Midterm Portfolio

The first semester of Life Drawing has been interesting. Drawing strictly with line has taken a while to get the hang of, but finally, half way through the semester, it is getting easier. Using line (cross-contour in particular) has helped me to understand form and shape much better than I expected. Looking at the structure of the body has been helpful as well, I think seeing the body broken down into its basic, universal parts will make it easier to quickly and accurately sketch a figure, and know that it is correct and proportional. The skeleton mannequin has been useful here; having a 3D model to study and reference goes a long way in drawing the same muscles on a live model (Although actually working with the clay has been a frustrating, sloppy affair). Drawing accurate proportions has been problematic thus far, but I expect (hope?) that as we move towards understanding the complete figure, I will improve in this area.
For next semester, I am looking forward to learning the hands and face. These areas are incredibly detailed and unique, I imagine drawing them will be a fun experience. In addition, the structure of the hands and face are (I am guessing?) easier to see and draw accurately as they have more obvious visual landmarks than, say, the spine.

http://s1019.photobucket.com/home/lifedrawingteej/

La Jetée

The piece I decided to write on is La Jetée (1962). It is a 30 minute black-and-whtie film by French artist Chris Marker. It consists almost entirely of still photographs, and follows the story of a man in post World War III Paris, who is subjected to a series of time travel experiments.
The movie was interesting for several reasons. The pace of the film is somewhat slow but the gritty, black and white photos feel incredibly real; in fact it wasn't until sometime into the viewing that I realized that it wasn't a real story. There's also a moment when the photos break into film for a few seconds, which is a surprisingly pleasant change of pace.

Horse Conch

The horse conch, or Pleuroploca gigantea, is a species of predatory sea snail found along the Atlantic Coast of the Americas. Residing 20 feet below the water, the snail feeds on other marine shells.

The horse conch can reach up to 24 inches long and is the state shell of Florida. The shell is characterized by its long, twisting canal, and knobs formed by multiple spinal cords and axial ribs. The color of the shell varies from bright orange in the young to off-white as an adult.

contour drawing

Last week we began contour drawing. It has been a nice change of pace, moving away from the quick gesture drawings we have been doing. Learning the curves of the spine has been interesting, too. I am excited to see if drawing certain areas of the body (like the spine) will actually become second nature, and then drawing the body will hopefully be more systematic and less guesswork.

BLIND CONTOUR DRAWING

Five words:
Dark
Crawling
Slanted
Heavy
Thin

intro

I am Tyler. I'm a junior this year, in game design and development. Drawing has always been my biggest artistic interest so I am looking forward to this semester in life drawing. It will be interesting to focus on line and form as opposed to light and shading in my other drawing classes.