Finished Piece A (Anatomy)

         This is a 30 minute drawing using pencil. The center of attraction were lightnig and muscle distortion. The vantage point chosen allowed me to clearly see all of the muscle definition on the back of her body.

         The way the model is bent shows a closed pose with the muscles on her back stretched that shows energy, but at the same time the position of the head indicates a relax state, which I believe balances the whole image. What also works are the shadows and the contrast between her left and right side. Perhaps a darker tonal variation could provide even stronger shadows and muscle contraction though after 30 minutes of drawing I was afraid of ruining the whole thing.

Finished Piece B (Landscape)

         This particular drawing took me about 2 hours to finish. It is the view seen from the top floor of the Horton building, drawn with markers. Five different greyscale tonal variations of those marker were being used to accomplish this drawing.
         Extensive planning was made to get the proprotions right and then started drawing using the markers from light to dark give the impression on distance. (as you can see buildings that are in the background are being drawn with the lightest shade of gray and as the progression to the foreground begins buildings appear more shaded/dark, thus giving the impression of depth).

Finished Piece C (Still life)

          This still life drawing took me aroun 40 minutes to finish, it was done with a HB pencil. The composition of the scene allows the eye to be guided through the different items that are on display. The items in the middle work best as they are overlapping eachother, the pencil case on the right is positioned in a way that breaks the linear alignment of the rest of the objects. 
         The thermos and the hard drive (item far left) are spaced appart from the main composition which I believe help focus the viewer on the center of the page, but also work as secondary poles of interest along with the mouse, guitar pick and putty rubber. 

Week 12 Directed Study

Facial Expression and Mood

          This weeks directed study involved facial expressions. Drawing (A) was done during my christmas vacation, but was finished later from photo reference as it was very hard to keep the baby still. The expression that I was drawing about was happiness. The slight smile of the young woman with her eyes slightly misleading, and the happy/curious expression of the young baby being distracted by someone. Both subjects were approached in a three quarter view.

(A)

           For drawing (B) I chose a different layout, I chose a pose that required her to raise her head and close her eyes giving a lustful passionate exrpession. This time I chose not finish this one by photo reference, but tried to get down as much information as I could as quickly as I could, because she couldn't hold that expression for too long.  

(B)

           Drawing (C), was chosen to express desire, although not much shading was done due to lack of time. Though the stare of the (big) eyes and the biting of the lips convey that emotion accurately enough.

(C)

Week 11 Directed Study

Facial Anatomy: The Beginnings of Portraiture

              Like all portrait drawings proper proportional plannig was used in order to create these drawings. All drawings were created out of an oval shape, then depending on the position of the head a central divider was drawn to indicate where the symmetry line was. Across the central line 3 additional horizontal lines subdivided the head into the eyes, nose, mouth & chin.  
Drawing A was deliberately left unfinished to show how the oval shape was first created.

(A)

            In drawing (B) you can see some planning (above the eye) which was used for measuring purposes.

(B)

            In drawing C, the oval shape of the head can be seen along with the central dividor and the horizontal lines that were used to indicate the proportions of the eyes, nose, mouth and chin. I spent most of my time drawing the ear as it had to be drawn on a certain angle, but all the detail is there. Parts like the Helix, the anthelix, the lobule, the tragus and concha, are not easy to draw but it helps when you learn their names.

(C)

Week 10 Directed Study

            This weeks directed study was about Colour and Tone in skin.

          For drawing 1 an array of different soft pastel colous were used in order to draw the womans portrait.
         Soft pastel colours that were used include black, 4 tonal variations of brown (light to dark) sometimes mixed with purple or black for more darker skin tones and pale pink colour for highlights (such as on the nose, forehead, ans cheeks). A mixure of pink and light brown (and a hint of purple) were used to form the lips and pink mixed with purple for the upper palpebral groove. White was only used for the sclera and the teeth. The most difficult parts were areas that required detail, as those areas needed to be approached with extreme caution, especially when 2 or more colours were needed (mouth, eyes).

1. African woman (face portrait)

             As opposed to the above drawing (1), drawing (2) appeared to be more difficult to process. The pallete used in this case included colours of red, orange, pale pink, and bright turquoise.
Blending red with pink gave warmer colours that were used to cover the eyelids and cheeks(indicators of where the bloods circulates).
             Mixing purple with red was used to create shadows in some areas (around the nose, eyes and chin) and the bright turquoise used for highlights and was applied in places to make skin tones pop (cheeks, nose, chin and lips).

2. White female (face protrait)

Week 9 Directed Study

Week 9 directed study was about clothing and drapery on the human figure.

           Drawing (1) demonstrates the way different fabricks cover the human figure.
           The coat appears to be quite heavy, especially around the elbows where the thickness of the fabric is amplyfied by the way the coat wrinkles. On the other hand the T-Shirt which is a lighter fabric is more loose and the soft cotton fibers give an impression of a flexible, brethable fabric. Last but not least are the jeans, they are quite stiff, heavy, wrinkled and in a way they behave as they are influenced by gravity and movement.   

1. Male (wearing Jeans-Coat-T-Shirt)

              Drawing (2) protrays a female wearing a Satin dress. They way she is sitting shows that the fabric is light and the way it wrinkles shows how soft and easy it deforms around the models body.

2. Female (wearing a Satin dress)