MidTerm Reflection

This semester is passing by quite rapidly and I find it impossible to believe we are already in our 8th week of classes. I suppose it is about that time to take a step back and reflect over the last few months. From the beginning, this class has been one of my most enjoyable classes this semester and it has managed to maintain its appeal. I find myself learning something new every week and notice myself growing stronger and more confident in my drawing abilities. I get excited about training my eyes and hands to recreate what I see in a logical, yet expressive way.

I suppose I could say that what I’ve learned so far this semester ranges from how to draw lines to understanding the constructs of a human body. I’ve learned to draw lighter, quicker and less continuous by breaking up my lines. I’ve also been fighting an outlining habit for weeks now, but can tell I am finally starting to build up a resistance. I won’t claim to be an expert on all the technical classifications and medical terminology of the human body yet, but I do feel I have a better grasp on how muscles and skeletal structures work.

I find my strengths come out during the longer drawings where I have time to rethink things and really analyze what I see. Once I draw the basic underlying skeleton, I like to be able to really zoom in and focus on just a few elements. I don’t really notice the time going by and don’t find these lengthy drawings dull or exhausting.

My weaknesses probably would include quick gesture drawings and the rib cage/pelvis proportion relationship. I tend to have a more difficult time seeing these structures on the models sometimes and really want to take the extra time and fill in the other features for the drawing to make more sense. I always feel like they are unfinished and messy. I suppose the point of a gesture drawing is to capture the first impression and I really shouldn’t be so critical, but my first impression always leads me to ask more questions and I become unsatisfied when I have to move on.

I would love to learn how to draw faces and expressions from a live model. I have done many portraits before, mainly from photographs, but love how you can capture a personality. I have observed how expressive the human body can be and I think understanding facial expressions and structures could be very interesting.

I would like to continue to improve my gesture drawings and the overall proportions. I think the more practice I get, the quicker and easier these drawings will become.

If you want to see some pictures of my work so far… here is the link to my flickrpage!
http://www.flickr.com/people/elizabethlifedrawing/