Final Portfolio

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Taking Life-drawing over the last couple months has taught me many things. I have learned the importance of understanding the human shape and form, I have learned to combine what I know and what I see to complete drawings, and most importantly I have learned how to accurately draw the human body.

As the semester came to an end I began to see changes in my drawings. In the beginning of the class I had a hard time drawing only what we told to draw. I always wanted to get ahead of myself and just draw the whole form. However, as the semester continued, I learned to draw a lot slower and only focus on what we were learning at the time. I think my biggest weakness when drawing was the speed. I drew way too fast at the start of the class, but then I really tried hard to slow down and get all the proportions and placements accurate. I think my biggest strength when drawing is my delicate style and precision. A lot of my drawings look very clean and meticulous.  My style of drawing definitely developed throughout the semester as we began to draw to my complicated forms.

Using the manikin definitely helped when trying to draw the human body. Spending hours forming each of the muscles in the body forced me to remember how those muscles look, act, and work with each other. Therefore, when I was drawing in class I would draw a part of the body and quickly remember where those muscles where on my manikin. This helped me to give my drawings dimension and form where it needed it.

I think what I will use the most from this class was the act of looking and understanding. Not only were we told to draw what we see, but we were also taught what goes on underneath the body. Knowing that helped me understand how to draw the forms every better.

Week Thirteen: Face/Full body

Well, it was our last full week of class and it was packed full of new information. Monday we began by working on the face. We started a drawing of the model's face that was to be completed over the course of the next two classes. Altogether, it would be about a three hour drawing. So, after learning how to draw the eyes, nose, and lips, Monday was the day we began to put it all together. I found this to be very challenging. I needed a lot of placement adjustments, but after Amy's help I got everything in it proper place. The lips were the most difficult for me.
Wednesday we continued our drawings of the face. I had the eyes, nose, and lips in the correct place, so Wednesday I began to darken lines, and draw contour lines to show depth and form. I wasn't completely satisfied with my drawing, but I think I have a much better understanding of the facial features.

Friday we out everything together. I had a lot of fun with this because I have been waiting to draw the entire figure for so long. I was pretty satisfied with my drawing in the end. Below is my drawing from friday which I believe we are continuing to work on during Monday's class.

Week Twelve: Skull/nose/eyes

This week was a short week. Monday we had no class because of Spring Holiday. Wednesday we started lessons on drawing the nose. Amy only did a short lecture of drawing the planes of the nose in order to give us more time to draw. We were told to pair up and take turns drawing each other's noses. Each of us had to complete a 20 minute drawing. It was a little difficult because there are actually a lot of planes involved in drawing the nose. However, I feel I understood the nose by the time I finished my drawing.
After completing our drawings of the nose, Amy did another short lecture on drawing the eyes. By the tip she finished explaining the eyes, we only had enough time left in class for one person to complete a drawing. So, I wasn't able to draw my partner's eyes.
The week before we spent a whole class period drawing the skull. To the right is a drawing from the previous week of the profile of the skull. I actually really enjoyed drawing the skull. We got a lot of class time to complete it, so I took my time, got a few pointers from Amy, and just enjoyed drawing. Parts of it were a little complicated, but I think it turned out well.
Below is a drawing from Wednesday of the nose. When thinking of the nose in terms of planes, it was much easier to draw I think. In my first drawing on the top the angle was a little too exaggerated so I drew a second one which I think turned out much better. 

Week Eleven: Hands

This week we worked on the hands. Monday, we began drawing right away and completed several gesture drawings, once again, focusing on drawing the entire form in only a short segment. I am getting a lot better at this task. In almost every one of my gestures I was able to draw the whole body. Its getting a lot easier to complete the form in only 30 seconds or so.
Wednesday we had a lecture on the bones of the hands. We were also assigned the muscles of the hand to complete on our manikins by Friday. On Wednesday, we had several different drawing stations set up around the room. In one area, our model posed her hands for students to draw, in two other areas, skeletal hands were staged on black sheets for students to also draw. We were instructed complete both an hour drawing of the model's hand, and an hour drawing of the skeletal hand. I decided to draw the skeleton's hand on Wednesday.

On Friday I drew from the model's hand. It was helpful because we had two models that day so I had good hand positions to choose from. It was difficult at first to draw the hand.  I think this is because it is such a small area with so much detail; it's easy to get lost. However, as I continued to draw it came easier to me. I did two different poses. To the left are pictures of my skeletal drawing and the drawing of the model's hand.

Week Ten: Muscles of the Arm Continued

This week we continued to work on the muscles of the arm. On Monday we began the class with gesture drawings. Amy did a short demo on drawing the entire figure in only 30 seconds. A lot of the class (including me) was struggling with this concept so Amy did a front view and side view example of what our gesture drawings should look like. It was nice to be reminded of what was important in a good gesture drawing. Amy reminded us that adding more motion to our arms would give our drawings a lot more energy. She also reminded us that getting the proportions and placements correct was not as important as completing the whole figure in the allowed time.
On Monday, besides gestures and long poses, we also were assigned more muscles in the arm to build on our manikin. Then on Wednesday we drew gestures for the first half of class, and drew a long pose for the second half. While students were drawing, Amy went around and checked everyone's manikins to make sure they were done correctly. There were only a couple minor problems with mine that I fixed pretty easily. On Wednesday were assigned more muscles since we didn't have class on Friday due to Mid Program Review. It was 8 muscles that began in the hand and extended into the arm. After completing my muscles this is what my manikin looks like:

Week Nine: Muscles of the Arm

This week we continued to work on the muscles of the back and the clavicle. However, we also added the muscles that make up the armpit, along with a couple muscles on the arm. During Monday's class we took a break from drawing and worked with clay the whole class period. These were the muscles that made up the back and clavicles. I enjoyed working with the clay. It always helps me understand the way the muscles are positioned and what their purpose is.
Wednesday we drew the entire two hours of class. We started by doing several gesture poses, putting everything we've learned so far together. I mentioned in my last post that drawing all the things we've learned was a little difficult for me to do in 30 seconds. However, this week it was a lot easier. I was able to include all everything in almost every one of my drawings.
After completing many 30 second, 1 minute, 2 minute, and 3 minute gesture drawings, we then continued to do an hour long drawing. The drawing below is my finished drawing. I was pretty pleased with how mine turned out. We were told to include the muscles that made up the armpit. The view at which I drew my drawing, gave me a very good idea of exactly what those muscles were doing. I was able to see them clearly enough to include them in my drawing.

Week Eight: Shoulder Girdle

This week we began to work on the shoulder blades. We started off on Monday by working on the shoulder girdle which includes: the Teres Minor, the Infraspinatus, the Supraspinatus, and the Teres Major. We sat through lecture for the first half of class, then drew the last half of class. We were told to put everything together, adding the should blades and collar bone last. At first we started off with 30 second poses, which was kinda frustrating. I found a little difficult at first to include everything we have learned so far into my drawing in just 30 seconds. However, as class progressed I drew faster and was able to finish my drawings.
Wednesday we continued to concentrate on the shoulder blades. Wednesday was helpful because we were able to an hour long pose. This helped me focus on the shoulders and the collar bones. It was helpful also because Amy was able to walk around and help us work on getting everything just right. I did a coulpe things wrong, but overall my drawing was pretty accurate.
The image to the right is one that I found on a professional artist's Life drawing Blog. I though the image was particularly interesting because of the side-by-side comparison.  The drawing on the right shows the skeletal structure of the woman, including her shoulder blades. I thought this image was a good example of what the should blades are doing when the arms are held behind the back.