Week Seven: FEET

This week we began by working with clay during Monday's class. We worked on building the Extensor Halluas Longus, the Exentsor Digitorum Longus, the Peroneus Tertius, and the Peroneus Brevis. Then, towards the middle of the week we began to work on the muscles of the foot: the Abductor Digiti Minimi and the Extensor Digitorum Brevis.

On Wednesday's class we starting drawing just the feet. We did so in a very primitive way. We were told only to draw the planes of the feet, the top, front, and side planes. I struggled with this approach a little bit. At first it was hard for me to figure out which plane was which. The drawing on the left was one that I thought was fairly accurate. On the right foot in the drawing the top plane is not visible. On the left foot however, all planes are visible although only a small portion of the front plane is.
I am writing this blog before our Friday's class because of my Spring Break Plans, so hopefully in tomorrow's class I get some more practice on this approach towards the feet. As I did more drawings, I did begin to understand the technique. So, I am hoping after tomorrow's session I will have complete confidence in drawing the feet in any position.

Midterm Portfolio: Reflection

http://www.flickr.com/photos/60288392@N08/
This week instead of a normal post on reflection from the past week, I am reflecting on the first half of the semester. Midterm Portfolio...hard to believe its already here! This semester has seemed to just fly by. I feel like I have learned so much about the human body. However, I know there is still a lot left to learn.
Above I have posted the link to my flicker account in which I have posted several photos of my manikin and 10 drawings from class. Overall, I am very proud of my drawings and feel I have come along way. The reason I took this class is because drawing is something I enjoy very much, especially the human form. So, naturally I enjoy this class very much, probably the most out of all my classes this semester. For two hours I can block out any thoughts, worries, or stress I have going on in my head, and just focus on my drawing. I love the feeling I get after I produce a drawing I'm happy with, that feeling of accomplishment that consumes all my thoughts. Drawing takes me into a different world where I feel comfortable and relaxed, but also challenged and focused. In this class, I get to experience this every time I attend.
I did struggle with a couple of things at the beginning of the semester. At first I was frustrated with just drawing just the spine. I hated spending 45 minutes drawing only to draw one line. But, as time went on I began to understand the reason we spent so much time on the curves of the spine. Learning how to get the angles right builds the foundation for a good drawing of the human form. It's the backbone of the whole process. I also struggled sometimes with certain angles of the hips. When the model was turned at a quarter angle towards me, I always got confused at exactly what those bones were doing. This obstacle was also overcome as the semester went on. With a little help from Amy, I began getting those angles correct.
All in all, the first half of the semester has gone very well. I am satisfied with the drawings I have produced so far, I moved through some of the areas I was struggling in, and I get a lot of enjoyment out of the class.


This is a drawing for the most recent class period. Finally, we got to put everything we've learned together into one drawing.  Drawing the model from almost straight-on was a little difficult, but I got through it.

Week Five: Hamstrings

This week during class, we focused on the Hamstrings. Monday, we worked on building the muscles with clay to learn the shape and form of the hamstrings. Then, Wednesday we drew for the entire class, putting everything together that we have learned so far; the spine, the rib cage, the pelvic bones, the thigh muscles, and the hamstrings. I really enjoyed being able to draw this much of the body. Its definitely refreshing to draw this much compared to the beginning of the semester when we were just allowed to draw the spine.
The drawing on the top left was a 10 minute pose from Wednesday's class. It was really nice to have a pose from the back. The curve of the spine was very recognizable, which made placing all the rest of the bones easier. The drawing on the right was a lot more difficult for me. The model was at an angle that made drawing the pelvic bones a lot more challenging. Since she was not at a straight side view, but slightly turned, I had to draw two planes of the pelvic bones. At first I didn't even realize that I had to do this, but after getting help from Amy, I was able to understand exactly what those bones were doing. After I was able to understand this, everything else fell into place; the sacrum, the rib cage, and the then the thigh muscles.

Week Four: Quads and Adductors

This week we spent time concentrating on the glutes, hips, and thigh muscles. In addition to drawing the egg shape of the rib cage and the curve of the spine, this week we added the hip bones and the thigh muscles.
During the beginning of class, our warm ups consisted of 30 second poses, 1 minute, 2 minute, and 3 minute poses. During those quick gesture drawings we were told to focus just on the rib cage, the hip bones, and the spine.

