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.