Shoulder

The majority of my time last week was spent learning about the shoulders.  At first glance they appear to be relatively simple but upon further investigation I found the bones and muscles to be very complex.  It’s interesting how the clavicle and scapula work together to support and attach the arm.  I find the human body impressive when I think about all the components working together to create a simple movement.  The idea of being able to move is often taken for granted.  If you take time to think about the components like bones, muscles, and tendons that work together you soon notice that the human body is an impressive machine.

The clavicle is often referred to as the collarbone and serves as a support beam between the scapula and the sternum.  It’s an interesting bone because it lies horizontally.  It makes up part of the shoulder and is often visible because it creates a bulge under the skin.  It’s arrangement keeps the upper limb away from the thorax and this allows the arm to have a wide range of movement.  It also allows the scapula to move freely and transmit physical impacts from the upper limb to the axial skeleton.

The scapula is commonly referred to as the shoulder blade, and connects the upper arm to the clavicle.  This bone is relatively flat and roughly triangular in shape.  The scapula is an important bone that allows upper limb movement and stability.  This bone is sturdy and well protected by muscles so it is rarely broken.  It serves as a broad plate and helps with the anchoring of muscles of the upper body.

These bones are the foundation to my manikin’s clay muscles.   Aside from drawing and learning the function of the scapula and clavicle, a lot of my time was spent creating clay muscles.  It’s interesting to see how all the muscles are beginning to overlap each other.  Some of the muscles in the back are almost like sheets that overlap muscles that I constructed earlier in the semester.

Feet

 My main focus last week was learning how to draw feet.  Like most aspects of the human form, it’s vastly important to learn about the bones within a feature prior to your first attempt of drawing it.  I found it interesting that the bones in a foot are very similar to those in the hand.  It makes sense, but I just figured since the physical appearance is different the bones must also be different.  The main difference between the hand and the foot is the length of the metatarsal and phalangeal bones.  Prior to learning the basic components of the feet, I didn’t know how to draw a foot without it appearing like Fred Flintstone’s. The main reasons why my feet didn’t appear real was that my toes always looked like tubes and I didn’t understand how to create the proper arch within a foot.

One of the challenges I have when drawing feet is achieving a three-dimensional heel.  During one of my drawings, I noticed that the heel looked flat.  I then created the back portion of the heel and leg to give it a more three dimensional appearance.  My drawing appeared somewhat geometric, but it was a good learning experience for me to discover the proper perspective of the front, back, and side of the foot and calf. 
My goal for the rest of the semester is to work on creating contour lines.  This way of drawing is challenging and evolves a lot of erasing and reworking.  One of the areas where I’m struggling with contours lines is on the ankle.  I’m having some issues with creating a realistic anklebone that doesn’t appear as if a round golf ball is under the skin.  I find the anklebone to be irregular in shape and thus a challenge to draw.   Overall, I’m begging to understand how to draw feet, but need to work on creating contour lines around the ankle.

Midterm

Midterm Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/60133912@N06/sets/ 

It’s officially midterm, and that means it’s time for me to reflect upon the semester.  Life drawing has been a good learning experience; I have experienced both successes and failures.  I’ve noticed a great deal of improvement in my drawing skills and understanding of the human body.  I’m now able to see the curvature of the spine, shape of the rib cage, and placement of the hips in a matter of seconds (Drawing 1).  Prior to this semester, I had very little understanding on how to draw the human body.  This was because I didn’t understanding the basic curvature and shapes that exist throughout the body.  This visualization skill has been the foundation to my learning experience.  Learning and understanding these principles has allowed me to create longer drawings that accurately portray the proportions of a human (Drawing 8).  Aside from my successes, I have also experience several challenges.  I’ve noticed that when I begin a longer drawing, it’s sometimes hard for me to create an accurate perspective.  I have also had some difficultly creating foreshortening within my drawings.  It’s a skill that I’m beginning to understand, but still find very difficult (Drawing 9).  I attended an open life drawing session recently, and found the outside drawing time to be beneficial to my learning experience.  It was nice to be able to work at my own pace and move around the room until I got a good view of the model.  I foresee myself attending these in the near future.

As I look forward to the second half of the semester there are still some things that I want to learn.  I look forward to learning how to draw hands, feet, and the face.  I typical leave these out of my drawings because I don’t feel as though I have the knowledge to accurately depict them.  I believe class lectures and building the manikin will help me develop a better understanding of these features.  Overall I have learned a lot this semester and look forward to what the future has to offer.