I hadn't been to the VOIC's monthly life drawing class for some time, but today I really felt like going. It's exhausting but fun and educational... in fact a little too much so. There's always so much to observe, try out and learn that it can get a bit overwhelming.
Today I brought some newly-bought tools: a charcoal stick, some pastel crayons and some graphite pencils. I quickly settled on a routine of drawing most poses twice: once very quickly with the charcoal, to get the overall shape and test where I might have problems; then with a combination of the other tools, paying more attention to detail and shading. It sort of worked-I still suck at drawing from life but the average quality of observation improved a bit. I don't think I got the hang of using colored crayons yet though...
The drawing above was the one where the charcoal technique worked best. The lines are almost like writing (except that I tend to drag my hand over the paper while drawing - a bad habit that charcoal immediately punishes). I cleaned the scans up a bit, but otherwise everything is as it is in the sketchbook.
This one has been cropped. I liked the face and chest, but the bottom half was a big mess.
This one hasn't been cropped! I just misjudged the amount of space needed for the head. This happens a lot when I start drawing somewhere else.
Also, I made her look fat as a result of misjudging the proportions in that first sweeping movement to create the contours. Luckily I don't think the model ever saw it, or there would have been hell to pay.
Here, the model is leaning against a wall, which explains the lack of balance in her pose...
This last one shows how much trouble foreshortening in forward-leaning poses gives me. I still like the sketch even though it isn't very accurate. The finished pencil drawing had better foreshortening but turned out a bit bland.
Comments (1)
Try Contes next time. You can experiment with tonal qualities then.
Posted by Yonaka | June 2, 2004 12:48 AM
Posted on June 2, 2004 00:48