Semester 2. Week 3. Class. Skeletons, Anatomy and the Gothic.

This lesson was the most interesting life drawing lesson so far. I really enjoyed figuring out composition between two forms; flesh and skeleton, and learning new techniques like drawing with a candle

I enjoyed the freedom of adding mood to my pieces (figures 6 and 7 were particularly successful in my opinion) and find myself beginning to see the benefits of charcoal, a medium I have not enjoyed in the past due to the mediums predisposition to smudge and make a mess. 

(1)

Candle, Diluted Ink, Tissue Paper

Within 20 min warm up

(2)

Candle, Diluted Ink, Tissue Paper

Within 20 min warmup

Figure 1 and 2 illustrate the warm up exercises we did with a candle and some diluted ink. I found this an interesting exercise and good for getting out of my self-critical mindset. I tried drawing with both the wax and the ink itself, of which I found the ink nice to draw with for the full figure, and the wax good for the head. It is a technique I would like to explore more, possibly using different inks and coloured paper backgrounds.

(3)

2B Graphite Stick

25 Mins

I received feedback during the execution of this piece (figure 3), that I had not used a good composition. Because of this, I added people in the background to make it better but I could have made it more interesting from the get-go with some planning and a view-finder. I tend to take things literally and so did not realise I could create my own composition, this is why I chose to include the entirety of both figures. In future, I need to be less worried about making mistakes and go with my gut. Saying all that, I like the piece. I think I've done well proportionally, though I may have made the life models neck too long. I didn't necessarily like using the graphite stick as I couldn't make really dark marks, though the point of this exercise was creating the correct shape, I dislike the lack of tone.

(4)

Charcoal 

25 Mins

I found this composition difficult because the life model and the skeleton were sat fairly far apart. I felt that focusing on the bones made me focus less on the flesh because there was more to draw, and so I created a less tonal depiction of the life model, making her less 3D. I find the composition fairly boring and don't feel it is an entirely successful piece. 

(5)

Charcoal

25 Mins

I decided to do my own composition and go outside of the box, after feedback from my previous pieces and looking at what my peers had done. I like this much more than my previous pieces because it's interesting. The only criticism I have is that, again, I have used less tone on the life model because I am concentrating on getting the bones correct. Nonetheless, I really like this piece.

(6)

Charcoal, Chalk and Eraser

30 Mins

I loved doing this piece. I found it difficult to draw at first but once I'd got my proportions sketched in, it was just adding tone. I experimented and rubbed out a white circle where the light source was on the life model to keep me on track, which worked really well. It also gives the piece a fantasy tone as it looks like a moon. I only wish I'd made the shadow underneath the figures darker.

(7)

Charcoal, Chalk and Eraser

30 Mins

Here I feel like I got the tone right, but I don't like the face I've done on the life model. I used the technique of marking my light source again and it really helped. Also, I smudged the charcoal used for shadow which made for darker lines, improving on my mistake prior. I am really pleased with this piece and feel it is one of my best life drawings so far this year.