Life Drawing class wrap-up

I took my first Life Drawing class last semester, posting some of my work on here. Silly student that I am, I didn't think a class on learning to draw realistically would benefit my cartoon work. I had severely underestimated the value of knowing anatomy.

 Done on the first day of class

I don't know if my new-found mastery of anatomy and human proportion shows at all in my work, but it has definitely made a difference for me. I now have the confidence to try poses and angles I shied away from before; and I can now draw decent hands and feet (!!!)

 My first self-portrait. Done as HW

The importance of trying different materials and techniques was never me true for me. I had always had a love/hate relationship with pencils....I loved to draw but hated pencils. I decided that this meant I can't draw. My teacher's insistence on using a variety of materials and techniques had me playing with charcoals for the first time.

 Half-way through the semester

If you are willing to get a bit messy, I highly recommend trying it before giving up drawing. I found myself making marks I had only dreamt about...I had been trying to make marks with pencils that, frankly, was impossible to do. I just had to find the right materials.

Second self-portrait HW

Last semester was incredibly rewarding and I am always pleasantly surprised when I realize that I have improved. I'm glad I stuck with it.

 More than one model for the first time! Last in-class drawing.

To see the entire progress of my work, check out my Life Drawing set on Flickr.

In-progress shot of my Final drawing

Sketches from Life Drawing class [NSFW]

38: Rambling and sketches (NSFW?)

Oh poor neglected blogs. I'm so sorry. *hugs blogs*

Its been hectic over here. I've had my first couple of exams and they have been killer! (I aced my Math exam though! :D ) I have two more next week...Biology and an anatomy exam for Life Drawing. Ugh.

My arm has been steadily getting better. It's still sore but I am able to use it a lot closer to normal. My leg...well...I was starting to be able to put a lot more pressure on it that normal. I must have over-strained it because it started swelling even MORE than normal. I am now on a strict schedule of medicine, icing and/or resting every 3 hours, and basically keeping as much weight off it as possible. Bleagh.

I just want to be rid of them. My classmates and teachers have been so accommodating but I worry I'm wearing out their kindness. I can't wait to be self-sufficient again.

I've got a little painting in the works that I'm super excited about. I've got all the boring color-blocking done and now I'm working on the details. I love when a messy blotchy painting starts coming to life, looking more and more how I imagined in my head. No progress-shots, though! At least, not until I'm done with the thing.

Here's pictures of stuff I've been doing in Life Drawing class. I've found that a lot of times, I get very frustrated while drawing. I can see that the drawing isn't working but I can't tell what's wrong. Taking a picture helps me see it with fresh eyes. Usually, I can point out immediately what's wrong and go back in and fix it.

I think I've been improving. I know one of the problems I have (it shows most on my homework self-portrait) is shading. I usually end up with a dark line drawing where the shading follows the outline, not really doing much for the dimensionality of the form. Today, my teacher made us concentrate on the shapes of the shadows and lights, instead of just the contours of the body. After being very frustrated with it for a long time, I think something clicked today. I'm nowhere near good enough but I am definitely pleased with my progress.

What do you guys think?

(These are in chronological order from last week)

Wednesday

 

 

Monday

 

 

 

 

Wednesday (today)

36: Busy busy busy

Its been really busy over here at Sheikasaurus Rex land. In addition to the massive amounts of schoolwork, I've got the toning and prepping of OMGcow, mini-comics and 4 paintings to complete, and a Con to prepare for (and attend!)

As much as I hate to, I think I'm putting OMGcow on hiatus after the final comic of the First Year is done. There was a point in the middle of the first year where I had so much going on, I couldn't devote enough time to OMGcow. What resulted were sub-par comics that I am absolutely embarrassed to call mine. Rather than start the second year with comics made just for the sake of updating, with no thought to quality, I think a hiatus would be better.

In the meantime, here are some more sketches done in Life Drawing class. This was our first male model and it was almost shocking how different the muscle masses of the male body are from females. It was incredibly difficult and frustrating, especially since class was cut short.

35: Self portrait hw

For homework was a figure drawing assignment. I couldn't get anyone to model for me...but I do have a full-length mirror in my room.

Normally in Life Drawing class, we are not allowed to have our phones or cameras out. (Understandably  and rightfully so.) Unfortunately, I am not able to take in-progress shots. Since the model this time is myself, I figured I'd take the opportunity.

I started with vine charcoal. Just loose gesture drawings, trying to get the main masses down -- the head, ribcage and pelvis. Fleshed those out then added in the furniture.

First off, I realized the head was way too small. The left arm was too long, so that got shortened. The neck given a little more fleshing and the left leg fixed up. The boobs were also kind of lop-sided....fixed that! Just minor changes. Once I was satisfied with the over-all proportion, I went back in with a harder charcoal stick for the outlines. Defined the right arm a bit more, as well as the right knee.