To the left in the top photo are just a couple of my gesture drawings from Friday's class. I had a little trouble visualizing the glutes and the hip bones from the back of the model. However, after a demonstration, I understood a lot better. The poses this week were all very interesting and unique, making the gesture drawings interesting and unique also.

The photo on the bottom is a drawing from about a 45 minute pose. Again, in this exercise, we were told to draw just the ribs, the spine, and the hips. However, we were also allowed to add the abdominal muscles, as well as some of the thigh muscles. The biggest thing I struggled with after getting the proportions and the angle of the spine correct, was drawing slow. I tend to draw too fast, then I have too much time left.

Week Three: Ribs, Abdominals and Glutes

This week we moved from the spinal column down to the ribs and the ab muscles.  I was extremely anxious to move on from the spine. Although I learned a lot from studying the spine, I enjoyed drawing something new. During this week, each day we were instructed to draw the the spine along with the egg shape of the rib cage. Then, as the week drew to a close, we were instructed to draw the ab muscles in addition to the spine and the rib cage.
After this week,  I really am beginning to see the body as many different muscles forming one shape instead of seeing the body as one large mass. Its helpful to be able to observe and study the human form. Having the model right in front of me, constantly changing shape and from keeps me focused and in artistic shape.

Our assignment our this weekend was to build the glute muscles on our mannequin. These muscles included: the gluteus medius, the tensor fasciae latae, and the gluteus maximus. At this point my mannequin has the muscles of the spine, the abdominal muscles and the glute muscles. Now with the glute muscles added to my skeleton, the mannequin looks like this: 

Week Two: Line and form/ Spinal Column

This week in Life Drawing we began an in depth study of the spinal column. But before we began the study of the spinal column, we singled out one body part and drew contour lines to form the shape of the body part. At first I had a little trouble with this task. This was because we had to draw very slowly and concentrate on just one body part instead of the whole figure. Although I struggled with this at first, I began to understand the importance of this assignment. It helped me understand the curvature of the form and learn where the bumps and indents are located.
After a couple sessions of these contour drawings, we began to study the spinal column. To learn the ways that the spine moves, we drew just the line of the spine on the model. We did this repeatedly for a number of different poses. Drawing just the line of the spinal column got a little tiring, however I did begin to understand how the spine moves and the curves it made through the different poses. After drawing the spine so many times, I am very ready and excited to move on to other parts of the body.

Our assignment over the weekend was to form the muscles around the spine out of clay on our plastic mannequins. These muscles included: the spinals (cervicis and capitas), Longissimus (capitals, cervicis, and thoracis), and Iliocostalis (cervicis and thoracis). I enjoyed building these muscles out of clay and learned a lot about the anatomy of the spine. Over the next couple of weeks we will be building the muscles around the mannequin, muscle by muscle until we have completed all the muscles in the body. At this point my mannequin looks like this:

Week One: Introduction

My name is Lindsay Rupprecht. I have a major in art with a concentration in Graphic Design and a minor in business. I'm from Milwaukee, WI and I am a sophomore at UW Stout. I have taken two drawing classes prior to this class: Drawing One and Drawing Two. I enjoyed both very much. I consider drawing to be one of my strong points as well as one of my hobbies. I chose to take Life Drawing because I enjoy drawing the human form. I find it extremely interesting as well as challenging, which is what I look for in a college-level class. I also went to a couple of open life-drawing sessions in high school and it sparked my interest. I am very excited about this class and expect to learn a lot.
A couple of previous projects from last year and last semester that I am most proud of include: Fashion without Fabric and my group game design. Last year, spring semester of 2010,  I participated in Fashion without Fabric: a fashion show in which art students design outfits made out of anything but fabric. The theme for the show was Heroes v. Villains. So, my partner and I chose to design a costume for a caffeine hero. The name of our hero was Chloe Cappuccino. The costume was made completely out of coffee filters that we dyed with coffee. The necklace was made out of coffee beans and the gloves were made out of coffee cups.



Another  project I enjoyed is my game design from last semester. The project was a group project of four people. The goal of the project was to come up with an idea for a game, then design game pieces, instructions, and a board for the game. We decided as a group to design a form of laser tag called, "Sector Protector". The game included 8 vests (with timers) made out of plastic, 8 goggles, and 8 shooters made out of pvc pipes.