Semester Reflection 1

Through the first half of the semester, I have learned many new things about form and the human body. I have learned how individual muscles fit together to make up structure and I know that understanding the composition of the body will help me very much when representing it on paper. Using line to represent figure is new to me as I am used to using value and shading. I've been constantly learning in hopes of improving my results.

Learning how to make parts of the body geometrically has helped me most of all. Knowing that the volume and overall shape and simplifying it makes drawing form easier for me. Another tip that I found to be beneficial was the appropriate use of pressure. By starting with light pressure, it is much easier to correct mistakes. Once everything is laid out, the next step is adding a medium pressure, followed by heavy pressure. It is very difficult to do these steps in reverse order and I've experienced this first hand.

My strengths and weaknesses are somewhat similar. I have been conditioned to see shape in previous drawing classes and I like to think that I am pretty good at it. On the other hand, I am not very good at seeing cross contours. This relates to not being able to rely on shading to represent plane changes. I also need to slow down. I find this hard because it conflicts with the drawing style I have adapted to in previous classes.

In the next half of the semester, I hope to learn how to draw slower and observe in greater detail. I hope to accomplish what I set out to do when I first began this class; to learn as much as I can about the form on the human body.

Photobucket Portfolio:
http://photobucket.com/albums/n293/markwood_80/Life%20Drawing%20I/

This week in review

This week, we got a chance to look at our shell drawings. I was amazed at the similarities and differences between everyone's drawings. Most, if not all of the drawings were made with a horizontal or vertical plane, mine included. For a more dynamic drawing, the long axis should be on a diagonal. My drawing will definitely improve with this in mind.

One major thing that sets our drawings apart was the line weighs. Some people used a very heavy line, where as others used a light, more elegant line. Another problem area for me is that I have a very hard time getting light lines and the overall feel of my drawing was very boring and ineffective because I used a constant line pressure. I will also address this when I make my next drawing.

Pictured is the progress that I have made with my muscles on my skeleton.