Week 12: Figure. Posture and pose

These three human body sketches were made with the help of the examples of Die Gestalt Des Menschen by Gottfried Bammes, and represent a study of posture and pose.
All of the three drawings show human gesture that emphasizes their lifelines feel. The lack of shading does not affect much in the case of the first two women models, since their pose is relaxed and therefore the muscles are stretched to portray that exact feel. On the other hand, the third sketch shows some cloth that would fit around the arm and elbow area of the man figure, sitting on a horse, also gesturing but more significantly, contracting the muscles of the back and legs to keep balance while horseback riding. The muscles are more proeminent and visuallly significant and thus, convey the human figure accuratelly in such an instance. On the down side, there are small particularities such as the hand holding the stick or the leg which could have gone beyond the sketching part, as well as a sense of a random style of shading which could have extended further on to the entire body to create unity.

Week 11: Figure. Muscular structure

The three sketches of this week’s session were done in pencil and represent an attempt at understanding more of the depiction of the human body, purpose which cannot be followed if one does not endeavor on drawing human musculature, which gives the shape of the body.
Therefore, the first sketch is a less than dynamic one, showing the human figure in a rested, standing pose, the bones and muscles are simplistically depicted through the use of lines and simple shading. Overall the drawing is faithful to its original figure, although the head could be leveled up to the same amount of shading as the rest of the body.

The second sketch strives to depict more muscle and bone shapes on the torso and arms of the figure and does not fail short while also remaining true to the correct shading and lines of the neck. The image below shows a small definition of the foot and leg but enough to give the illusion of three dimension.

The third sketch should portray the bending of the model, matter which is achieved with the help of the lines of the neck and the differences in size of the legs, one of which curls and heads forward or with the help of the horizontal lines of the body which gradually fall on the left side of the shifting body. All in all, I believe all sketches truthfully show the changes of human shape in varied poses and supposed motion.

Week 10: Figure. Basic anatomy and movement

This week’s session was an in-depth study of movement and pose of the human body. These three sketches were done in pencil and portray different instances of the model.
The first attempt was an experiment, it was drawn using the left hand which is not the usual hand I use to draw, but this particular trial was meant to understand the form of the human body differently and thus, ended up looking similar to a Schiele sketch, which I could not modify anymore.

The second image is of a pose with the back of the model facing the vantage point, which I believe stays true anatomically to the actual human figure. Since there were more dark tones, it could have helped to add more shading on most of the surfaces, besides the margins where light was barely slipping on the skin.

The third image portrays the model in a pose that required shape and size changes of the muscular system, the arms are stretched while at the same time supporting the weight of the body, if the balance achieved by flexing the heel and leg muscles would fail. There is a clear definition of shapes and anatomical accuracy besides the head which is small compared with the body; To add to this, the drawing could have taken advantage of more shading.

Week 9: Figure. Basic anatomy and proportion

The week session consisted of getting familiarized with drawing the basic anatomy of the human body and the drawings were created in pencil with their level of complexity depending on technique, as well as on the time slot allotted. The first attempt consisted in sketching five quick different poses. The accent does not fall on detail, but rather on proportion, shape and gesture which I believe were achieved in being depicted. The lines follow the shape of the body while also not disrupting the correct proportions, there is also a clear attempt at some anatomical accuracy.

The second image did not surpass much the inflicted time period of the other, but represents an experiment of not raising the tip of the pencil in order to create flowing lines and shapes of the depiction of the human body, which I believe was successful since it holds a level of subjectivity and expression.

The third image was intended as a detailed drawing and although it holds true to many of the desired elements, it is far from finished. The shape of the human body is drawn anatomically correctly and there is a clear attempt at shading which looks well so far, but is required more overall. The objects on which the model is sitting seem to fit perfectly with the entire image and in relation to the body but need more shape, light and dark contrast and shadows cast by the model. In general, it is a presentable drawing.

Week 8: Still Life. Reflective surfaces

The detailed drawing represents a session study of reflective surfaces, created in about 15 minutes in pencil. First of all, light falls in varied manners on all objects, either metallic, hard or glass surfaces and is fairly well depicted in all examples, it is fair to say it could perhaps be improved on the cylindrical one. Refraction is also obvious in the relation between the bottle and the spherical object behind it, the two objects also create the intended depth. The overlapping tends to be favourable in most places and adds to the desired three dimensional effect, although on the right side where the vase and the cylindrical object meet, there seems to be some poorly constructed composition. Second of all, as far as those objects concern, they are well drawn and show a multitude of kinds of shapes. The table cloth could use more detail through the form of more shading and the shadows cast by the objects should be more contrasted as should be those of the overall picture where light does not hit any surface. All in all, the drawing manages to portray the desired effect of reflective textures.

Week 7: Still Life. Soft and hard surfaces & texture

The quick 10 minute pencil study is intended to show the effect of light on textures belonging to fruits such as apples or oranges. These surface types required a naturalistic approach which meant using hatching to depict as accurately as possible the tonal contrast and the relationship between objects. There seems to be no issue in the way light distinctively reflects on the apple’s and on the orange’s surfaces, other than the obvious deformed spherical lines that give shape to them, which should be toned down where light hits. Other than that fact, texture could be greatly improved on the apples but only in a chromatic sense, colours being the only improvement that could truly work on differentiating their surfaces and a good background where their shadow could appear.

Week 6: Still Life. Natural and man made forms

This detailed pencil drawing took less than 30 minutes to complete though it is far from a true finished piece. It depicts the relation between three glass made objects that create a compelling still life image, with important elements such as light and texture being taken into consideration. Lines and different styles of hatching play a significant role in creating the illusion of an actual texture, which in this case are three types of glass, that reflect and refract light differently. Therefore, I tried to overlap the two glasses and double the effect of light on this type of surfaces. It is fair to say that more hatching, thus more detail, would have greatly enhanced the appeal of the drawing, moreover three other significant problems are the space between the bottle and the glasses which ruins the sense of unity of the entire picture, the obvious line asymmetry in the case of the neck of the bottle and of the taller glass object and the missing background which makes one believe the objects are located into thin air.