Shoulders and Collar bone

The collarbone is a seemingly insignificant detail on the human body. Well, it actually does quite a bit. When I added it to my drawings last week it helped me visualize the top of the rib cage and aided in the creation of the shoulder plane. That plane was really, really important to my drawing. The model was on a slight angle, with her shoulder pointed right at me. I didn’t establish the plane right away; in fact, it wasn’t until Amy pointed it out. I wish that I had remembered to take a picture of it; I may upload it and edit this post. Anyway, we also took a look at the shoulder blades. I had a huge problem getting them to look right on my gesture drawings.  On Tuesday we are going to be doing another longer pose, I hope to be able to get a good view of them. I really need the work. I am not sure what it was, but I just wasn’t able to get them to look like they were shoulder blades (let alone they even belonged there).

We also began to work on the shoulders on our manikin. I am a little discouraged with my manikin at the moment. Last week it fell off the base and onto the floor, leaving many muscles smooched and deformed. So, I have to go back in and make them a little bit better. Aside from that, it is going well. The shoulders are pretty easy to do, a lot of large muscles.

For now, I chose to include an image I found that shows the divide and definition of the different planes via the collar bone. As I mentioned above, I think I will take a picture of my longer drawing and upload it tomorrow. But, you can see what I mean with the division of the shoulders to the chest and how it helps you identify were the top of the rib cage sits. 

http://www.portrait-artist.org/misc/neck-shoulders.html

Oi, feet.

Oh how I hate toes. Seriously.

If you couldn’t tell, we drew feet last week and I had an extremely difficult time with the toes. The final pose of class had me completely and utterly stumped. I couldn’t even figure out how to approach the toes. I feel like I am able to identify and render the different planes correctly, as well as get the perspective and dimensionality right. But I seem to only be able to do it for the bulk of the foot.

Other than that I suppose I am surprised at how weird and complicated a form the foot is. Putting all of the details aside, the basic flow of the foot is odd. This is especially due to the ball of the ankle. It makes my contour lines rather wavy and at time hard to follow. Take this, add in the details, account for the small size, and you have a ridiculously difficult body part to draw.

Ok, even though I think it is very challenging I am still having fun. I love that you start out with primitive shapes then deconstruct them and add the detail. In many ways it reminds me of 3D modeling. I know I said its small size made the foot difficult to draw, and I stand by that, however, it also makes it easier to measure and get the correct proportion. I think (to some extent) I am going to try to mirror this methodology in my larger drawings.

Jimmy Xu | 

http://ifthexufits.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html | http://ifthexufits.blogspot.com/

I was hoping to post some of my feet drawings but I left my sketch pad at school. So I did some research and found an amazing artist (Jimmy Xu) who did a series of feet and posted them on his blog. He has many drawings of feet, but I chose one that shows what I was talking about. He does a great job of showing all of the changes in the surface. It dips and rises over and over in a random, irregular way. I love the plane change of the right foot. The shaded line that runs the length of the foot does an amazing job of distinguishing the top plane from the bottom. His toes are also very, very well done.

Midterm Portfolio

Photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/60152151@N04/

The first half of this semester has been an exciting one. I have improved more than I thought I would. Not because I lack the ability to learn, but rather because I lack confidence in drawing. So, it is very exciting to see improvements (notably in my egg-like rib cage shape, which has become second nature.) I have also noticed that at the beginning of a drawing I immediately search for either the center line or the spine. I think this has greatly aided in my ability to draw proportionally.  I have noticed, however, that I tend to make the pelvis either too small or put it too low (sadly, this is showcased in drawing 8).

    But, my semester has been fairly positive, so I intend to keep this blog post positive as well. Coming into the class I wasn’t entirely sure of how to begin drawing a person. These past few weeks have laid (what seems to be) a great foundation. I feel this is especially true for contour lines. I was extremely happy with how well the contour lines worked in drawings 1 and 2. I really tried to define the different planes of the body and the changes in topology.

    I am also very happy with how much the manikin has helped me. I feel like it gives me a more tangible understanding of the muscles. I have a greater understanding of how they create the human form. It is especially exciting when I am able to identify a muscle or muscle group while drawing.

Done by David Giraud - http://mojette.deviantart.com/

    I thought long and hard about what image I want to be on this post. I was torn between a marvelous anatomical rendering done by a famous classical artist or yet another 3D model. As you can see, I ended up choosing an amazing anatomy study done by one of my favorite 3D artists, David Giraud. I really enjoy life drawing, and while this class focuses on 2D, it is exhilarating to see what we are learning so skillfully applied to my chosen discipline.

    I hope that I continue to push myself this next quarter. As we delve deeper into the human form I can only assume it will become more challenging. I look forward to the growing as a artist and as a person.