Lesson two – Drawing with your brain…or something!

Today’s life drawing session started out, like last times, with a. (just over) 5 minute warm up.This time we had a lovely female model, i didn’t get her name but she was very professional, big thanks to her! I felt more confident than before, feeling I could apply the important tips we’d learnt previously. The main directive being to look more at the model than at the paper.

I felt reasonably pleased with this result, but would have like to work on it more and add in some shading and fix some of the proportional errors. AND FOR GOODNESS SAKE MY LAYOUT IS ATROCIOUS! (unfortunately this is the case with the other drawings too. I must learn to leave room for feet and lower legs!)

I notice I tend to focus less on the head, but have reasoned with myself that currently the figure is more important.

Our next task was once again to impress upon us the importance of observation.

According to our teacher, the Three Main Observational Elements are:

• Observation (no really!) – looking at what is there, really seeing it.
• Memory – remembering what you’ve seen.
• Imagination – combining what we’ve seen and what we remember to form the image we’re recording on paper.

The task at hand was designed to test our memory. the model would assume three poses, forming a new one every 30 seconds. Only after the third pose had finished were we allowed to draw each one, spending 30 seconds on each and working entirely from short-term memory.

I found i could remember some parts of poses better than others, for example in the first pose I completely forgot what her arms were doing!

We had a second attempt with a different set of poses. I began to feel I was settling in to a drawing rhythm similar to when we had to rotate around the figure in the previous lesson. I feel I could be growing in confidence with these fast exercises as i get to concentrate just on the basics of the form with no room for over-thinking. I think I still need to work on weight distribution though, I don’t know if I’m showing it clearly or at all yet. I definitely didn’t consider it in these pictures.

The next pictures are quite different. We had much longer (20 minutes)and could focus as much as we liked. We had to observe a particular part of the model and draw a larger than life observation. For the first drawing i chose a foot as the subject as feet are a challenge but have a lot of potential for detail, if observed close enough. It’s easy to say the top of the foot is plain, but if you look close enough, the subtle changes in tone indicate where tendons are and there’s a gradient from top to side. I would have like to focus more on the top of the foot but ran out of time. The second picture is of her back, i chose this for the same reasons as the foot – Backs are deceptive, not as simple as they seem and very interesting when observed closely. I intended to try to see through the apparent blackness of her back to the intricacies of her spine, skin tone changes, cellulite and skin imperfections.

 

After a short break we returned with another 5 minute warm-up. I felt slightly surprised that I didn’t record as much as I did the in the first warm-up, but felt more aware that these are exercises in breaking down psychological barriers and bad habits.

Our next task was to draw the model, but as if we were seated in a seat 90 degrees away from our own. This tested all the elements of observation, particularly imagination and sounded very difficult.

Afterward 20 minutes drawing we were allowed to move to the place where we had imagined ourselves to be sitting to compare the models actual pose to the pose we had created on the paper. I was quite surprised that the result wasn’t as inaccurate as I thought it would be. The only major error was that her right elbow was positioned outward instead of tucked in as I had drawn it. I reckon out of all the work I produced that day, I felt the most pleased with this piece.

Moving on, the next exercise was similar to the rotational exercise we did the last week. This time however, we stayed in our seat and it was the model who moved. Completing a series of poses each lasting 30 seconds, whereby she got up and pulled on her robe. We had to draw each pose and get as much form in as possible. Not worrying about the details but focusing on the overall shape, weight distribution and perspective.

This brought in a new factor – drapery. The presence of material in the drawing – the model had brought some beautiful silk scarfs which she held it different ways as she posed. Her robe here became part of the sequence of drawings. I found it somehow a lot easier to draw than her body during the short space of time. Perhaps because I don’t have to think as much… but then if I’m not applying as much thought to it, I might be doing it wrong.

 

The final exercise was  10 minute cool-down sketch, just to fill the last minutes of the lesson. I really admire how our teachers try to get the most out of the time.

I was definitely disappointed with my efforts here. Because I’d been drawing with my paper on my lap the outcome had a skewed perspective, the lower half of her body was not at all working with the upper half and the only main bit of the drawing that seemed to be any good was the chair. I’ll put these errors down to not positioning myself right, not observing the model properly and being foolishly pre-occupied with the fact I was getting hungry. The moral: NEVER DRAW ON AN EMPTY STOMACH.

Life Drawing – Day 1 : The results

The first task

15 minute sketch

1 minute sketches – page 1

1 minute sketches – page 2

1 minute sketches – page 3

In this session we had three tasks, the first being a simple 5 minute warm-up sketch, the second was a 15 minute sketch and the third a series of 1 minute sketches drawn from different angles.

Task 1 – the 5 minute warm up.

I found this an opportunity to remind myself of the methods and skills I’d learnt from my previous (and only other) life drawing sessions in February where I had learnt to treat the figure, not as a series of body parts but lines all connecting to form an image. Neglecting to adhere to this principle would mean drawing from a pre-conceived image of how the body should look, rather than what I am actually looking at. It was a nice and simple exercise, allowing us all to glance at eachother’s work, notice our individual drawing styles and most likely privately judge our work against eachothers, such is the attitude of art students…!

