Shake them Hips!

The pelvis has finally been brought into play, and so have all of the problems it can create. Just as doing a lot of quick gesture drawings with the spine and rib cage, adding in the pelvis helps create a foundation. But again I felt as if the extremely fast gesture drawings were so quick that I really couldn't get a good grip on the proportion between rib cage, spine and pelvis. The pelvis like the rib cage provided more structure to build off of, it helped flush out the connection between the stomach and legs and provided a base that allowed for depth. A problem that became common when the pelvis was introduced was the elongation of the spine and creating too much of a gap between the pelvis and rib cage. This created figures that had elongated torsos and looked way too tall. Similarly the angle of the pelvis versus the angle of the rib cage provided sense of movement and made the figure look organic. However this relationship also made it easy to twist the two far apart and make the figure have an unnatural twist. The hips obviously help compliment the spine especially when the figures back is facing the viewer. The combination of the two gives the obliques, lower back, and butt a defined shape instead of a big blob of transitional mass from the legs to the back or to the stomach. The pelvis also is important as it creates a visual reference for the midpoint of the body and helps seperate the torso from the legs.

Spines, Spines and you guessed it more Spines

Well I can't exactly say I enjoyed drawing spine after spine after spine, but I suppose if the groundwork is laid down well the rest won't add either. The same goes for the rib cage although placing the rib cage takes a bit more tact than expected. Proportion has to be right on with these two otherwise the remainder of the details will be wasted on something lopsided. The gesture drawings are there to ingrain that basic structure but I found that they also made it hard to correctly give the figure the right proportion. Especially the length of the spine versus the height of the rib cage. It seemed that when were finally able to start adding in more features on the longer sketches I had a hard time setting things up correctly because I wasn't able to add enough detail into the quick drawings. I felt that if we did more 3 minute-ish sketches it would allow us to add in the most basic details in addition to the body structure and therefore help us figure out the proportion and position a bit better than just doing the structure. On the other hand I did see how the spine and rib cage helped flush out my figures and made for a more life-like image.  The spine if laid out well provides a nice natural curvature that allows the artist to build off and make the overall figure look more dynamic and organic. It helps alleviate the appearance of corpse-like figures that are too stiff and seem frozen. The rib cage similarly helps provide an appropriate girth for the figure. Also the rib cage if positioned correctly allows the artist to help separate the planes on the surface of the figure.  

Evoultion of Drawing Charcteristics

During one of our drawing classes I couldn't help but think about the transitions that my drawing has gone through throughout the years. A part of me couldn't help but laugh to think that outlining was such a no-no and previous to this class that was the primary means of drawing a person. Upon further reflection I began to think that even before outlines a lot of kids drew stick figures. Stick figures remotely representing the core frame that we're trying to learn with the exception of the pelvis and rib cage. It got me thinking that perhaps we were doing more unlearning in this course than learning. And that's all well and fine I definitely have improved as a result but I found it funny to think that stick figures had more to do with an accurate foundation than the "outlines" I had been drawing since. It makes perfect sense you need to understand the structure beneath before you can cover it, other wise people often looked like flat balloons that only existed in cartoons and my drawings. Also assuming I had been more interested in drawing at a younger age or had a teacher that was, could it be possible to suggest a simplified version of a skeleton (arms, legs, pelvis, rib cage and basic skull) to kids or middle schoolers?  Perhaps a more basic form could be taught and then the whole outline issue could be skipped or prevented.  Not that outlining doesn’t have its merits but it doesn’t create a sense of depth. Similarly could brief contour line studies also help younger drawers see their subject more clearly? Either way I’m genuinely glad that I have been shown the light per say, although it does still pain me to look back at the drawing from previous courses and still try and justify those lines as human figures.

Midterm Post

Due to some technical difficulties in transferring
the rest of my blog over from its previous page the
middle section that was the three weeks in October

is temporarily down.



1st half Fall Semester 2010

Reflection

 

When entering this class this fall I had some previous experience in drawing models in my drawing one class. They were a few brief sessions but it was enough to give me a lingering interest. I was quite happy to be enrolled in a class focusing solely on drawing from models as that was one thing I always had trouble with.The amount of short timed gesture drawings at first seemed kind of pointless but as the semester progressed I started to see their usefulness in my longer drawings. The repetition really started to help with setting up initial proportions, and over the course of the semester less and less corrections were necessary. The adding of contour lines in combination with the long timed drawings helped me to see planes and depth to my drawings. The sketchy feel I have to my like work has been nice in that it lends to the lifelike feel but also has created problems with the drawing having many erase marks due to multiple lines.

