Week Two Reflection

The second week of class we were introduced to some rules about muscles. We learned some terminology about observing the body and we started building the spinal erectors with our clay and skeleton models. This was very challenging.... working in three dimensions with a two dimensional guide was tough.

We continued drawing gesture drawings of a model this week, starting with 30 second gestures, then one minute, three minutes, etc. These were still challenging for me, because I was trying to get away from drawing only the outlines of the figure. We were taught how to follow the top center planes of the limbs so we only need one mark per limb. This was hard to get the hang of, it was also hard for me to stop focusing on one detail at a time and make an overall gesture of the entire body and position. I also still struggled with getting the entire body in during the faster gestures, and fitting the whole length of the legs and arms (when extended) inside the section of my paper. But practice, practice, practice makes perfect and little by little I'm starting to get the feel of these gestures. With the longer poses, I still feel unsure about my lines and marks, but I try to follow the contours of the body best I can. I do also love drawing the model for the half hour time period, so I can look closely and capture detail.

Contour Drawing of Model

Gesture Drawing of Model

Shell contour

Week One Reflection

This week our class got started, and we got introduced to what Life Drawing is and what we'll be learning. In the first day of actual drawing, we received a shell which we will be observing and drawing throughout the semester. We began doing blind contour line drawings of our shell. It had been quite some time since I last had done these drawings (possibly since my freshman year), but it was really refreshing and brought my attention back to focusing on the object and not my drawing of it. I really got a feel for the shape and movement of my shell. These shells are helping us to draw natural form and contour line, so we can practice and get a better understanding of the human form. We did a contour line drawing, which was my favorite, because I am a very detail-oriented drawer, and here I could carefully observe every part of my shell.

This previous class period we started drawing with a female model. We began with doing many quick 30 second poses, doing small gesture drawings. These were difficult for me at first, because I could not get the whole body in fast enough, and I didn't remember how to really use my drawing tool to make quick gestures. After Amy showed us some methods for drawing the entire body and a reminder on how to use our tools, I started to get the feel for capturing the model's whole form. It was a little exhausting by the end of three hours, from so much direct and careful observation and processing of information. However, it was a great exercise for me, to refresh my observation skills and start understanding how the body looks and balances. I understood more about the spinal column and how that positions the whole form of the body.

We ended the class with a half an hour contour line drawing of a concentrated area on the model's body. I started on her face and hair (she was resting, face up). I attempted to capture the lines of her strands of hair, strewn around her head and onto her chest. This pose was very enjoyable for me because it was slower, and I could pick out more detail and really observe the forms for a longer period of time.