I felt confident that the simple sketch I produced was fairly well constructed, however our teacher soon pointed out some incredibly fundamental points about how we had been drawing which I had never considered;

• The most basic reason why we are encouraged to draw from a young age is so we can form a “pincer movement” with out forefinger and thumb (pick up a pencil as if to write with it and you’ll see what I mean) preparing us for when we learn to write.
• To truly master drawing (or anything for that matter) we would have to spend 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year for 5 years (or there abouts) before we could claim to have mastered the art.
• We were not observing.

The latter was the most important point – during the first exercise we were all spending at least 90% of the time looking at our paper and 10% at the subject.

I like the way our teacher impressed he point of our error by saying we looked at the model like we did at cars when crossing the street. A brief glance means you can never take in the right details, you just acknowledge that what you’re seeing is there without properly observing. This brought us to the next task…

Task two – the 15 minute drawing.

The catch with this was NO LOOKING AT THE PAPER.

This was far more challenging, we were instructed to draw very slowly with no glancing at all. It tossed me right out of a comfort zone I didn’t know I had been making use of but crucially highlighted the habits I had subconsciously collected throughout my drawing career.

Resisting the temptation to look at what I was drawing was like eating a sugary donut and not being allowed to lick your lips. As the task went on I felt more and more anxious about the outcome – what if the result isn’t what the teacher is looking for? Are we meant to be able to produce something accurate from this? (our teacher had asked the class if they had done this sort of thing before, the majority replying yes. This made me that little bit more anxious as I have no art school background and didn’t study a foundation course. What secrets had these knowledgeable peers learnt that i’d missed out on?)

As I expected, my initial impression of my finished work was a potent combination of stifled laughter and mortification. The figure on my paper resembled the kind of graffiti found on the unfortunate someone who’s fallen asleep at the party and who’s drunken friends all had sharpies. I thought I hadn’t fulfilled the aim of the task, that my inaccuracy was proof of my lack of education and that we should have produced a better quality, more finished, proportionate and confident piece of work.

To my bemused relief however the squiggly thing on my sketch pad was exactly what was required! It wasn’t about the drawing, it was about the observation. Granted I had glanced at my page twice, but looking back I realise that during the task I found myself properly seeing the model. Observing every line, contour, imperfection and shape. Recognising where joints connected, where muscle tone was more prominent and where bones were more visible. It (literally) opened my eyes on how to properly observe.

Task three – 1 minute sketches.

Not as easy as I thought is the first comment I want to make on this task. You’d be surprised how much brain-work goes in to sketching someone and drawing someone on such a short time limit means your brain has to go on fast-forward!

We were all seated in a circle with the model in the middle, after a minute producing a thumbnail sketch we had to move to the seat next to us and draw the model from the new angle. A fantastic exercise and a great way to get practiced at drawing quickly, summarising what we’re observing with accuracy and skill.

Well, at the end of the exercise I felt as if whatever accuracy and skill I had had been soaked up in that one half an hour! The constant shifting of angles meant you had to think much swifter, there was no time to agonise over potential mistakes, no erasing, you just worked like a machine but all the while thinking like a human. After about the 14th sketch I began to find a rhythm, starting from the same spot and following the same route; bent arm, around to fingers, emphasise shoulders, move down right hand side, outside of right leg, etc… I found I didn’t have time to draw facial features or even sometimes a proper head. This was a problem as the head changed angles just as much as the body, so in the time frame the solution was to include the simplest profile of the face and ears. I discovered Ears are fantastic indicators for facial angles and helped enunciate which way the subject was looking without having to spend too much time on them.

Another major challenge was something I hadn’t considered – two thirds of the way through my pencil was fast becoming a graphite-less stick of wood. I had no sharpener nor anytime to fix the pencil anyway. Drawing was becoming more and more difficult, I could see others near me facing the same problem. I could barely number each drawing so I had to adapt the way I drew, holding the pencil differently and focusing as if I were drawing with charcoal sticks or chalks. To my surprise the quality of these final drawings seemed stronger than the earlier sketches. Perhaps next time i’ll test my strengths using a different medium and i’ll get to see what works best for life-drawing.

I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated being able to walk  about and see what my classmates had done, their different mediums, methods and styles, it helped provide insight about where I could improve in areas like page layout and body structure.

I left that lesson a little mentally exhausted but nonetheless enlightened about observation and technique. Bring on the next lesson!

Also a very big thankyou to today’s wonderful model, Barry!

Draw me like your french girls Jack… Life Drawing.

Today is the first day of unit, beginning with Life Drawing.

I’ve never done life-drawing as a taught subject before, having only done one informal session in order to gain essential imagery for a portfolio.

I intend to employ a larger ranger of media, including charcoal, inks and pastels as the unit progresses.

I can’t wait to get stuck in to it, with my only reservation being if I can be grown up enough not to giggle!

D.D.D? What is that?!

So! first of all I would like to introduce myself – I am an animation student studying at the beautiful (if slightly rainy) University for Creative Arts in Farnham. On this blog I shall be posting all about the D.D.D unit.

What is D.D.D?

D.D.D stands for Drawing, Drama and Design; and is Unit 1 of 4 in my first year of the BA animation course at Farnham. I intend to update this blog as often as I can, detailing the progress, epiphanies and challenges the unit throws in my face.

Since the unit doesn’t start until Monday, that’s all for now. Keep an eye out for the next post!