SELF PORTRAIT

THE END OF A BEGINNING. T_T (PART II)

III. Skulls!

#2 #3

#1

These three skulls were all drawn on the same day of class, the lower skull was the first, the side view the last. I think after drawing a couple of the skulls, I was able to nail it much better on the side view.

Skull #1 is the first skull I drew, and was supposed to be more a 3/4 view rather than a front on view which it ended up looking like when I was done. I think what messed me up was the left jawbone of the skull, which was longer than the other side, due to the 3/4 view, but I must have missed that. Although some of the facial features were wrong, the overall shape of the skull I thought was pretty good for my first attempt.

Skull #2 is much more apparent as a 3/4 view. I also added the shadow to give it a much nicer composition on the page.  Also, my shading on the sides and lines on the upper jawbone was much better this time. The eye sockets on this skull are also a little better proportion wise and actually look like they have some depth to them.

Skull #3 was the final skull that I drew that day, and I really think that it's the best of the three. The side view was the easier of the three, because of less things to have to draw, so I tried to get a little more detail on some of the lines, especially in the nose and lower jaw/teeth.  Overall drawing skulls was a really fun exercise that gave me a little more of a base to go on when I draw a person's head from now on.

IV. Gesture Drawings

#1 

#2 

Throughout the semester, I thought that gesture drawings were my weakest aspect of Life Drawing, I'm just not a great quick line drawer, I pay too much attention to outlines, but I tried to break the mold, which I think worked out somewhat in helping me to see the long axis lines and planes instead of the figure's outlines.

The first gesture posted here is one of my better ones after the mid-term. I feel it really captures the pose that the model was in, and gives it more of a character. The multiple, scattered lines on some of the curves is something that still needs work, but it doesn't take too much away from this gesture. Also there is some line variation, both in weight and thick and thin relationships. (For example the abs and the forearm)

The second gesture was a bit light, but I liked the feeling it gives me when I look at it. It's so simple yet shows both long axis lines horizontal and vertical. Also, the head is really the only shape here that looks somewhat odd, and a little too sketch-like. But the line that separates the legs has a really nice weight variation to it, and enhances some of the outlines, without actually drawing outlines and trying to make it all nice and neat.

Well that's all for now, I really enjoyed Life Drawing this semester and hope everyone else in the class has an fun and safe break. I really enjoyed blogging, it was something new to me and enhanced the learning experience, I hope not just for me but for everyone else.

THE END OF A BEGINNING. T_T

I. MANNEQUINS

Building the clay mannequin was probably the most fun I've had on a drawing

class assignment. Yes, it was hard to find the time to just sit down and enjoy building

each of the body's muscle groups, while also learning a little bit along the way.  Although

I have been a little slow with my ability in seeing the muscles while drawing from a model

but I just need some more practice at it. I thought I would at least document some pictures

since I spend oodles of time trying to build each muscle to the best of my abilities.

II. Long Poses (post-Midterm)

1. 

2. 

First, drawing #1.

These 2 long poses are really the only 2 full body drawings I had after Mid-term. The first drawing took about the entire length of class. (2.5 Hours) I think overall this was definitely

one of my best drawings, both proportionally and in accordance with line variation and atmospheric perspective. This is suggested by both the hard outline along the pelvic crest to suggest a closer object to the viewer. The softer lines where the ribcage is resting on the floor plane, along with the lighter lines suggesting the objects being further away.

Next is drawing #2

This drawing was a little more difficult, I thought, because of the awkward slouch in the figure, which really tends to distort everything else. It took me the longest time just to get the rib cage and shoulders into the drawing as best I could. In my other drawings, I noticed I tend to draw the legs both in different sizes, but this drawing is a little more correct proportion-wise. If you take a closer look at the obliques and rectus abs of the figure, you can see the lines of striation in the abdominal muscles. Although these were not quite visible on this model, I was able to draw some of them in with help from the teacher. =)

On a small side note, I really like how the background works with the figure ground relationship, the model is neither floating or completely planted to the ground. It looks as though she is sitting inside a pocket/dent in the paper. Though unintentional I thought this was a pretty cool effect.

(this is part one of a 2 part final post)

Signalnoise.com - The Art of James White

I recently found this amazing graphic designer, James White's blog. He mainly does professional looking poster designs and digital imagery. The site also contains a lot of creative inspiration if you are looking for some. I'll let the posters speak for themselves.....

By the way you can also check out abduzeedo.com for a huge range of Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator tutorials and resources to create some pretty awesome artwork, I've become addicted to Photoshop all over again.

Design Used for the Greater Good

I was randomly surfing PSDTUTS.COM when I found this interesting collection of 23 examples of design used as a force of good. It contains designs intended on bringing issues of the homeless, world hunger, and fresh water supply in other countries into the public eye.

Most of these designs are used as street advertisements from not only the United States but all over the World, from countries such as Brazil, England, Portugal, and Germany. I feel they are extremely well done in grabbing the viewers attention and some really get you to think. I really suggest checking these out if you are interested in real world design for the benefit of humanitarian and world aid organizations.

(You can click the picture or the link.)

My Feelings on Blogging

Before life drawing, I really didn't know what blogs were about, but I had read some and they seemed to just be people venting about whatever they wanted, and people commenting on random things. It took me awhile to get used to, but blogging to me is just like keeping an online journal of your experiences on a certain topic, ours being Life Drawing.

The thing I enjoy most about blogging would be the satisfaction of showing others your work and the ease of sharing visual imagery back and forth without having to meet face to face. Blogging also helps to organize our drawing process and to analyze what we have done in class as each week passes, whether it be on the mannequin or just drawings done in class. The only frustrating thing about keeping a blog is remembering to update it regularly and to critically analyze your drawings after ignoring most of what you had learned up to the point in class.

I have been trying to post about other things as well to get the weekly requirements for class but it's hard, for me at least, to share feelings about a drawing or my work as an artist, but I really would like to get better at that. Something that I have not yet posted about but would like to is information about graphic design and specific designers that inspire me when I am working on projects not relating to life drawing.

Having students in groups helps to split up what each of us is required to look at and to comment on. I try to comment at least once a week on each of my group members posts, but it is hard when not everyone keeps their blogs updated, so sometimes there is a lack of comments on my part. I will definitely try and work harder on checking and responding to my groups blogs, as well as keeping my own up to par. No one would want to respond to my blog if I had not contributed to theirs as well.

I like the blog assignments so far but if I got to assign one blog assignment to the class, it would be to do a drawing outside of class. All you would need is one person to sit still for an hour while you draw them, and if not you would just take a picture of them in a random pose and draw from that. =D

How would I rate my blog up to this point? As far as being helpful to group members and responding to their posts, I would probably rate myself on the lower end but definitely hope to improve as the rest of the year goes on. In terms of image quality and trying to represent myself professionally, I would have to rate that somewhere in the middle to higher end because I do actually put time into a post when I make one and also compositionally, try to keep the whole blog from looking messy and unattractive.

I look forward to seeing the end result of the blog after the class has completed!

Three "Best" Drawings So Far