Shoulders

Hello All,

DaVinci's Shoulder Study

 This week was all about working the shoulders, literally. We learned about the shoulder blade as well as the muscles around it. We learned mainly where to look for the muscles, and how to draw the simple triangle of the blade. I thought this was going to be very difficult. And at first, it was very difficult. I did not realize that the shoulder blade went half way down the back of the ribs. This was tricky since at first I was drawing this dinky triangle as the shoulder blades.
I did also find out that I need about 2 minutes to each get to the shoulders. We did a lot of gesture drawings on Tuesday, and I have to tell you that I could not for the life of me get to the shoulders. I would draw the spine, ribs (egg), hips, start of the legs and then the beeper would go off. I had to get the "egg" right so I concentrate most of my time on that, so it took forever to even get a hint on the shoulders in within the 30 second and 1 minute gestures. Finally, when the time was increased to two minutes could I then add the shoulders with some time to refine them.
As my picture this week, I chose to show DaVinci's shoulder studies. He does a very good job defining the muscles and curves the the shading of them is just jaw-dropping. I wish I could draw like DaVinci. 
After the gesture drawings, we moved on to a longer pose. We were told to specifically concentrate on the shoulders and arms. I had a pretty decent drawing by the end. Amy had come around to help me and helped me with the muscles. After that was done, I better understood the armpit and how the muscles formed it. I put a lot of contour around it and made the elbow very boney.
I have yet to master the shoulders in the one drawing session we had, but I hopefully will learn to draw them without any help.
As for LeRoy, well he has a ways to go before we can call him finished. This week we had two muscle assignments which will bulk him up in the shoulders and upper arms. After this I imagine we will concentrate on the lower arm and hand, which I have a feeling will be very delicate.

Until Next Week,

Chelsey

Before Spring Break..

Wow, it’s already half over,

Foot

 

Contour of Foot

This semester has flown by so far, but yet when I look back I have learned so much and that might be the reason. This past week before Spring Break, we were concentrating on the foot. We had all of Thursday to learn to draw and master the art of the foot. I personally do not care to draw the foot. I think feet are ugly and they are extremely difficult to draw accurately. I struggled at first, but once I got into more contour drawing, I did alright. I think that we should learn a little more about the foot and how to draw it. However, when I think about it, we usually draw the model standing and then there isn’t much feet to draw. I mean, the main structure of the foot is hidden since he is standing, it more so the ankle you concentrate on. I am looking forward to this next half of the semester in really refining my drawing skills. I hope to master the knee and shoulders since I’m positive that I am not drawing them quite right.

Cont

LeRoy is doing alright as well. He looks like he is almost finished but I have a feeling that we will be doing a lot of work on the hands and forearms since those muscles are so delicate and there are so many.  I am not sure that we will get to the face muscles, but that might be interesting if we do.  I do think this next week will bring some new information, probably in the shoulders and neck. I am looking forward to drawing some more next week, because believe it or not, I miss my life drawing class!

Until Next Week,

Chelsey

Midterm Blog Post

Midterm Portfolio

Hello!

Hour Long Pose, Female

Above this blog post is the link to my portfolio so far.
This week we had another hour long pose to add to our collection of drawings.
Also, this post is going up on Thursday night since our portfolio is being graded on Saturday! Nerve-racking!

So far in this semester, I have learned a tremendous amount.  My drawing skills have changed dramatically. Not only the technique, but as well as the accuracy. In my first two drawing classes, it was all about shade and highlight, not line. Life Drawing is the opposite, you try to capture that outer line and the muscle “inner” lines, to create a smooth 3D-like drawing. Such as in my 5 minute drawings. So far, we have been learning all the muscles with our mannequin-building. I think the mannequins give me a great understanding as to how the muscles should look when drawing, sort of a close up—Since you obviously can’t go up to the model and look at his thigh.

Hour Long Pose, Male

Anterior Mannequin

These next couple of weeks, I would like to learn the shoulders and knees. We went over the knees in lecture already, but I still am unsure how to draw them fully. I guess with experience and practice I will learn best. I also hope to improve my accuracy and size ratio, which is what I know that I struggle with a little. I am comfortable with contour, (as shown in both hour long drawings as well as the 30 minute drawing) but I assume later on that we won’t be able to do contour for every drawing. I also would like to learn how to draw the neck properly. The shoulders and neck are probably the most difficult when you do not know what is underneath. I would also like to learn a little on facial construction, how to draw the nose and mouth correctly. Overall, I have learned a huge amount and it has been a fun experience, I enjoy the live model drawings versus a still life of vases and boxes. 

Until Next Week, 

Chelsey