Life Drawing

Life Drawing

Drawing from a skeleton (Freehand)

30/09/14

As part of my studies, I have to draw from life. The first thing I did was look at and sketch a skeleton. We were given a 30 minute time slot in which we had to draw, in as much detail as possible, one of the four skeleton models before us. The first sketch we did was freehand.

Once the 30 minutes were up, we were then asked to walk around the studio and evaluate or look at each others work.

Drawing from a skeleton (proportioned and measured)

As part of my learning, we were then asked to sketch the same skeleton again, only this time, we were asked to use a technique we had previously learnt that allowed us to measure what we were looking at so as to get everything into proportion.

To do this, we held out pencil in our hand and had our arm fully outstretched, and with one eye closed, we then began to measure the proportions of the skeleton.

Once we had done this, we could then begin to sketch. Again we had a 30 minute time period in which we could put in as much detail as possible, however it wasn't to be rushed.

Lastly, We were given a task in which we were to draw three of the skeletons, however, we only had 5 minutes to draw each. At first, the five minutes seemed to go by relatively quickly, however the more times the 5 minutes pasted, the longer the time seemed to go by, until eventually I was no longer rushing but had slowed down considerably and had begun to put in more detail. 

Evaluation

Disregarding the third task I would say that the first two went rather well. The first attempt went rather well in terms of detail on the skull and on the rib cage while the second attempt was much more proportioned and in scale. Measuring the skeleton also allowed me to fit more onto the paper and start to put in a little more detail, however, the skull didn't seem to be as realistic.

For the third task, I would say that the first skeleton (The one in the middle) was perhaps the most rushed and resembled the skeleton the most as it was the one I had been drawing throughout the entirety of the session. The second skeleton (The one on the left) Was the most rushed and off scale, as it was at an odd angle and was the most difficult to see. Finally, the last skeleton (The one on the right) Was the most detailed out of all three, however was difficult to draw as it was partly hidden behind the first skeleton, and so I had to continue to draw in the first skeleton to put in as much detail as possible. 

Over all, I would say that each three drawings were good however, with a little more practice at proportions and the measuring technique, they will eventually be stronger pieces.