Today we had a different teacher (who usually teaches our Animation Principles lessons) and the Male model who modelled for us in our first lesson.
Our first task was to simply observing the model, every line and detail, how his weight was distributed, and muscle and bone structure. Only after 10 minutes or so were we told to start our 20 minute drawing.
It was one of those moments where you put your pencil to paper and discover that your drawing style is different. It may be because of the late nights I’d had previously (I’d like to emphasise I had been working, not partying!) or the fact it was early in the morning or maybe because I was learning and becoming subconsciously more adept at sketching, but the way I was making marks was quite different to previous lessons. There were much more sporadic scribbles, but over small spaces. The face and upper body were constructed more of shading than lines. A body part was represented by the light and shade rather than its outline. I don’t know why I did this, it was totally subconscious but the outcome was quite nice.
Once again the battle for leaving enough space for feet continues, however my usual neglect of features has been addressed today, as our teacher specified that we were to pay particular attention to hands, feet and faces. It was really enjoyable to be able to draw a face and suddenly the picture comes more alive. (even if I couldn’t finish the bottom half)
Task two was three 10 minute large-scale sketches of hands. This was great to do, I really enjoyed it, but by the third sketch the activity became a test of memory as the models hands were getting tired so the pose changed a little as I was drawing it. Oh well, it’s an extra challenge!
From there we had to do three 5 minute sketches with the model in a different pose, focusing on the lines of action. Having not done A Level art or any thing like that, I didn’t know what these were, (I’ve looked these up, apparently “The line of action is a key ingredient to making your character’s poses look more dynamic*.”) I’m not sure I’ve exactly fulfilled the brief here…
After our usual break, our teacher handed out sheets of A4 paper with a devious expression. Our suspicions as to why he looked smug were soon realised when he informed us to stab a hole in the paper with our pencils, then draw the model with the sheet of paper stuck over our hand so there was no chance of looking at all. I thought the outcome would be hilarious (as it had been when we first did an exercise like this in lesson one) but the result was not what I expected and I felt rather pleased.
Following on, we were then given a fantastic challenge of drawing (and being able to look at our paper) but with our non-dominant hand. Ooh it made your brain work, I found myself drawing more from my elbow than my wrist as I do with my dominant hand. It’s interesting because the outcome is never going to be exactly how you want it because you are physically inhibited by your hand!
To finish we were allowed to draw how we pleased for 25 minutes which I think Is one of the longest times we’ve had! (I shall reserve comments of personal criticism or praise as I seem to have added quite a few in the last few posts, and I don’t want my views to affect how you perceive the artwork. I’d rather not influence your opinions so I’ll keep my personal comments to a minimum from now on)
*quoting Krishna M. Sadasivam, from their article, “Quick Tip: The line of action, make your character poses more dynamic!”
dddmiriamfox 