Final

This semester drawing class is coming to a close and I will be sad to go. I really enjoyed this class and feel my drawing skills have improved since the beginning of the year. I had a lot of fun doing the last shell drawing with the ink wash. With all the other homework of finals week, this drawing actually became the only assignment I was anxious to start.

I came into this class with a very basic understanding of the human form so I consider every class a new learning experience. I just really appreciate the opportunity to just sit and study the structure and proportions of the body. This kind of drawing has the ability to become something so powerful and beautiful when its well observed and intelligently depicted.

I find my strengths can be found in the longer poses where I spend more time figuring out proportions and planes. I feel these drawings are always stronger and contain more information. I also feel my line quality has also improved since the start of the semester. My drawings seem to capture more excitement and life than they previously did.

I know there is always something I can improve on and realize there is always something more to learn. Even though I feel I understand everything a little better, I know a lot of practice is still required to truly understand this subject.

I hope to take the skills I have learned in this class into the rest of my art career. I definitely plan to continuing drawing for the pure enjoyment of creating something and exploring.

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

Faces

Last week we concentrated on drawing the face. I have drawn portraits before from photographs and loved it, so I was excited to take on this new challenge. First we took a look at the eyes and nose. Amy lectured about the underlying bone structure and the importance of conveying depth and structure when you are drawing these features to make them feel more real. We had to break our habit of drawing football shaped eyes and curly noses. I really liked being able to have my own personal model too. It was also fun to have your portrait drawn!

In class critique

How is this drawing different than the last shell drawings? What has improved?
Since my last shell drawing, I feel I have done a better job capturing the textures on the surface of the shell. It also feels my drawings appear more 3-D and seems more round than my previous drawings. I think my line quality has also improved because my lines are sketchier and more broken up. I notice that when I am drawing, I don't keep my charcoal on the page as long.

What was it like drawing big? Did you change the way you draw or use the tools?
I actually enjoyed drawing on this larger scale. It really helped me zoom in and pay closer attention to all the small details, textures and plane shifts. I still think I could have drawn larger to really use my whole body.

Field Trip and Skulls

This was the week we went on the big field trip to, "Bodies: The Exhibition." I spent most of the ride there in a comatose state, so I was ready to move around and explore when we reached the Mall of America. The exhibit was close to what I imagined it to be like. I was actually surprised to find how delicate and thin some of the muscles structures were. I was fascinated to observe how the muscles twisted and wrapped around each other. For my drawings, I chose to draw the pelvis of a skeleton and the arm and shoulder of a man playing baseball. It was nice to get so close and really pick apart the pieces of the body. I feel these studies will help me draw more accurately in class. In class, we began drawing the skull because we will be starting to learn about the human head. I am really excited about this because I have always struggled with drawing heads realistically and in proportion to the rest of the body. I will include my latest drawings...I have a few from the week before that I must have forgotten to add.

oops almost forgot my latest drawings!

This week was the big week of midterm portfolio presentations. I actually found the portfolio creation to be quite an enjoyable experience. It was nice to get the chance to document all our struggles and accomplishments to gain a better perspective on our work. I also really enjoyed viewing everyone's portfolio and was interested to hear what other students had to say about the class this far. A lot of people admitted to struggling at first but now have noticed a great improvement in their drawing abilities. Difficulties with mannequin construction seemed to be a pretty common complain throughout the class. Amy gave us a few resources to check our work with and gave us a chance to redo some of our leg muscles. In class, we are concentrating on longer poses now to really focus on creating correct perspectives and proportions. I find myself still struggling with line variation, but believe my proportions are improving ever so slightly with each class.