Shell

The first and foremost difference between my last shell drawing and this one is that I drew a different shell. I decided to draw my smaller shell because it had a more interesting shape with more bumps and ridges. I wanted to try and challenge myself by drawing a harder shell, so I chose the smaller one. I liked drawing this shell's shape better than the last one, however I found it really difficult to figure out how to draw some of the lines. The hardest lines to draw were the ones that switched directions. It also didn't help that when I tried to earse the lines that were incorrect they wouldn't erase completely, making the drawing as a whole look rather sloppy.
Drawing big was another challenge. I had to start over a couple times to make sure it was big enough and in proportion. I used conte crayon to draw this shell and I think that is part of the reason the lines wouldn't erase as well. One thing I would like to improve is to draw the lines that are closer darker and the ones that are further away lighter. I would also try to create a cleaner drawing with less erase marks.
In class I was told that My drawing could be improved if I drew it at more of an angle. There is a long axis line, but a little more tilt to the shell would create a more interesting drawing. I also need to change my line weight. Like I said earlier, creating darker, thicker lines where the shell is closer to the viewer and lighter, thinner lines there the shell is receding from the viewer. Finally I could vary the amount of space between my lines in order to show the different curves and angles of the shell.

Bodies Exhibition and the Skull

This week we took a field trip to the Mall of America to see the bodies exhibition and then we went to MIA to look at the artwork there as well. I found the bodies exhibition very interesting and beneficial to me when it comes to drawing. Upon arrival, I was afraid I would get sick or feel queasy while I was in there, but after getting inside I realized I had nothing to worry about. One of my favorite displays there was the nervous system. I liked the display case where it showed all the nerves, neurons, and spinal column. I am amazed that they could get all of those nerves out of a body without destroying them. I also found all the full body manikins very helpful when it came to seeing how the muscles worked together on the body and where each are located.
At the MIA, I went into the Louvre section of the museum and found it really neat to see some of the paintings and sculptures that are located in the Louvre. Some day, I hope to go see the actual Louvre and all the beautiful artwork displayed there. We also looked at the Native American, Japanese, and architectural displays. There was so much to see, and not much time to see it, but I really enjoyed the field trip as a whole.
In class on Thursday, we began drawing the skull. I am really glad we are starting to learn how to draw the head and face. I think it will really help my drawing skills when drawing people. I like learning the shape and where things are located on the skull, because I found that I was making the face bigger than what it was supposed to be. But after seeing the face in proportion with the rest of the skull I began to see where everything was supposed to be.

Feet!

This week in Life drawing, we concentrated on the feet. We got several long periods of time to observe and draw the feet with the different bone structures, muscles, and shapes that Amy taught us when drawing the feet. I really liked the half hour drawing periods of the feet, because I was able to get the right proportions and shapes of the foot. I tried several different positions of the foot in order to challenge and prepare myself for when we have to draw the whole body in detail. I am really glad we have finally learned how to draw the feet because it is something I have always had trouble with, but now feel a lot more confident when doing so. I look forward to learning how to draw the hands.
It was really interesting learning how the bones connect to each other in the feet. I never realized that the some of the metatarsals attach to the heel while others attach to the ankle. I also like how amy taught us to draw the toes because I had always thought of them as one part. However, she taught us that there are 3 phalanges that make up each toe except the big toe, so we should draw them with 3 angles, which help them to look more life like. Drawing the foot with side plains also seemed to help give the foot more dimensionality and made it actually look like a 3D object.

New Shells!

This week in class it took me a while to get back into drawing. Since we hadn't drawn at all the week before, I felt out of practice. I found that the 30 second gesture drawings were not long enough. I am having a hard time drawing all the skeletal and parts of the body that we were taught in class in 30 seconds and often only get the spinal cord, rib cage and pelvis mapped out in that time. I think the one minute- 2 minute time amounts really allow me to get back into drawing and practice drawing all the part of the body that we have learned this far. I liked that we had a couple long poses, I feel like I am able to get everything in better proportion and mapped out properly. The half hour to hour poses are my favorite. It gives us a enough time to get everything drawn out and refined. I have been working on my line weight in the longer poses as well. I think they are starting to get a little better, and not as dark.
For homework, we had to re-do the abductors on our manikins. I realized that I had left part of a muscle out the first time I built them, because I thought the book was showing a couple of the muscles together. However, the second time building them, I was able to look closer and build the muscles correctly and in proportion to each other. We also got new shells and had to draw them as conture drawings for our homework over the weekend. Having the larger shells made it easier to draw, however, the shell I received was very smooth and hard to draw because there were no bumps or movement in the shell to draw.