Final Blog Post

So life drawing is coming to a close. I think I achieved many of the goals found in the syllabus, if I maybe I didn't understand them at the time. Drawing structurally, for instance, has been an enormous change of style from earlier drawing classes. Instead of "drawing what you see" I learned to draw as I understood it; and comparing my long drawings from the start of the semester to the end, I think structural drawing has been obviously helpful. Expressing form with line instead of shading was another skill I have improved in, and after looking back at the syllabus I see that was one of the course objectives, so it's nice to know I took away from the class what I was supposed to. The mannequin, on the other hand, was less helpful for me. Not only was the entire process more frustrating than anything, I forgot all but a few of the muscles soon after making them.
In terms of changes in the second half of the semester, I think my gesture drawings saw the biggest improvement. Despite knowing better, I couldn't seem to stop drawing outline silhouettes in a rush to get the entire form down on paper in 30 seconds. Once I started trying to draw the 'gesture' (go figure) instead of the shape, I felt much more comfortable with my gesture drawings.
Overall my experience in life drawing has been a positive one. My major is game design art, so I have no doubt that a better understanding of the human body (and especially knowing landmarks/shortcuts to ensure more accurate proportions) will come in handy in my career.

Final Portfolio

the faceee

last week we learned the features of the face. For me, it's probably been the most fun of the semester; faces are so expressive and unique compared to the rest of the body. I found that I had to look much harder at what I was drawing to capture it accurately--Even small mistakes can make the complete face look much different than the model.
I am glad (now!) that 'face week' followed 'skull' week. While I was drawing the skull I was skeptical that it would have any noticeable effect on how I drew the face, but knowing where bones lie under the skin helps to link the parts of the face together as a whole. The cheekbone in particular has been a major landmark that I used while drawing faces.

The Skull

Last week we started on the skull. I sort of had to 'forget everything i know' to get started, because the proportions/layout of the skull is so much different than we, as humans, seem to think. The bones of the face in particular were difficult; there's so many protrusions and plane changes that its almost overwhelming. In drawing the three views of the skull for homework I had problems getting the bones to look like they were in front and behind one another accurately.

THE HANDS

This week we started drawing the hands. as expected, they have been much more fun to draw than areas like the torso or back, since they are so unique and defined. I also imagine that there are many different poses and positions the hand can be put in compared to the torso.
The skeleton model continues to not be very much fun. The forearm and hand have so many tendons that its difficult to not create a Hulk-esque fist, but that might just be how it goes with clay.

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.