decided if I'm happy about this or not yet. I have never drawn a realistic self portrait that I've been happy with. Not even close. It will definitely be a challenge.

Easter Break

I don’t really know what to say about this last week. With only two classes we didn’t have a whole lot of drawing time or any lectures. I can’t decide if drawing the skull was really hard or really easy. Have a look at my drawings and tell me what you think I should improve. 

Without the lecture it was difficult to know where to start. Usually I’ll start with which ever shape she suggests such as an egg for the ribcage or use the landmarks to find the general shape. With this I didn’t know what to look for. That being said I think the drawings turned out ok. I just eyeballed them really. The hardest thing was to decide which planes were important and what to emphasize.

I had been looking forward to drawing the skull but I’m not sure if I like drawing it or not. There is just more judgment calls than in the rest of the body. With so many tiny details I suppose it’s inevitable.

I love drawing characters and I have improved so much from this class. I can quickly get a character’s personality down on paper when before it would have defeated me.

The other end  of the spectrum is less positive. As the semester draws to a close the pressure is building up and the focus issues that I had at the start of the semester are coming back. I have all these great ideas and enthusiasm but no willpower. I really want to be able to give it my all and finish the semester on a high but I seem to have lost the ability to focus. There are so many distractions.

I have enjoyed this class and learnt a lot. I WILL focus. (I think I can, I think I can ;)

Picking Myself Back Up

So, this week was much feared by almost everyone else but much anticipated by me. It was time to draw hands. I like drawing hands. I always have. Next to the face, they are the most expressive part of the body. Of course, with this comes the problem. They are almost the second most difficult part. This is because of the irregularity and complexity of the muscles and bones. They were a mystery to me up till now.

Hands have been my personal challenge for a while and many a lecture notebook of mine has them scribbled all down the margins. Drawing them for class was less complicated than I expected. Amy’s ‘mitten, then long axis, then major planes’ method is really effective. Before this I have always tried to make the volume clear and often failed miserably. My method was very hit and miss. I feel that most of the drawings I did in class were pretty good proportionally. One did come out a little funky and I’m at a loss as to why. It’s this one, any ideas guys?

The others could definitely use some improvement but I’m happy with them. It was nice to have a drawing experience that uplifted me. My drawing rut is long gone now.

The mannequins, on the other hand, seem to get worse and worse. The hand muscles are so small and fiddly. They lie over each other in ways that seem to make no sense. My mannequin is pretty averagely built but he has the forearms of a body builder. Or at least a body builder with deformities. I will have to get on to that.

Back to the drawings. In her comment on the midterm Amy said that I need to work on my line variation. And I’ve really been trying to focus on that. It’s hard because when I draw, I usually think about where things need to be first, and worry about the presentation of the work later, then go back and try to add line variations.  Maybe I should try to think about it as I go. I really worked on this with the skeleton hand. See.

All in all, a really good week for life drawing.

Breaking Free

With the end of the semester drawing near I find myself buried under huge workload. The bigger this pile gets the more I enjoy my clay time. This has become a little piece of downtime amongst loads of computer work. It’s a little sad that homework is now downtime, but you’ve got to take your luck where you find it I guess. My enjoyment in the mannequin is despite the fact that they are getting indisputably more difficult. The muscles in the forearm especially so. They are thin, fiddly and layered over one another.

The drawings, which were being difficult are easier than before. I seem to have broken out of my Spring break rut. About time too! Adding the upper arm and forearm was frustrating, both on Monday and Wednesday. Monday’s long drawing was dead on the front, not even close to a three quarter view. I fought for this one but it still ended up looking flat and non-dynamic. Wednesday’s work started much the same way. The new way of doing gestures turned out awkward and spagetti like figures, as though I had forgotten all the anatomy I have learnt. But, after lots and lots of struggling with angles and foreshortening and proportion I think I got a decent drawing. During the last ten minutes, I moved and drew as I usually would, quickly and fluidly and the arm turned out well. After finally churning out some good drawings I have realized that when I over-think a pose that it just turns out awkward.

I have been trying to work on what Amy said on my midterm sheet, which was that I should work on my line variation. I have never been very good at this, I just don’t know where to start. I was trying to make lines in shadowed areas darker and I am not sure how successful this has been.

Arm time

This week was loads of fun, but more intense than any other so far. So many things were due and sleep was definitely lacking.

