Clavicle and Shoulder Girdle

This week in class we focused on improving our manikens and finishing up the semester. Specifically, we did some drawings on improving our knowledge of the shoulder girdle/blades and collarbone or clavicle.

            The rest of maniken page numbers were given, and we have to do finish off all the leg and hand areas, and if not done, all the lower leg areas (which I have to go back and modify).

            In class we learned that the shoulder blade is a triangular wing like structure from the middle of each side, long ways vertical on the ribcage. It has a point that goes towards the outer edges where the shoulders start for the arms.  The direction of the indentation below the shoulder blade will indicate the direction of the overall ribcage and is an essential landmark for drawing the human figure. Although can be harder to spot on fleshier models, it is pretty clear when there is movement of the arms that there will be a shadow on the figure.

            The clavicle is at the base of the neck and runs almost horizontally across to just before the shoulder and then part of it twists up and over. This indentation in the upper chest/neck area is a very noticeable area on any figure, as it usually is not too fleshy, and it makes a pit at the base of the neck. The twisting area on both sides of the neck is also an interesting piece of bone structure that can be emphasized in body buildings, but also indicate where some of the neck muscles make a easily spotted drop by the shoulders and connected the shoulder to the body. This is important in understand fundamental structure of the upper body outer appendages.

            We then applied this information in some long poses, trying to get back into the swing of things, we also did many gesture drawings and tried to include the ribcage, pelvic area, other noticeable features and also put in the shoulder blades and clavicle. This was helpful in getting into the groove again.

Bell and Walker

The Walker had very many interesting exhibits of contemporary art. The Yves Klein collection was a pleasant surprise, having studied him in contemporary art history, seeing his work up close it was a very textural, color rich experience.  I was surprised by the textural aspect, and thought that incorporating almost a fake “textural” experience to our shell drawings might add dimension and interest using inks.  Another interesting exhibit was the nature one, where the living models moved in a staged area that mimicked the emotion they were trying to portray.  The sounds, and textures too added to the piece in a way that incorporated the audience. Even the moving tinfoil was an unexpected surprise, because despite it’s simplicity, it never managed to be dull.

            The Bell Museum on the University of Minnesota had a plethora of bones and objects to draw. I decided on the skull of a Prong Horn Deer or known around here as an “antelope” it had a smooth skull with 2 protruding horns. I spent the majority of my time trying to measure the dimensions in relation to each other to create an anatomically correct drawing, which was difficult because I had no base information to which to compare the skull’s proportions to. I struggled and added contours later, but it was an interesting exercise in trying to implement the teachings from life drawing to other forms than the human body.  The skeletal structure was not different from the human form, as it had the jagged and round edges, so I broke it down into a series of shapes and lines to simplify it. Then I tried to emphasize the harder more exaggerated features to capture the essence of the skull. Whether or not I accurately accomplished that, I am not sure, as I could not get up and wander around the skull once I had sat down. I then learned to appreciate the technique of standing and drawing during that drawing, as it seemed to “dull” the attitude of the drawing overall, that would have had more personality otherwise with more movement.

Prong Horn Deer Skull

Prong Horn Deer Skull, slightly different angle.

Ink and Toes

In class on Tuesday we learned about the bones in the foot. The foot can be broken into sections to understand. Overlapping wedges make up the inner and outer parts of the foot, with 2 toes on the outer side and 3 on the inner. The trick to drawing the foot is to consider the toes as 3 parts with a knob at each end. Substantial thickness should be exaggerated on the toes, even though they may seem rather flat on the smaller toes. Also, the nails should be curved downward on each side to appear to have more form that they may actually project. This creates a change in planes so that it is more believable in the drawing. Also, the toes are not straight across at the joints but should make a curve so to not appear more distorted than real feet.

Ink Shell Practice

This is very helpful in understanding some of the appendages, which can be also applied to hands too. Looking at the fingers as rectangular with 3 sections with joints that have two knobs on each side, will help shape the fingers so they are not “sausage like”. This is very important in creating a believable form.

