Final

This has been quite the semester so far!  We have learned about a lot of things involving anatomy and skeletons. 

The manikin was a task all in itself with many hours put in and learning how to deal with clay.  This allowed us to see how the muscles we are drawing when models were in studio, were supposed to look since we could touch the clay and see how it is formed.

We also made four shell drawings on Stonehenge paper.  My first I think wasn’t the best but a starting ground for the rest.  My final one I believe and the one before it turned out better than the first two, but I like dealing with the ink a little more than just the charcoal. Over the course of the semester we really got to study our shells and know it and how it’s formed.  In the end I saw most of the class, myself included, really grow in effectiveness of their drawing skills and I believe this shell drawing had a lot to do with that.  We got to concentrate a lot on line weights and when ink was incorporated, shading too.

Something else that was a whole new experience for me was drawing live models.  In the past I’ve only drawn still life and let me say this was interesting!  Live models have a whole different thing to them since they must be proportionate with what a human looks like!  We learned how to draw the basic skeleton with how they were in a stance and then draw their body around said skeleton.  Also, when we made our manikins muscles we got to learn how the insides should be when drawing or creating a being.  This helped us create better curvatures in all the areas when drawing the figures. 

A Link To My Flickr Photostream! 

My Major

I believe this class, unlike a lot of the other art classes i gotta take at this school, will help me in the future for work.  im going into game design so i hope to be a character animator or something of the like.  This class has prepared me for proportions more so than i was already and we have looked at the muscles more in depth than ever before in a schooling environment.

Around the Room

Ive been noticing that another class, im assuming life drawing 2, has been drawing large scale models of the skeletons.  We as a class draw a few parts of the skeletons when the models couldnt make it in and i feel like if i were to ever take the following class that this could be interesting! there seems to be a lot more order to a skeleton than to a  living human being, since theres not too many differences between any single one to the next.  Im generally a lot better with order than chaos.

Museum

There was a week right before thanksgiving break where we went to two museums in Minnesota.  The bus was like an hour and a half late but we finally got to leave and after some Dramamine and a nice nap on the bus to shake off the bad driving by the bus driver, we did eventually arrive.  When it comes to museums, im not usually a fan.  I get bored and that ADD kicks in again and when it comes to "abstract" art, I will never understand what anyone sees in it.  I would much rather look at things that look realistic and structural, which is why i somehow ventured all the way upstairs where at the end of a hallway you can look over the city and freeway.  this is where i got lost in something at the museum.  seeing the different sky scrapers and the cathedral and the freeway was very interesting to me!  we did later go to a natural history museum where we got to draw an animal.  I decided to draw a grouse, being that i hunt them every fall, and epically failed at the drawing now that we are so used to drawing people!  overall i suppose the field trip was an ok experience, although we could have just brought in a stuffed animal or something to draw in class.

Manikin

Never have i before used clay for anything in my life so the manikin has been an entirely new experience for me.  Im very glad we didnt have to purchase the clay ourselves because i doubt ill ever be using it again in my field, and the cutting tools were too bad cost-wise.  I believe i have gotten a lot better at using the clay in general since the beginning of the semester, but i should be with all the hours put into the manikin! All in all a very interesting experience.

Shell

The shell drawings have been very interesting.  Difficult at first, i have really grown to see my shell better and be able to draw what im seeing going on with it.  My first drawing was relatively poor, but i have grown into it better, especially with the ink now that i can shade they are turning out much better and i hope my last one turns out well!

long poses

Sometimes, especially at first and at the beginning of each semester after im not used to it anymore, it can be difficult for me to do a longer pose drawing.  I can get really ancy and a little ADD and need to just get up and walk around.  I have found its easier to sit still and concentrate by listening to noise cancelling headphones with my own kind of music i love playing from my ipod.  Also, if i have a snack or drink with me, something to keep the rest of me busy when i need a quick 30 second break.  But sometimes i do just need to sit there and concentrate on the music without drawing for a minute or two to get my head back in the game.  Its for sure taken time, but im getting more used to drawing!

gestures

At first when it came to gesture drawing, i was hesitant and was unsure on how to do it.  In time i came to realize how to quickly draw a human figure in 30 to 60 seconds and actually be able to tell what the figure was doing!  This out of all the things we've learned could help a lot when trying to explain a character to one of our artists in the future work world.

Catch up

After a long semester of trying to get this blog to work I think i have it and definitely need to play catch up.  The semester has been an interesting one, never have i ever drawn a live model before this class!