Left the head pretty much un-touched for now. Started putting in some mid-tone shadows.

Finished! I wasn't sure about drawing in the face but I figured I might as well. I decided to leave the furniture lighter and more unfinished to keep the figure as the focal point.

34: Figure Drawings 2

So I've been seeing my Physical Therapist for a week now. My leg hasn't really changed much but my arm seems to be getting a lot better. They've been massaging it with an ultrasound machine which has reduced the swelling a lot and given me a wider range of motion. Hopefully this means I'll be better even sooner!

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An hour-long sketch from Life Drawing class tonight. This is the first one where I've had time to go back in and put some shading in. I'm not altogether satisfied with it, though. The pose was difficult for me and I feel that even though the proportions are correct and the line drawing is acceptably accurate, there is a lack of....movement...of...uhh...life in it.

33: Figure drawings

Work done for my Life Drawing class. It's nowhere near finished, though I doubt I'll be able to work on it again. I'm one of those people that really need a reference. I can't just draw off the top of my head. Unless I can get someone to model the same pose and have the same body type/size/shape...yeah, I'm most likely not working on it anymore.

Before the drawing above, I'd spent about 3 hours frustrated. Before this class, we had done sketches from a hanging skeleton. I'd memorized how the skeleton looked and was imagining how the model's skeleton looked underneath her skin and flesh. I would first sketch out how I visualized her skeleton looked, then drew the flesh around it.

All of these came out wrong. The torso was alright, but the pelvis/hips/butt region looked....off somehow.

I spent a long time staring at these and doing more and more sketches trying to figure it out. Then I realized where I was going wrong. I had been drawing from a skeleton, though a real one, that was hung in a way that the human body is not.

I was imagining the model's skeleton the way it would have hung. I was drawing the hips as if the head of the leg bone was hanging an inch below the socket....the way the skeleton's leg hung from a wire.

It took another half hour of sketching till I got it right. After that, we got a 45 minute block to draw one pose. the result is the first picture of this post.

What do you guys think?

31: Skelly ton

A quick shot of my skeleton sketches in Life Drawing class. My first couple were absolutely awful and have been destroyed!

A quick self portrait made for the profile pic of my new Tumblr blog. Yes, yes. I made a Tumblr. We'll see how long I can go updating it. LOL

(If you're curious, its over at stuffi.tumblr.com)

Semester in review

Sping semester ended last month, along with my first painting class. It was a rough, grueling yet exhilarating 18 weeks When the class began, I had absolutely no experience with oil paint and the last time I had handled a brush was in 3rd grade, painting macaroni noodles with kids' acrylic. I was terrified and massively jealous of the talents of my fellow students, many of whom were taking the Beginning Painting class simply to fulfill their course requirements.

18x24

Oil on canvas

The rewards of my efforts were very little during those first months. We made up color charts and gradients, still lives that did nothing but show me how poor my perspective and proportions were.

18x24

Oil on canvas

I stuck with it and with the Abstract assignment, something happened. I stopped caring so much about pleasing my professor, about getting the techniques just right. I stopped expecting a rigid recipe for flesh tones and started experimenting. Most importantly, I stopped looking at the work of my classmates and comparing and copying them. I allowed myself to experiment, I chose not to come to class until Critique day to avoid disparaging comments from others. I abandoned all expectations and rules, allowing myself to simply experiment with how the paint felt and looked and smelled. How it sat on the canvas and dripped or pooled, what marks I could make with sandpaper or a toothbrush or a leaf.

36x42

Oil, latex paint, turpentine on canvas

Once I had tackled the technical aspect of painting, I felt my conceptual ideas itching to come free. Something my professor said stuck with me. "Art is what happens after everyone leaves the studio." (I may be wrong, I have a habit of forgetting details.)  Prior to this, I had stayed within "safe" "acceptable" subjects. My parents had always held that nudes were not art and the measure of an artists' success is seeing one's work hung in a coffee shop with a large price tag.

8x10

Oil on canvas

I took the plunge. I locked myself away in the garage and began painting. Many of my classmates wouldn't look at my work, some said I was doing it for the attention. I didn't care. The feeling of making work I wanted to make was exhilarating. So this is what art is all about.

18x24

Oil on canvas

Two 15x30

Oil on canvas

I have no idea where my art is going from here. All I know is that I want to keep working, keep trying, keep improving. Today, I cleaned out my garage and found the painting I did on that first day of class. It is absolutely horrendous and I still remember that sinking feeling of fear and dread. I cannot paint, I thought. I can never learn to paint. Everyone else in class has taken art classes before. I can never paint like them.

8x10

Oil on panel

Its true. I'm no Picasso but that's ok. I think I'm learning to paint like me.