Life Drawing 20/9/2011

 This is the first life drawing I have ever done, and although they're all a bit askew in their own ways, I am generally quite pleased for a first go at it.

My first drawing was of Simon modelling for us. I started off by establishing a rough idea of the proportions and finding the approximate centre of the model. Once I had given myself something to work with, I began to flesh out the basic shape. At first, the torso was too wide and the legs too short, but luckily I noticed this early on and was able to rectify it. I struggled with the legs at first, as I found it difficult to gauge the size of the calves in comparison to the boots and shorts. I am pleased with the pose in general, even if the proportions are somewhat warped (note the 'bobblehead' appearance). Just to clarify, I tend to leave the hands, feet and head/face until I've corrected the proportions, simply because these features take more time for me to incorporate into the drawing. I always make a point to include the basic shape as soon as possible, though, so that I have a point of reference when it comes to tidying them up later.

The next drawing is of the nude model. I established a rough structure by plotting a curve from the top of the head, down the spine and through the legs. Once this curve was relative to the model's pose, I had something somewhat correctly proportioned to work with. I started with the arch of the back and the curves of the legs, making sure to accentuate curves in the correct places. I worked upwards towards the shoulders, shifting lines and shading to keep the proportions as normal as possible. The arm on display could do with being larger in comparison to the rest of the torso and the legs are marginally too long, although I am happy with the legs in general. You can tell I spent too much time trying to perfect them.

This is the final drawing, with Sammy modelling. From the word 'go' I screwed up the proportion, I mean, it didn't even fit on the page. When I felt myself struggling early on, I decided to forget about what was wrong with it and work on what was looking good. In this case, I like the messy approach to applying depth and tone to the image, so I ran with that. Not much more to say about this drawing, really, other than I think the way the hand rests on the leg looks pretty good, whilst the leg looks... so, so bad. Well, better luck next time!