This past week, I experienced some struggles and frustration during a hour-long gesture drawing.  I had a strange angle on the model, and with a full classroom space for relocation wasn’t possible.  At the half way mark of my drawing, I decided that it would be beneficial for me to start over.  So I proceeded to erase my entire drawing.  I didn’t want to start on a fresh page because I still wanted to see my pervious mistakes.  I was having some problems with the perspective and foreshortening.  Sometimes being frustrated and trying to figure something out is a good learning experience. Toward the end of my drawing I began to make some progress, but class came to an end.  I would have been able to develop a nice drawing if I had more time to fix my mistakes.  I’m going to try to attend the open life drawing session this week to get some more practice and some longer drawings.  After thinking about my mistakes, I now believe it went into the drawing way to controlled and worried about getting everything perfect.  I should have done some short gesture drawings to get a better idea the models angles.  I also think that I was working to small.  In a way, I sabotaged myself before the drawing even began.  I now know to loosen up, work large, and not be afraid to make mistakes.

Andrea Mantegna: The Lamentation over the Dead Christ 

EXAMPLE OF GOOD FORESHORTENING 

 Its hard for me to believe, but its already midterm time.  I need to start putting together my life drawing portfolio. This is another reason why I need to attend an open drawing session.  For my midterm portfolio I need 10 gesture drawings from a variety to time lengths.  I also need to photography my manikin from different perspectives. This will all be photographed and uploaded to my blog with a written reflection. 

Pelvis

This was a strange week; mostly due to the Wisconsin rally that was based on preserving the rights of public employees.  As an art education major, I attended the rally, and was proud to stand up for what I believe in, however the downside was it conflicted with my class period.  The time that I did have in class was spent learning how to draw the pelvic region.  When I begin to draw the pelvis, I start with a curved triangle shape that begins at the lower portion of the spine.  This shape represents the sacrum and coccyx.  Once I have an accurate depiction of the sacrum and coccyx, I then add the hips.  The hips and the pelvic region create a sort of butterfly shape.  This concept sounds relatively simple but I do find it somewhat tricky.  Depending on how the model is positioned the hips can change drastically.  If the models pelvis is angled, it’s hard for me to see the placement of the hips, so I then work on seeing through the body and imagining where the hips should be placed.  It’s also sometimes hard to judge how much space to leave between the pelvis and the ribs.  I noticed that some of my gesture drawings looked like Parmigianino’s Madonna with the Long Neck.

It has been an interesting learning process this semester.  Focusing on one component of the human form each week has been beneficial to my learning experience of the human figure.  This prevents me from becoming overwhelmed with trying to draw the entire body all at once.  I’m beginning to realize that I knew very little about the human form prior to this class.  The most helpful element I’ve learned thus far is the ability to take the human body and break it into simple shapes.  These simple shapes are helping me build a foundation to work from. 

Ribs and Such

This past week I spent most of my time studying the rib cage and how it aligns with the spine.  When I begin a drawing, the first mark that I make on the page is the shape of the spine.  Once I have an accurate depiction of the spinal curvature, I then draw the ribs and torso.  During gesture drawings I use an egg like shape to capture the volume of the ribs. The top of the egg is where the neck starts and the wider lower portion is beginning of the hips. This shape allows for an accurate depiction of the human form. When I started using this technique it was somewhat strange to me. I would often try and add in the shape of the shoulders, but I learned that the shoulders are something that you add at a later time.

The rib cage surrounds the chest and allows the lungs to expand during breathing.  Ribs serve to protect the heart, lungs and other internal organs  A typical human has 24 total ribs with 12 being on each side.  The first seven are connected to the vertebral column, and are called true ribs. The next three pairs of bones are referred to as false ribs. These bones are slightly shorter then the true ribs and are connected to the spine in back. The last two sets of bones are called floating ribs. Floating ribs are smaller than both the true ribs and the false ribs.

Through the continual practice of gesture drawing, I’m becoming more comfortable with my drawing skills and developing a deeper understanding of the human form.  Aside from drawing, I also have been spending time constructing clay muscles on my manikin.  This has been challenging because the muscle structure of a human is very complex.  Creating these muscles are helping me learn accurate human proportions. 

Vertebral Column

This past week I spent a lot of time focusing on the spinal section of the human body. During class I spent a considerate amount of time drawing the shape of the spine. These were short gesture drawings that were no longer then a minute.  We also did some longer drawings, but still only focused on the shape of the spine.  One component of gesture drawings that I need to work on is economy, otherwise known as the deletion of all unnecessary parts.  I’ve learned that the spine is unique and far more complex then I previous believed.  In a typical standing position the spine is far from straight, but rather a rolling s-shaped curve. The shape of the spine is crucial for an accurate depiction of a human body.  It is the starting point for all life drawings because it leads the rest of the body.  The vertebral column is typically made up of 34 vertebras that are held together by connective tissue.  These separate components allow movement and flexibility.  The spinal cord consists of four main curves. The cervical is the first curve and this occurs the neck region. The second curve is known as the thoracic and this follows the rib cage. The third curve is the lumbar and this is located in the lower proportion of the back.  The last main curve is called the sacrum, and this occurs in lowest portion of the back.  Besides learning about the vertebral column, I also spent some time learning about connective tissue.  The first kind of connective tissue is tendons and these attach muscles to bones. These work in a way that allows or continues motion. The other kind of connective tissue is ligaments and this is bone-to-bone attachment that limits motion.  Overall the human spine is vastly complex and unique in the way that it allows movement.