LAST BLOG POST!

Well, here it is, the last Life Drawing blog post I have to do.  It's been a roller coaster ride of a semester, each day was different, some days I felt pretty confident with my drawings, but other days I felt I really crashed and burned.  Early on I really struggled with line weight and drawing with cross-contour lines, but, as the semester progressed, I really feel that my drawing skills have improved.  It was fairly easy to notice a marked improvement in my drawing abilities while looking through my older drawings from the beginning of the semester. 

The upper left image here is one of my first long drawings.  The lower right image is one of my final long drawings.  I can certainly tell that my observational skills as well as my general drawing abilities have improved.  As much as I resisted the process early on, I feel that I've really come to appreciate the style of drawings we were expected to do.  Life Drawing has certainly improved my

In the end, I was fairly happy with how my mannekin turned out.  I found the process of placing the muscles on the mannekin to be highly tedious, but, in the end it was very satisfying to see it finished.  Follow this link to my portfolio on Flickr.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinnowc/sets/

Crunch Time.

Well... Last week was the week that the pile of work hit all across the board.  The end of the semester approaches and I'm feeling the pressure. 
This week in Life Drawing 1 we focused primarily on drawing the shoulder.  I've been looking forward to learning how to draw the shoulder for most of the semester.  After learning a little more about how the shoulder girdle is constructed I was certainly able to draw it with more confidence.  One thing that I certainly struggle with, and, at this point, may not get in this semester, is simply where to place cross-contour lines.  I'm able to place them to bring some sense of volume to the form, but I feel like I'm doing a wire frame inside an outline instead of actually using the cross-contour lines to define the form.  I think it would be a lot easier is we could draw a model that looked like this guy.

Another Short week.

Well, last week was yet another short week in Life Drawing 1.  Class was canceled on Tuesday, therefore we only had class on Thursday.  In class went over some examples of the use of ink in shell drawings.  We also got a chance to try our hand at using the sumi brush; not my favorite.  I think I worry too much about controlling the ink rather than embracing the slight element of chance that comes from working with ink.  I think if I step back and embrace this lack of control my drawings will benefit.  We also went over the lower leg muscles on our mannekins.

The Foot

This week we had only one day of class due to mid-program review.  I embraced the day off to catch up on a few things that have been killing my soul this semester.  The day that we did have of class we focused primarily on the foot.  We listened to a lecture on the musculature and bone structure of the foot and did a long drawing of the feet. 

I'm continually struggling with my line quality and my tendency to press too hard, but making a conscious effort to avoid it has been helping.  We also went over our shell drawings in small groups.  My group thought that my second drawing was an improvement on my first shell drawing.  I had to leave my drawing on the wall as our instructor was unable to get through the entire class to give comments.  Therefore, I do not have a photograph of my second shell.  The semester is getting down to the final few weeks and I'm already feeling that customary rush at the end when everything piles on.  My mental health and sanity pay the price.

 This week in Life Drawing we had our Mid-term portfolios due.  It was interesting to me to go back through my drawing pad and see that my ability to draw in this style is improving.  I still feel like I'm not really grasping it, though, and it's starting to frustrate me. 
We learned this week how to draw the attachments of the knee and hip. Every time we learn a new attachment I feel that my drawings improve slightly.  I am eager to learn the attachment of the shoulder as this is one attachment that consistently gives me grief.  As can be seen in my long drawing below, I have a tendency to make the shoulders too narrow. 
I have started my next shell drawing and it is moving along fairly well, I'm finding it a little bit easier to find the proper placement of the cross-contour lines.  It's definitely easier the second time around. 

The first half of Life Drawing has been a series of highs and lows for me.  Some days I would feel fairly happy with my drawings and other days would be a complete disaster.  I struggled for the first couple of weeks getting the hang of how we are expected to draw.  I found it difficult, at first, to see the internal structure of the model and to build on that skeleton, many times I reverted back to drawing what I was seeing (like a still life).  I also struggled with keeping my lines light in the early stages of a drawing, I have the nasty habit of pressing to hard.  My first shell drawing is a good example of my tendency to press down too hard.

There is very little variation in the shade of my lines which makes the shell seem a little flat.  In honesty I thought I would enjoy working on the manekin more than I do, I've been finding it excessively difficult to understand the textbook images and I often refer to other visual sources to build the muscles.  I think that I am beginning to grasp the drawing style that we are expected to portray, but there's a lot of room for improvement.  I'm looking forward to moving into the shoulders the second half of the semester, that's one attachment that I've found to be a struggle for me to draw as well.  I'm certainly not the best in the class, but I feel like I'm improving, which says a lot for me, I've never been very excited about 2-dimensional media, and, as a result, I tend to avoid them.  I'm finding the structure of Life Drawing to be more relaxed than the foundational drawing courses, and that certainly helps me stay motivated to draw. My mid-term portfolio can be found here.

First Critique

This week in Life Drawing we had our first critique.  It was really nice to see a sample of everyone's work.  It was interesting to see the vast variance in how everyone handled the assignment.  I was happy with my group's critique of my shell drawing.  They thought the diagonal axis of my shell was strong and that the cross contour did a good job of giving the illusion of form.  One thing that was apparent seeing my piece alongside all the others was that I certainly need to work on varying my line weight and shade.  Most of my lines tend to be the same heavy black throughout the drawing.  I could see in a number of the other drawings that varying the weight of lines really helps giving the illusion of perspective, I think my work would be stronger if I worked on varying the weight of my lines.  I missed class on Thursday, but understood from what I was told from my classmates that we did a couple of long drawings and went over our drawings in groups. 