On Monday we had the option to draw or work on clay. I worked on clay with a couple of people and took advantage of the opportunity to chat. I was a little loud and I think I annoyed some people.

We had to do the latissimus dorsi, the pecs, the trapezius, and the deltoid. These muscles were pretty straight forward.

Wednesday’s drawing was not so straight forward. I have not done a single drawing that I have been completely happy with since before spring break. I don’t know if this is because I have gotten worse or if I am just holding myself to higher standards now. Hopefully it’s the latter. My drawings just seem awkward. I was talking to some other people who seem to be having the same problem. Like me, they have trouble when the drawings are longer than 45 minutes. I tend to over think everything and second guess things that I already had right. This leaves me with a messed up drawing. It could also be because our drawings have over taken our mannequins. We are now drawing muscles that we have not yet built. If this is the reason it definitely shows the value of the clay project.

I especially had a problem drawing the arm. It was difficult to define the bones and therefore I had trouble placing the muscles on the arm. My result looked rubbery and unconvincing.

The arm muscles were tricky but I was expecting this. Still, I spent hours on them. I think they’re fairly accurate. A little chunky perhaps.We’ll see I guess. I also tried to address some of the comments I got from the midterm. I filled out the quads and smoothed some of the lumps but I didn’t change the other things. I’ll need to talk to Amy about them. May the new week bring my drawing skills back! I miss them.

Back at Stout

It was great to be home but this week wasn’t the nice slow start I would have liked after a break. Personal drama was definitely foreshadowing the tough couple of weeks in the future.

For this week Monday was the start of a new area of the body- the shoulders. I have been looking forward to this as I had always had a problem with the idea that the rib cage is an egg. I thought it should be an upside down egg because the torso seems larger at the top. With my new understanding of the scapula and the clavicles I can follow this approach.

The muscles of those bones were assigned next and they were fairly easy. The only question is how accurate mine are. I think I finally have a decent idea how to use the text book.

The next class was only half full thanks to unfortunate weather but I didn’t mind at all. We were drawing the scapula on the back and the clavicles on the front. As I drew the scapula I realized how little I knew of it before. I picked it up pretty easily. Part way through the class we heard that afternoon classes were cancelled and the model was chatty for the first time. It’s good that she feels comfortable enough to talk to us, as an awkwardly silence wouldn’t help me focus.

Friday was not as easy. Though the muscles were easier to pick out on our other model I had a much harder time depicting them. I think this is because I was trying to place the new muscles that we had been assigned but not yet built. There were loads of them. I am looking forward to drawing next week, after I finish this week’s muscles, as the figure will be almost complete.

... feet...

This week dragged. I hadn’t been looking forward to Spring break too much then on Monday I hit the wall. I was totally exhausted. But that’s life I suppose.

Anyway, art wise it was a struggle. Monday was spent on clay, doing the foot muscles.  This was fiddly as they were tiny and layered over each other. I had to redo them a couple of times because the foot was starting to look like a boot.  On a positive note, at work on Tuesday I drew a figure from memory using all the muscles and landmarks that I’ve learnt in class. And it was good! I guess you’ve gotta take the good with the bad.

We continued with feet on Wednesday, drawing only the main planes of the foot. I felt that it went ok. It was easier to draw the more complex positions than the normal angle of the foot.  Probably because the feet have very subtle angles … and are all too easily made into hooves. They are not great to look at anyway and my drawings did them no favors as you can see.

Friday’s drawings did not go according to plan. I was just as frustrated, if not more than those first few weeks. I crossed out more than one of my drawings and couldn’t stick to the subject. You can see my temper tantrum at the bottom.

I really tried hard because I know how important it is to get right. If you can’t get the feet right the sense of weight gets messed up for the whole figure. I can’t understand why they are so much more difficult for me than the rest of the figure. Usually I can get it if I can focus but not with this. Hopefully it’ll be better after a weeks’ break.

Midterm Madness

My Flickr

I have been looking forward to life drawing and we’re already halfway through it! Coming into this class I thought I could already draw a decent figure, now I know that I was wrong! At least I came with the determination to improve. The first day’s gesture work was a lot of fun for me as I had done a lot of it in the past but once we moved beyond that it started getting seriously frustrating. This is one of my first gestures link

I always drew quickly and without restriction, so drawing an egg on a stick, even a very specifically curving stick, was infuriating. Drawing only a few parts at a time lacked the instant gratification that I was used to.

