Proportions

Exercise Quick poses

    

For this part of the course I signed on to a life drawing course which ran for 5 weeks.  In the class I tried my hand at large, charcoal and pencil drawings using a life model. It was the first time I have experienced this type of drawing and I struggled to draw on such a large scale and using charcoal. Throughout this module there will be drawings taken from this course with other drawings made on a smaller scale in my sketchbook. The more I work through this drawing course the more I have realised that observational and life drawing is not what I am good at or what I enjoy most. I have tried my best but realise that my motivation is not what it should be and I am therefore disappointed with the results.

My sketching is either too rough and inaccurate or it turns into a 3 hour detailed drawing. I am discovering that I much prefer to stylise drawing and have an interest in graphics and design.

With these sketches I tried to look at the proportions and angles of the body.

Exercise The longer pose

    

For the longer pose I chose to use the longer life studies. These are drawings in pencil on A2 paper and took just over an hour to draw. They demanded a lot of looking at the model, measuring, looking and reworking.

Check and log

Have you managed to make a complete statement in this time? What were your main problems?

I believe I have managed to make a complete outline drawing of the model but it could certainly be improved with more time. Working in such a large scale is a problem to me, I am really not comfortable with this size and prefer to work in a much smaller scale with more detail. Placing the model on the page so everything fits on was also something I had to think about and work out roughly before starting any detail.

How well have you capture the characteristics of the pose?
I am fairly happy with the longer pose drawings when thinking about the characteristics of the model.  I feel I have captured the posture of the man sitting facing the mirror quite well.

Do the proportions look right? If not, how will you try to improve?
In general I think the proportions are ok especially as there was foreshortening with the leg and arm. The curve of the spine looks a little odd and needs some attention.