Evaluation

This was one of the last pictures I did in the sessions and I am pleased with it. It was the only session I had with a female model at university as for the previous ones I was out of the country. I went to the Millennium Galleries to add some extra sessions to make up for missing out and these were all male models too.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the life drawing sessions at university and am hoping to continue once I have finished my degree, funds allowing. I found it much harder to do the observational drawing in the cafeteria, mainly because people were always moving about - I know that is the point of doing it in a public space, to get some movement into the images created. This is something I need to practice a bit more. I find if I'm drawing people on the move they tend to look a lot less realistic and quite cartoony, which although is still a skill in itself it is not always the required finish.

I'm fairly confident in a studio situation and feel at ease and able to confidently try out different dry materials - chalk, pastels, pencils, graphite sticks etc, however, I have yet to venture into painting and inks and I think that is partly due to wanting to be able to control the lines I make, which is obviously harder with paint and inks... but maybe I just tell myself that!

I have become a much more confident artist and aim to continue drawing to keep up that confidence and hopefully get better. Areas I think I could improve on would be drawing areas such as the hands, feet and face and around the neck (on older models especially). 

Shading

We have had one particular male model quite a lot during the semester, and to some this could get a little boring time after time, however it can also be quite helpful in that it gives you the opportunity to try out drawing the difficult parts of someone you may not normally concentrate on.

I had wanted to try doing a head and face for a few weeks and waited until I was in the right mood for some real up close concentration. This was again under quite contrasting lighting and I have used the red, black and white to give some nice contrasts on paper. 

This image below was also done in the same session - I'm not so happy with the bottom of his chin at the top of the image, he was sitting in quite a hunched position and it was quite hard to get the perspective on it right.

Comparison

This was one of the first life drawings I did this year, I think in the second class I attended at the Millenium Galleries. I was just starting to relax into drawing again and enjoy it. I think the proportions on this one look a bit out, in particular on his foot and left arm. 

The picture below was done later in the semester, at university, and I think the proportions are better (except for maybe the thigh at the back of the picture and the stool he is sitting on).

I spent much more time trying to get the angles on the arms right and the shading on the neck area correct as the light was brighter in the picture below. 

I have definitely improved in my drawing skills and ability to look at an object or model and get the dimensions looking natural. I have found if I listen to music quietly whilst drawing I tend to produce much better work, and I believe this is down to concentrating much more whilst listening - it's almost like being in your own little world.

The Difference Between Messy & Neat

I have found throughout this semester my drawing styles varying quite a bit, from loose and sketchy to quite neat and precise. A lot of the artwork I do outside of university involves me being quite precise - I use a scalpel to make cut out paper illustrations (see www.zoegenders.com ) so I quite enjoy getting to work a bit more freely, but it's interesting to see them together and compare. 

These are images of the same model, one obviously was a much quicker picture than the other, but both were on the same day with the same bright light shining at the model. I think my preference is for the picture at the top as it has more movement in it, more 'life'. The picture below I was fairly happy with until I came to do his face, I struggled with the angle his head was at and just couldn't get it to look right. He does have quite large features so I think that may have added to the difficulty of getting the proportion correct. The light shadows on his chest were also quite interesting, one creating a spiral over the right side of his chest, at first whilst drawing this I felt it looked a bit odd, but it was there in front of me so there it is in the picture.

Use of Colour

I started to experiment a bit with colour on some of the shorter poses, and one of my favourite pictures is below - I think the colours I chose work well together and it is a confidently drawn piece.

Having made this picture, I began to try out using colours in other ways....

This was a softer image using lighter pastels and pencils combined. I was being less free with this image and went on to produce a full colour image of the models body which was very clean lined (see picture in 'Evaluation'). I like how neat it is but it doesn't have much personality or life in it. I do however like the use of colour.

I enjoyed making this drawing very much, I loved using such bright colours and chose them because I was hoping to show the brightness of the lighting that was in the room. This was a 15 minute drawing and I think I captured the model quite well - perhaps a bit slim on detail on the right side of the stomach, but as a whole I like the image.

10-15 Minute Poses

I really like these two poses, they felt really natural when I drew them, and I felt confident about the marks I was making on the paper. As I continued with the classes I found the 10 - 15 minute poses sometimes quite hard to get into - I think knowing you only have 5 minutes frees you up and makes you quick, whereas with slightly longer you start to get into the detail and it stops you from being so free with your movement.

These were longer poses and I think I tried too hard with them, the marks are too thick and I'm not happy with the shape of the models body, particularly in the second one (below) he just looks really hairy! 

This one is not so bad, and although I'm not happy with the shading, it's way more of an improvement than the previous one. This was 15 minutes. I always struggle to get the hands looking good when using charcoal - I find I make the area too dark and then find it really hard to correct. It's much easier using pencils and then shading with charcoal if necessary (although I prefer to use the same medium throughout).

I was struggling to get the left arm looking right in this one, I had foreshortened the arm but without shading it just looked really odd.. having added the shading it makes more sense and its possible to see that the arm is going further back and not just really short.  

5 Minute Poses

These are some of my 5 minute poses, completed over the semester. It was different to other life classes I had been to as we started with a 15 minute pose, then 10 min, then 5 min, and previously the time has gone from short to long, but either way it works in the sense that it warms you up and helps you loosen your limbs a bit.

At first I tried to sketch out the torso and shoulder lines as is sometimes taught, but often the picture would end up looking too angular (see above). I found it much easier to loosely sketch an outline and work out the proportions that way rather than by lining it up with a pencil.

These first two above are from some extra classes I went to at the Millennium Galleries, this was after having not done any life drawing for quite some time and I think it shows!

As I continued with the classes I found myself getting more confident with the quick sketches and hopefully getting the proportions better, I also started having a go at close-up sections of the body.