I struggled with my motivation through the first weeks, keeping myself going with the knowledge that it was for good reason.  I had already been using the egg and spinal column in my drawings before class so it was when we added the pelvis that I began really seeing the benefits. ­My first attempts at the pelvis had the same problems as most other people- I put it too far away from the ribcage.

Drawing skills was the main thing I wanted to get out of this class but there is another big side to it- the mannequins. linkThey have many benefits. Firstly, though very, very difficult, it helps cement the forms of the muscles and their movements and is very different to anything I have been doing in my other classes. It’s a refreshing change of pace.

I have always had a problem with contour drawings but this class seems to have remedied that. I have seen improvement in the variation of my lines, something that my drawing 1 & 2 professors always stressed. Today we did an extended drawing of just the leg and it is my best contour yet and a good example of this.

As we add more and more muscles to our repertoire I enjoy this class more and more. It’s great to see an improvement in such a short period of time.

A constant struggle

Another week has failed to completely drown me in work. But this one definitely tried.

Drawing wise I don’t feel that I accomplished much. Monday was clay work and Wednesday’s drawing left me frustrated. I was unable to portray the form as I wanted, partially because of the odd views I had, but I shouldn’t blame  that. I need to learn to capture and communicate difficult perspectives. Drawing the thighs was difficult, possibly because of a lack on understanding of how the bone structure works. With Friday’s drawing being cancelled I don’t feel I made any worthwhile works at all this week. I have planned to draw with some people on Sunday so hopefully that will remedy this.

Outside of class I have a few projects on the go. Mostly practices of landscapes and characters using a tablet I’m borrowing. I am determined to keep drawing non-class related things this year, as last year I didn’t do any.

As for the clay I think I’ve figured out the pattern. I always struggle to figure out what it should look like. After ages I decide that I’m completely lost only to come to class and discover that I wasn’t too far off. The quads and adductors were fairly straightforward, in comparison to the hamstrings anyway but after reworking most of them I think they are fairly accurate. For a change.

With midterms coming up we are into the business end of the semester. It has flown by. In preparation for the folio I have been looking over the work I have done in this class and I was very happy to see a marked improvement. It’s always reassuring to see proof, especially in so short a time. Of course I still know that I have a long way to go.

Confused

So far this semester everything has been kind of hunky-dory, but now it seems to be time to get down to business. All my classes are completely nose to the grindstone except this one.

I'm definitely getting more out of the drawing in class but the mannequins are getting harder. Confusing. The more muscles we get on them the harder it is. Its difficult to know what it's supposed to look like when the book doesn't show any muscles other than the one we're working on. Today I made the inner thigh muscles and had to put them on and take them off 3 times. The problem was that the 3 heads of the adductor magnus look exactly like the adductus longus, brevus and the pectineus. I still don't know if it's right.

Anyway I'm glad we've finally added the pelvis to our drawings. It’s a challenge now, far more interesting than an egg on a stick. Adding the spinal erectors the abs and the obliques makes it really begin to look convincing. As we get deeper into the anatomy the drawings and process of making them is getting more and more absorbing. I have been working on capturing the movement of the figure for some time now but this class is the first time that I have focused directly on form. It is fascinating to learn the shapes that will be consistent one everyone. The things that I find most interesting are the landmarks that show important lines. Until now I didn’t feel that I was learning much, but now the class’ worth is becoming obvious. Different angles and perspectives have forced me to rethink what I thought I knew, especially in the extended drawings like these ones.

­I have found my focus and am working on line weight and proportion. Now that my frustration has past I am enthusiastic for what we are going to add next.

Inspiration

This week was an interesting week. First I became completely uninspired and then re-inspired to knew heights. We started off drawing the ribcage. I was trying to get all the ribs where they should go but having problems. Then when I started just trying to get the shape and the foreshortening down I lost patience. The longer drawing of the torso went better as I could focus on details as well and proportion and skeletal placement. It was difficult to 'see through' limbs to determine the ribs.

We were assigned the abs; quadratus lumborum, external obliques and the erectus abdominus, which turned out to be the most difficult set of muscles yet. It should be obvious really, as the abs have no underlying bone structure. They refused to sit right. I guess I thought a sheet of protective muscle would be simpler. It is fun to work on the muscles with friends, helpful too. I would have been lost without Alyssa's help on these. (Thanks :) )
We also did the gluteus medius, the tensor fasciae and the gluteus maximus which are shown above.