Look at That Booty

This week for life Drawing we had a rather uneventful week.  On Tuesday, due to the heat, we cut class short to work on our Mannekins.  We built the gluteus muscles.  I'm finding it very interesting building the muscles.
On Thursday class was canceled. 

I think this is relevant to our class.  It really demonstrates the vast

variety in shape and size of the muscle structure.

I think steroids played a key role in this example.

It Might Be Clickin' a Little

 After this week in Life Drawing, I'm certainly seeing an improvement in my skills.  I am still struggling with the shoulders of the figure, but I feel that I'm beginning to understand the proper proportions.
I'm finding it much easier to bear the multiple short drawings and I am getting much better at understanding the building block approach to drawing the human form. 
I've finished the abdominal muscles on my Mannekin.  I'm starting to feel more comfortable with translating the structures in the book to the Mannekin.   

This week in life drawing we worked on drawing from the model.  We paid particular attention to the spinal column as well as the position and feel of the ribcage.  By properly plotting the curves of the spinal column and position of the ribcage, it becomes much easier to fill in the rest of the form.  Our instructor, Amy, urged us to draw the spinal column to look as if it could move, expand and contract.  She also urged us to leave evidence of our movements when we draw.  We practiced drawing the ribcage to resemble an egg and how it tips out slightly from the spinal column at the bottom.  We also focused on the long axis line along the front of the figure, paying special attention to the pit of the neck and the pit of the ribcage.  These points serve as useful landmarks in the early stage of a drawing where building proportions is critical.  We also took an in depth look at the proportions of the different parts of the ribcage and how they attach, not only to each other, but to the spinal column.  We paid special attention to the sternum; it serves as an important landmark along the ventral long axis.  I’m beginning to understand the stepping stone approach to this class a little more now; I can understand that having anatomical knowledge that builds from the skeleton is important to building successful human forms on a two-dimensional plane.  Knowing where bones begin and end as well as their positions relative to other bones in the body provides helpful clues on proportions.  Again, I felt rather frustrated with the shorter drawing times, but can understand that we are doing so many in order to improve our efficiency.  I am still struggling with the concept of cross-contour line drawings, but I feel I’m getting, at least, a little better at it.

Tuesday 9-21 was our first opportunity to draw from a model in class.  We started off by doing a number of very short (20 second or less) drawings of the model.  We do so many from so many different angles in order to better understand the model's form, thus be able to better draw it.  Some of my drawings were moderately successful at that stage, however, I was quite frustrated with the short drawings.  This frustration lets me know that I need to work on seeing the form better in order to more efficiently draw it.

We then proceeded to draw a number drawings, increasing the allowed time.  As the time increased I felt more and more comfortable with how my drawings were turning out.  Having a bit more time allowed me to pay more attention to proportions and more accurately draw the from.  At the end of class we did 2 different 30 minute drawings.  This was the drawing I was most pleased with during this class period.




















On Thursday 9-23 we received our mannekins.  After cleaning off the clay from the past semester's students we went over the terms we would be using to describe the form in an anatomical sense.  We also received our first assignment on the mannekin, to build the spinal erectors, the muscles that allow us to stand upright and be bipedal.

Getting back in the swing of things.

This past week in Life Drawing I we did a few exercises to get back into the swing of drawing.  On Tuesday, 9-14 we did blind contour drawings of the seashells we were given by our instructor.  I found this to be rather frustrating at first, but, after looking at what everyone comes up with, really enjoyed going through the exercise.  When we looked at the drawings as a class, I thought some of the drawings were excellent despite being sloppy.  My drawing vaguely resembled a seashell, and I can see that I need to work on my lines; they all tend to be the same thickness.  My classmates suggested that I slow down while drawing and vary my line weight more. If I start altering my line weights I think it will help my drawings along quite a bit.

On Thursday 9-16 we drew from the skeleton mannequins in class.  We studied the curves of the spinal column and how individual vertebrae align along the spine.  We learned the names of the curves: cervical being the curve of the neck, thoracic being the long curve of the back, lumbar the lower back, and sacral, the curve of our tailbone.  During class we did a handful of short drawings from various angles of the mannequins, all the while making the spine, pelvis and ribcage our primary focus.  I can really see how studying the human form piece by piece will make our overall understanding of the form better.  We also learned how to use specific parts of the human form as points of reference.  I can see from my drawings that it will take some work for me to fully understand the human form and how the different parts of the body flow into the others.
I'm looking forward to drawing from a model and putting what we learned to use.

Introductory Post

My name is Cody Pinnow.  I am a student at UW-Stout in Menomonie Wisconsin.  I am currently majoring in Studio Art with a metals concentration.  I first got into art late in high school and have been ever since.  Some of the work that I am most proud of are my raised vessels of copper.  The cup to the right is a raised copper cup with two (you can only see one) castings of my fingers forming impressions on either side.  The coloration is a heat patina produced using controlled heat of a propane torch.  The cups and pitcher below are also of raised copper, they rest on holders of bent acrylic.  I deeply appreciate the physical strength and endurance necessary to create such pieces.  My favorite course thus far at UW-Stout has been sculpture.  I, very much, enjoyed the opportunity to work very conceptually, something that I do not do very often in my work.  I tend to work more formally in my metalwork.  I am taking Life Drawing I to complete the requirements of my major.  I do not often work two-dimensionally, so, I'm sure this class will provide me with a better understanding of the human form.  After I graduate this spring I plan on attending graduate school and obtaining my Master's degree.