Then on Thursday we practiced doing ink washes. Starting with a contour line drawing, we then applied our previous skills and combined it with wet media. Using India ink and an orange I diluted the inks and used the varnish brush to dampen the watercolor paper. I wonder though, how will the inks apply to the other Stonehenge paper than the watercolor paper? Also, we are to apply the inks in a way that reflects the shadows of the actual shell?  I cannot get my ink dark enough color wise, so I will have to get another color… maybe a purple to go with my shell for my contrast? However, I do not want to overpower the charcoal drawing too much, but the practice was very helpful in figuring out how to apply the ink washes for shell drawing 3.

Midterm Portfolio Reflection

My first semester of LifeDrawing 1 has been a very educational experience. Having a live model really helped for learning the human anatomy, and reviewing the different parts of the muscles and bones also help understand the complexity of drawing the human form. We did various exercises that helped shape my ever expanding understanding of the human figure, which I will further explain.

            Beginning the semester, I did not understand how understand how important line was, simply alone, and doing the fast gestural drawings really helped push me to put down what I see quickly, so that I focus on the main parts rather than the small details. Using the vertical axis of the spine or the front line down the torso, combined with the addition of the ribcage and pelvic region really helped me put down the figure in simple terms.  My drawings were heavier, without any line variation. Later, using there proper form we learned in class, moving an arms length away, holding the charcoal pencil differently, and moving more loosely with the entire arm really helped bring more life to my drawings. The lines of comparison more accurate proportions were already something I readily practiced, but using it more was a very helpful thing too. However, while there were many achievements, there were also many things I still need to improve upon.

            I noticed in my gesture drawings 1-3 that the line weight needed more refinement to get atmospheric perspective, and less outlining and more suggested form could be used. Also, while my proportions are not too bad, my alignment of the ribcage and the pelvic regions need to be more accurate, which will help in my complex figures. See gesture2, The ribcage is right to the sides, but the front of the ribcage is completely missing any lines, and not long enough.  Gesture1 has the lying figure and the ribcage is touching the top of the spine, where it should be touching where the neck/collar bones would go.

 My long drawings also need more line variation, although Long Drawing 2 successfully used this,  it is heavier in the receding/shadow areas instead of from closer to farther away as in atmospheric perspective.  My most successful long drawing seems to be my last one, the 2 hour Long Drawing 3, which incorporates more of all these elements in a better fashion, but needs more roundness suggested/emphasized throughout.

I would like to learn a bit more about proportions overall, because although I feel I have a fairly decent sense of them, I struggle more with foreshortening. Also, practicing more with receding forms like in the Shell Drawing 1, the inside of the shell was very difficult to achieve, and I had darkened the area while I should have lightened it and needed to make it more round. We will be practicing more with the shell drawings in the future, but these are only a few issues I would be very interested in getting to know further. 

Long Drawing 3

To See my progress, please refer to my  Life Drawing flickr account Westr

Critiques And Gestures

Life Drawing this week consisted mainly of critique and gestural drawings.

Gestural drawing had another element added into the mix for the last two class periods, being that we must include the pelvic region hipbones. The strong crests of the hip bones stick out at the side of the hips and make a u shaped-dip along the model. This can be very apparent, but helpful to include for measuring the proportions of the ribcage to the hip width, as males will have relatively similar length and females may have a slightly larger hip to ribcage ratio.  Also, the ribcage itself can be broken down into squares, and the tip of the ribcage should stick up, and you can use this rule to breakdown the entire rest of the torso for accuracy.