Expectations

I know we haven't gotten to the extremities of the human body yet, but those are what I would like to work the most on. I realize that if the torso isn't correctly mapped out the rest will look off as well. Faces, hands and feet have always given me problems so I'd like to work on them some more. Also I would like to work on developing my atmospheric effects as well. They would help add depth as well create more perspective. For the long poses I would like to be able to draw better from the harder angles. I have had quite a few problems when faced with a subject that is angled out towards the viewer. Overall I just hope I can improve enough to the point where excessive erasing isn't necessary and I can build more confidence in my line work. 


My flickr portfolio is at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zwettlerd

Originally my interest in art was well, misplaced. Growing up I was extremely interested in race cars and from that stemmed in interest in automobiles. That interest grew and finally set me on the course to becoming an mechanical engineer. After two years however at the University of Minnesota TC I had grown complacent with engineering and began looking to alternatives that would still place me in the transportation field. Industrial Design seemed a logical choice and the more I learned about it the more interested I became. I transferred to UW Stout for the Fall 09 semester and have been here since. The transition to art was easy since my older sisters have careers as an architect and graphic designer.

The piece of work I'm easily the most proud of is my Swamp Monster costume from 3D Design. It was made for Fashion without fabric and took second place over all.  I don't feel like I have too many things that have been standouts but the redneck/junkyard heli-pack that I made for sculpture was fun and fans on it actually worked. As far as courses go Drawing 2 has been my favorite because I found the stylistic approaches creative and useful. Another reason why Drawing 2 really appealed to me was because I've never been a huge fan of just duplicating a photo or still life and it let me put my own spin on my work.   I'm in Life Drawing because honestly if there's one thing in drawing that's always stumped me it's been people and hopefully I can get a handle on it. Also I took Drawing 1 at the U of M and got to draw from live models before, although I really never got the knack of it I really enjoyed it. Transferring and changing majors has set me back some years but it's been worth the change. If everything stays on track I should graduate within the next couple of years.
















9/13 - 9/19

Continuous Line Drawing
"Ned"

 This was our first complete week and my jump back in to drawing. On Tuesday we focused on our shells since we weren't able to get a model. We did some blind contour drawings and finished up with a continuous line drawing (Posted Left). After critique in small groups, I found that perhaps I needed to more carefully observe "Ned" (my shell) and try to vary line weight as well as speed. I had drawn very bold simple outlines that looked a bit too much like cave men paintings for my taste. After talking with Amy for a while I found that my drawing angle would have to be adjusted for certain tines on the shell. And that in fact drawing as I saw it wouldn't necessarily translate to an accurate drawing due to foreshortening and perspective. To account for this the artist must take a few liberties with the work. If I adjust the angle for certain tines on the shell I can make them appear as if they are curving away from the center of the viewing plane to help alleviate the problems with them directly facing the viewer.

10 Minute Pose
Live Model

Thursday we were able to draw from a live model which would be my first time doing it Stout, I had some previous experience with models in my drawing 1 at U of M . Needless to say I had become more than a bit rusty with my prolonged absence. At first the drawings were to bulky and disproportionate but after I started to loosen up and stand back then began to look a bit better. Variation in line weight and pressure ( light to dark) were two things that I need to use more. The sketches in which I used them stood out much more and just had more visual interest.














9/20 - 9/27

This week we received our manikins, which at first I was giddy at the thought of using some clay. However, my dreams were quickly dashed whence I realized the tediousness of some of the muscles. In spite of my newfound contempt for the manikin, I decided to name mine Olaf. It seemed a fitting title for type of company he provided me with over the past week. Here is a before and after shot Olaf, I must admit he held his pose for the camera quite well. The clay itself can become extremely frustrating, as it is often easy to finally cut down pieces to the desired dimensions but then tear them when trying to actually mount them. Also the clay is extremely temperature dependent, when cool (after carrying back and forth from applied arts) the clay is harder which makes it a bit more desirable to cut but harder to mold. Conversely the when warmed up the clay becomes sticky and hard to cut but significantly easier to mold. There seems to be no easy solution to this problem because prolonged handling indoors quickly heats up the clay. Despite claims that the book would be unclear I found the biggest problem to be the pictures not being taken from a standard distance and the variation in the model used particularly around the spine area.  Hopefully the muscles in the upcoming groups will be less sophisticated, the twists and turns in the neck muscles make for frequent breaking and the small size makes simply attaching them to the manikin a chore in itself. But having the right tools can make a world of difference too as I found out the hard way. I thought an Exacto knife would be well suited to the task but the cut is so thin it is often hard to separate the pieces. I tried a paper clip and noticed that the wider diameter allowed the clay to be more easily separated.