Life | Drawing | Two: March 2009

I'm very pleased with the progress I see in my drawings so far this semester. I feel as though I am now much closer to being capable of producing the kind of drawing I envied at the beginning of the semester- the beautiful works I saw the advanced students producing, or found in last semester's final blogs.

My mark-making has improved a huge amount in the last few weeks. I've become more comfortable drawing from my shoulder, melding my entire arm with the drawing tool in order to achieve a loose, graceful line. I'm figuring out the balance between precise, careful, accurate observation/replications and breathing life into my lines, creating a sense of movement. Another useful tool I've tried to use is a variety of line weights and values. While I'm conscious of the need for that variety, and might add/subtract value in specific areas, much of the gradation of my lines is a direct result of drawing with my arm rather than my wrist.

The cross contour of the ginger root is an excellent example of all these. I appreciated being given a specific number of hours to work on this piece, as I tend to prefer taking my time and really figuring everything out, double-checking proportions and angles. With the 6-hour "limit," I knew I had ample time to focus on drawing correctly- positioning the root so the long axis lines were diagonal, finding the best three-quarter view where two side planes and a front plane were visible, etc.

Another addition to my mark-making is also clear in the ginger root drawing. Because it was such a long drawing, I was able to build a sort of history into the piece. I adjusted quite a lot, and rather than scrubbing at those lines to erase them completely, I let those light lines become another layer. As I said, the ginger root drawing is a good example of that technique and it adds a great deal of depth.

My knowledge of the human body has expanded too. I struggled when we did gesture drawings after only learning the pelvis and ribcage. It was like I got a taste of the information I needed, but there wasn't quite enough to make my drawings accurate. The medium-length poses were nice, as I could rely more on my obsercations, but now I feel like I've internalized much of that information, and it can naturally be included in my drawings. I don't have to think about which way the lumbar vertebrae curve, or the general shape of the ribcage. It frees me to focus on correcting my inevitably long interpretation of the torso, and other proportion issues.

Building the muscles on the manikins is challenging, but has been mostly successful. I think learning each muscle individually contributes to the base of knowledge we pull from when drawing. The clay manikins are a nice bridge between the two-dimensional notes we take and the live models. This approach to life drawing- learning about anatomy in an almost scientific manner- allows us to make more informed observations, and therefore more accurate drawings. For example, in the 2/19 long pose, there was a clear plane change between her hp and lower abdomen. I was able to exaggerate that curve based on information I couldn't see, knowing the crest of the pelvis caused the change. From that I also determined the angle of the hips. My observatinos of the body now have explanations and names to go with them, and I know it has improved my drawings.

In my most recent drawings, the contour lines are much better, but I'm still figuring that out. Also, there are always improvements to be made in my ability to recognize the visual landmarks of the body, and identify and become familiar with proportions and placement. I would like to see improvement in my proportions overall, and going over that in class this week was very helpful.

I am still thoroughly enjoying this class. If anything, I'm frustrated with the lack of extra time to put into it. All semester I've been thinking of ways I could practice, of opportunities to work outside our assignments and improve my drawings even more, but there's just not enough time! I would love to spend hours in the library pouring over the old masters' sketches, then duplicating them and labeling my landmarks and the bones, muscles, and tendons I recognize. Maybe I'll get a chance over break...