            Shall assignment 1 had 2 different critiques, one being short in small groups and the other being long with the teacher in a different small group. I spent probably the full amount of time, trying to get the accurate cross-contour lines, and spent another big of time just erasing the ones I didn’t care for. We went over the final product and came to some conclusions that although I had the cross contours with good line variation, I could push the line thick and thinness from front to back of the shell. Also, although the shell was at a diagonal, it was not diagonal enough and almost appeared flat where it should have receded more in space. Trouble with the inside of the shell  was not too much in the lines, although I could imagine more of the outside when drawing them, but that if I lightened the inside with my fairly minimal vertical contours, it would make it seem more atmospheric. Another hard thing to step away from is my outlining, which should only be done lightly and be used sparingly for effect. However, my ridges near the end of the shell showed I had spent a fair amount of time observing it, and trying to be accurate. So I will have to push it further as I do my next assignment.

Shell Assign 1

                                                                                          

Posture, Lines and Proportion.

This week, Tuesday, we were thrown for a loop when our model did not show. So, in place of that we focused on the ins and outs of our next assignment, the Shell Contour Drawings. Spending half the class in lecture and the other observing and drawing our shell, we were to apply certain concepts as practice. 

Light Shell Contour

Important aspects was the quality of lines. Contour drawings will need many marks to pull out the form, and the shell must occupy the space of the paper. Drawing at first, as lightly as possible, allows for one to later go in and add atmospheric effects as it recedes into space. Finding the proper position of the shell to show the vertical axis so as to avoid flatness is also important in determining a successful shell drawing. Although our class is only a few hours long, the assignment is expected to take at least 5 hours of work, to really get a good enough form created.

The next class, we once again had our model, so we drew gestural drawings again. However, the stress was on drawing lightly, placing in the ribcage and axis lines. Combining it with other lessons, we were also expected to show the movement of the model. 

The most beneficial part of the class though, was when were were required to use a long drawing utensil and step back an arms length so that I would have to use my entire arm and shoulder to draw the figure. At first it was extremely hard, but as I adjusted and flexed my muscles it really helped loosen up my grip and let my lines flow. Even keeping the feet spread apart and knees slightly bent (which was difficult for me), truly helped ease the stress. Ideally we would "mimic" the stress or relaxation in the model, but I never applied the idea to full figure, only when I would draw faces. So this was very helpful.

The next step was applying the lightness to the lines (and later applying line weights for more information). We then used the proper position, and focusing on the use of the axis/ribcage, we also considered proportions. I think I did rather successful in applying proportions, as I have been practicing relational drawing for quite some time as a helpful tool, and begin by dividing the figure up to get more accurate. However, I really enjoyed just spending time comparing each angle and body part to another, and it really helped when I struggled with the foreshortened figure.

Relational Lines of a foreshortened figure

Overall, I felt this week was a very educational and insightful, although I hoped that the professor would give more in depth critique of our work so that I may work on those areas even further.

Muscles and Ribs

This week we talked in great length about the skeletal structure and notable muscles that attached to the skeleton. Focusing on the axis of the skeleton, the spine and middle lines.

When drawing we were to incorporate the ribcage in the shape of an “egg” with the narrower part towards to neck, and the direction given by the inner shadows of the shoulder blades. Needing volume, it needs energy and suggestion of movement that it can expand and contract. On the front side of the ribs, key ribs signal where the nipples are on the body with 1-8 being “true ribs”, 9-10 being “false ribs”. Muscles connecting down the back also connect to certain points, but overall all this information can help form accurate representations of muscles on the Manikens and thus, in the forms of our drawings.

From the VisibleBody.com, shows the structure of the ribcage, spine and shoulder blades.

We practiced a lot of gestural drawings and contour drawings, to help us become more aware of proportion and form. Hopefully through this process it will become natural and we can advance. I felt like this week I was improving a bit, although I didn’t realize before that I could draw either the spine or the frontal vertical line of the model, which helped me to draw much faster. Considering this and the quality of line it a very important things to learn. I also pushed myself to draw the figure larger on my paper and more confidently because my figures were lacking compositionally on the paper, and my line was very sketchy and not as well thought out. I am struggling with this quality of line, but hopefully I will learn how to control it in future gestural drawings. Breaking down the figure into shapes also helps during contour drawings to help really see the “space” without wondering where the line is supposed to be to suggest the form. 

Contour Drawing of Model