Exercise (2) Three Figure Drawings. Project (4) Structure.

Again at the Saturday life drawing class at The Royal Drawing School, in London.

I am afraid I didn't have any choice how I wanted the model to pose.

Standing.

Black pencil.

This must have been a difficult pose to keep, 

I think I might have got the back leg too short.

Seated.

Pencil.

I like this one, very linear, and I think, in proportion! 

Lying-down.

Red chalk pencils.

A hard angle to draw a figure from, came out all right, I think I flattened the rib-cage a bit, and areas of the drawing don't look very solid.

Exercise (1) The Structure of the Human Body. Project (4) Structure.

I drew from a book called 

"Constructive Anatomy." 

by George B. Bridgman. 

Feet and ankles. Pencil. 

 Knee and leg. Red pencil.

Leg and knee. Pencil.

Hips and torso. Red and brown pencil.

Torso, front and back. Red and brown pencil. 

Arm and elbow. Blue Watercolour pencil. 

Hand and wrist. Pen, pencil and charcoal pencil.

I tried to simplify the shape into box forms, spheres and cylinders, and then add and build onto them with the more complex shapes.

I think this was very helpful, to have a idea of how the human works. 

I do wish I had done more, and copy from other books and other artists, but I was running out of time, and needed to press on.

Exercise (4) Energy. Project (3) Form.

1. In this exercise I used manly brushes (and a little bit of pen,) because there is a lovely flow about brushes (suggestive of movement), and the fluctuation of line you can get with the application of pressure is what I wanted.

Watercolour sketch.

Drawing with brush and watercolour.

Drawing with brush and watercolour.

Watercolour and blue watercolour pencil.

Fountain pen, blue watercolour pencil and water applied.

Fountain pen and watercolour wash.

Fountain pen and watercolour wash.

Fountain pen and watercolour wash.

I may have got a little carried away with the last three drawings, and they don't really have much movement in them, but possibly a bit of energy.

I think, in the early parts of the drawing, it is important to establish the main thrust of the pose, break it down into a very simple shape.

another thing I was thinking about, was opposing curves, by having opposing curves in a drawing, not only does it keep the viewers eye looking at the picture (working almost like a pinball machine,) but it creates a natural flow and energy, I think.

And lastly I became conscious of the importance of exaggeration.

Exercise (3) Stance. Project (3) Form.

At the Royal drawing school, Saturday life drawing classes again.

1 minute sketches with whiteboard marker.

1 minute conté sketches.

1 minute. Fineliner.

1 minute. Fineliner and watercolour.

1 minute. Fineliner.

1 minute drawings with brush and watercolour.

2 minute. fountain pen and watercolour.

2 minute. fountain pen and watercolour. 

3 minute. fountain pen and watercolour.

3 minute. fountain pen and watercolour.

3 minute.  Fineliner and watercolour.

4 minute

3 minute drawing with watercolour.

5 minute. Fineliner and watercolour. 

5 minute. Fineliner and watercolour.

3 minute. Whiteboard marker. 

2 minute. Fineliner and watercolour.

5 minute. Black conté stick.

5 minute. Blue watercolour pencil. 

I really like doing quick gesture drawings, lots of fun.

 I found that often if the shoulder and hip lines are straight and horizontal the weight is on both legs,

 but when the shoulders and hips access are at an angle the line of balance is on one leg....I find this is a good way of finding out were the weight is, quickly when I first look at a pose.

I also look and try to gauge if the model could lift a leg with out falling, determining which leg is necessary to the model to stay upright.

I thought this exercise very helpful.

Exercise (2) Essential Elements. Project (3) Form.

These drawings are of family members, 

most of them weren't actually sitting for me, but were reading, working or watching television, in a reasonably still attitude. 

Therefore, some of the poses may seem a bit boring, 

but I do like sketching people when they are not posing for me, you get a much more natural stance, sometimes, I feel, when a posture is adopted to be drawn, it can look stiff and lifeless.

I ended up doing more then six.

1

Whiteboard marker and white conté, on a purple support.

Quite like this drawing, 

though the feet become indistinct and you can't see what is happening with his right arm.

2

Fountain pen and a red-ish brown chalk pencil.

I think it has to be explained that this model is my seven year old sister, and not a grown-up with a very big head.

This looked much better before I put the shading on with the pencil, as a line pen drawing.

The neck doesn't work (I think it is too thin) but there is a bit of a sense of weight to the figure, which I like.

3

A soft, dark brown drawing pencil.