Wednesday was the continuation of the ribcage and I grew less and less patient as it went on. I know why we were working the way that we were but I found it hard to stay on topic. Friday was the solution to my lack of focus. We came into class more than a little confused. It was packed with painting students. Turned out that Amy was going to give them a lecture on the structure of the skull and Charlie Lume was going to give us a lecture in exchange. I have had Lume for two classes now and his lecture inspired me yesterday as they always do. He showed us how important line sensitivity is, and how even the masters, like Van Gogh and Rembrandt started out in the pits. I went back to the ribcage with a new determination.

Back in the drawing room, we found that we had a new model. His poses weren't nearly as extreme as hers and I found myself glad of the change. It would be good if we alternate between them, so we can have practice with the unusual and a handle on those we can use everyday. It was also easier to see the muscles on him though it was a challenge to tell where the ribs ended and the abs began.

After our break I found that the spot I had chosen to draw from was both a little close for comfort and exactly straight on. Still I suppose this is a challenge to make that which appears flat show form. I think my contours were fairly accurate but my angles were way off. I need to work on this next time.

Starting the Skeletons

I was pretty excited to start working on these guys and it was pretty fun. I'm glad I did it with other people though, it was confusing enough as it is.  The neck muscles were easier to do than the back muscles, mostly because it was clearer where they are supposed to go.

On Monday we got our manikens and cleaned them which proved harder than expected. Looking back I should have taken this as a warning. We had to build the spinalis erectus muscles. It was very difficult to figure out what it was supposed to look like because the example model and the books were different. In the end we decided to use mainly the model as our guide and I think it is pretty good. I'll find out I guess.

In class on Wednesday we focused on drawing the spinal lines on the front and back. It was difficult to decide where the line should be when drawing the front until it was clarified what we were looking for. It was the line of the skin, not looking through to what the spine would be doing, as I thought.

Friday went better, I had my first real success in contour drawings. I got a handle on drawing the spine and I found thinking of the torso as a volumous shape helped figuring out the direction that the lines should be going in. Originally I drew the contour lines very lightly and then when I was happy with them I went over parts of them with softer charcoal to give line variation. Even with all of these steps I still draw too quickly. I do two or three drawings in the allotted time. I have to work on that. It's hard to make myself to draw slowly. The effort makes my drawings feel awkward. Besides this I feel like I'm improving, if only slowly.

Getting Started

This is our first week of class and I have quickly discovered my strengths and weaknesses in life drawing. I love the speed and fluidity of the gesture drawings. They came easily to me and I enjoyed the sense of achievement through the two lessons.

The contour drawings were the complete opposite. We were told not to worry about proportion and to draw slowly. I love drawing quickly, with big gestures and lots of movement. Within the time we were supposed to spend on one I found myself drawing several and ending up frustrated with the process. I will definitely have to work on that. Part way through the time I started thinking of the limb that I was drawing as a landscape of rolling hills, and imagining myself drawing the contour lines on a map. This made it a little easier but didn't really make for a particularly nice drawing.

The model is very good, she gave us some seriously challenging poses. I must admit I expected a less ideal physique, I suppose it's easier to teach with one. Anyway it sounds like the model from open drawing doesn't do as interesting poses so we are lucky.
I'm both looking forward to and dreading the clay skeletons. It will be very useful to know about the bone structure but it looks hard. I only have one basic tool so I hope it turns out ok.

This is a bunch of gestured I did before I started at Stout. They are done with vine and took 1 minute each. I thought they were pretty good then but I can see now that they need a little work. Oh well, hopefully I'll get that in this class.

I hope to get a couple of different things out of this class. I'd like to gain knowledge of the human form so that I can draw it without needing a model. I'd also like to improve my 'eye' and be able to draw from life with more accuracy. But what I want to improve the most is in composition and line sensibilities.

Introduction

I'm Emma. I am a sophomore here at Stout, studying for a bachelor of arts concentrating in multimedia design. Art runs in my family and I have always known that I would eventually study it. I love art but I'm not sure exactly I hope to do when I graduate.

I was born in Australia where I lived until I was 9. Then I moved to New Zealand where my parents were born and lived there until I was 18. I am now 20 and have been living in Wisconsin for 2 years. I have been studying drawing, painting and many different types of design here as well as the gen eds. I am considering a minor in photography thanks to an amazing class last semester.

My work is done using mainly traditional mediums though I would like to learn how to do digital art.

Aside from art, I like to go rock climbing, roller blading and biking. I love to hang out with my friends and family.