The leg going underneath the other just doesn't appear to be correct. Other than that I like this sketch, the head in profile is pleasing.   

4

Fountain pen.

5

A soft, dark brown drawing pencil.

The angle of the head and shoulders are good not so sure about the crossed leg....all my models seem to be sitting with their legs crossed and it always befuddles me, but I mustn't ask them not to, I think it important to keep trying.

6

Fountain pen and a soft, dark brown drawing pencil.

My sister again, sitting in the car.

Even though one of her legs was obscured, I always make a point of loosely sketching in the whole figure, this gives me a better understanding of what is going on. 

 7

Pencil and white conté on a mauve-ish paper.

8

Fountain pen.

This is my favourite of all the drawings on this exercise,

I am afraid that it might be just because I enjoyed drawing it, I really like the look of pen and ink. 

Fountain pen is very similar to a dip in pen, just without the fear of a drip.

The pose is a nice one and I think I managed to get the sense of weight on the elbow.

I am pleased with how I succeeded in creating the downwards profile with so few marks.

 I think, with pen and ink a minimalist approach is often more affective.  

I think the figure looks fairly believable in the space.

The think that really annoys me, is the way I muck-up the table leg...its so wonky.

Exercise (1) Basic Shapes. Project (3) Form.

I was again at the Rolal Drawing School Saturday life drawing class.

Pencil and graphite stick.

I blocked in the forms using boxes and cylinders mainly,

I then began fleshing out and building onto this structure to create a finished drawing (well almost finished, I left areas a bit sharper and squarer then they really were.)

There is something rather pleasing about a tall slim composition, I quite like the way the head turned out head, 

(despite the ear being too far back,) I didn't over work it, and thought very hard about the structure of the skull underneath.

But I feel the drawing seems a bit clumpy, not as I would like it to be, flowing and graceful. 

It's not a very clear that mostly all the weight was on the right leg, also, I think there isn't enough range of tone throughout the drawing. 

I got a little confused with the back muscles, I don't know or understand enough about anatomy and muscles formations to really give accurate and believable renderings, (definitely something to do some work and research on.)

Research Point.

Charcoal pencil.

Quick sketch of self in mirror.

The light reflected into the mirror and casting a strange light...which was fun. Don't like the rest of the drawing much, got little of a likeness, and don't think the foreshortening was very successful.

"The Lamentation of Christ" or "The Dead Christ" 

by Andrea Mantegna.

This is one very early example of foreshortening.

Mantegna was very interested in extreme perspective. 

This painting is obviously distorted, but I think it almost feels like the feet are in the viewers peripheral vision, and this distorted just serves to drew the eye directly to the face. 

foreshortening is often used by the Renaissance artists to create an illusion of depth, but in this painting the artist is using it to draw us in.

Exercise (2) A Longer Study. Project (2) Proportion.

I attend (and have for a few years) a Saturday life drawing class at The Royal Drawing School, in London. 

As this is a class, and I am working at an easel, I don't have any input over how the model poses nor were I am placed to draw, if it's a crowded lesson,  at any rate. So,  accordingly, the angle I had isn't the most exciting.

Black, red and white drawing pencils, on a light-ish brown support.

I quite like this longer study, the proportions aren't too bad and I enjoyed the cross-hatching.

The weight of the pose seems believable.  

But problems I have with it are that the lighting comes across as a bit ambiguous, the bent leg (the models left leg) doesn't work so well and the calf seems flat,

  there isn't enough neck and the foreshortening on her right arm isn't right. 

Exercise (1) Quick Studies. Project (2) Proportion.

I had the chance to have two different models on this particular day... so I took it. 

I tried to keep all the lines free and loose, starting near the middle (as suggested) but making small marks before, where I estimated key landmarks might be, to avoid going off the edge of my paper or something. 

Charcoal pencil.

Charcoal pencil and white conté on blue paper.

Pencil and white conté on a light brown paper.

Watercolour sketch, on a yellow support.  

I might have gone a bit over the two minute mark on some of theses sketches. 

Whiteboard marker on a yellow paper.

Quite like this ten minute drawing, it seems to be reasonably in proportion and the black looks nice on the yellow. 

The crossed leg seems to work, and it has a soft feeling to it, due to the marker nearly running out.

Drawn in watercolour.

Whiteboard marker and wash.

Watercolour pencil and wash.

Fineliner.

Fineliner.

This one was more like five minutes.

Ballpoint pen with black and white conté on yellow paper. 

I like this other ten minute sketch less, the head is too big, the legs are too small and crossed leg doesn't come towards you enough.