Final Post

This week we finished the skeleton drawings and prepared for our show "Skin and Bones: A Life Drawing II Exhibition." I attended the opening of the show, which was a little slow due to the senior show exhibitions, but the skeletons and the portraits looked great as a class. We were able to make the room look quite presentable as a gallery space. The food was good and it always feels nice to exhibit work that's had long hours put into it with positive results. It takes a little bit of extra work, but it's worth it.

I am very proud of my skeleton drawing. I enjoy the energy it has with evidence of my process. I think it shows my progression this semester in being able to break away from my traditional techniques and explore figure drawing through a more expressive approach. Most of my drawings are very tight and clean. I was determined to keep it as an expressive structural line drawing since my ability to over render is evident in the rest of my work during the semester. I think I was successful in capturing the posture of the skeleton and I have a much better understanding of the bones as structural forms. My focus was to get away from drawing what I see and adding a little bit of what I know of the form to the actual drawing. Drawing the planes of the bones definitely made for a much more successful and coherent skeleton. The incorporation of contour lines also greatly benefited my overall drawing. Looking back to my portraits, I wish I would have depended less on shading the form and more on the linework. I think my initial skull drawings are my favorite pieces from the semester. They showcase my understanding of the form through line and little shading. It is interesting that I enjoy the pieces from the beginning of the semester, which are usually much less successful than the work from the end of the semester. I think I was able to obtain a sort of aliveness and freshness in the skulls that I wasn't able to show in the portraits and the skeleton. This could be due to my schedule with three studio classes and an overwhelming amount of projects that wore me out as the semester progressed. Overall I enjoyed life drawing II as a kind of academic break in the rest of my studios and I am happy with the work I have created and the things I've learned. I plan on taking Life Drawing II again next semester as an independent study that will hopefully enhance the work I am creating for my senior show. One more semester, a senior show, and graduation! How time flies!

Review Week 9

Unfortunately I was only able to work on the skeleton once this week. On Monday I worked on the femur and completed it at the end of class, only to notice that it was a little too short. This drawing is quite frustrating. Wednesday I was feeling under the weather and chose to rest up, pump vitamin C, and keep myself from getting anyone sick before finals. Fortunately, I feel better and plan to work diligently on my skeleton over the weekend. I have requested off work to allow myself plenty of time in the classroom one on one with the skeleton. I have two final projects due on Tuesday so I am thankful that I will have class time on Monday and Wednesday to work as well. Ah the beauty of finals week...

Review Week 8

This week we began our large scale skeleton drawings. On Monday I taped two pencils together for extra reaching ability, and I began to sketch the general form. It was quite difficult to get each area of the body proportional while trying to develop a successful composition as well. On Wednesday I continued to map out the general form and by the end of the class I began to refine the bones. I found myself being too confident in my mark making. I make a dark line and am forced to erase it shortly after. I think I need to be more tentative with the complexity of the skeleton form. I am happy with the way the drawing is turning out thus far. Amy visited my drawing at the end of class and we decided that the rib cage is too short and the skull needs to be higher...more erasing! I hope it shows the process in the final drawing, but at the moment, it's looking a little messy.

Review Week 7

This week we reviewed the skeleton and prepared our drawing boards and paper for the large scale drawings. I was absent on Monday, but I went back to my sketches from Life Drawing I and reviewed the basics. It was useful to look back on my notes since my memory was a little fuzzy after drawing skulls and the face for so long. On Wednesday Amy and Evan took a trip to fleet farm to buy the drawing boards. After carrying them in, I trimmed my board to 6ft and cut my paper to fit accordingly. I am a little intimidated by the large drawing. I feel like it is looming at me and I'm not sure how to go about drawing at the top. This is the first time I will be working this large and I hope it will be successful. I enjoy the "looming" aspect that a large scale work naturally gives off. I think it will be a challenge but I look forward to working on it next class.

Review Week 9

This week we critiqued our final portrait drawings. My drawings were talked about near the end of class so feedback wasn't as abundant as those discussed in the beginning. The class enjoyed my use of charcoal and the likeness of my portraits. My suggestions for improving the portraits were easy fixes. My value transitions could have been smoother and less dark in some areas like under the chin on the neck.
For the most part, I am happy with the outcome of my drawings. The most interesting and difficult drawing was my non-traditional view. My boyfriend posed as my model, which I found quite difficult to draw. It was much more challenging to draw someone I am close to and see everyday. I found myself more focused on making the portrait look like him as opposed to paying attention to the structure of the face. I enjoy my treatment of the hair in all of my drawings. I chose to leave it mostly unfinished to keep it from taking away from the face. I also enjoyed returning to vine charcoal to add value. I have exclusively worked with pencil and conte for the entire semester. Diving into the value drawing with my fingers and the charcoal was refreshing. Overall, I would like to go back and tweak the drawings with my feedback from the critique. I am pleased with my improvement from life drawing I, but they will hopefully improve more after I revisit them.

Review Week 8

This week we continued to work on the in-class portrait drawings. We were given the week to finish the three drawings and revisit some of the models. I posed for the unusual view on Monday since I did that drawing outside of class due to my time absent on the field trip. I posed for the full three hours, which was once again very uncomfortable, but beneficial to my classmates nonetheless. On Wednesday I drew the back 3/4 view of Lauren. She was a bit of a sleepy model so the drawing was a little more difficult, but I'm sure she has her hands full as a new mom and I can't blame her for nodding off! I feel like the drawing process went much faster in this view being so familiar with the form from the skull drawings. I put emphasis on the ear and left her hair with no shading to show some of the process. Overall, I am happy with the outcome of my portraits and I look forward to getting feedback on Monday!

Review Week 7

This week we continued to work on the portrait drawings. I posed as the model on Monday, which was nothing short of a bad neck ache. I missed class on Wednesday due to an all day field trip with my aesthetics class. We visited MCAD, the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, and the Walker Art Center. This was my third time taking this field trip and it was once again, a very pleasurable experience. It was a non-managed field trip and it was refreshing to connect with the work without having to do some sort of assignment. This was my favorite visit to the Walker. The Yves Klein show was an array of his International Klein Blue pieces, but I enjoyed his fire paintings the most. I was mesmerized by the living installation Naked. The piece engulfed the viewer with an eerie sense of death and I revisited the work three separate times while we were at the museum. I also found immense tranquility in the James Turrell piece located around the back of the building. I laid on the benches and stared through the hole in the ceiling and into the sky while my eyes began to shift in and out of focus creating an illusion of spacial boundaries. I enjoy his celestial works and it was exciting to be able to directly interact with once of his pieces. All in all the field trip was a success, but I lost out on class time to finish my portrait. This weekend will have plenty of work in store for me!

Review Week 6

This week we were given our portrait assignment. We are drawing the faces of our classmates for the next three drawings. Each person from the group will model one day and further drawing time to finish the projects must be arranged outside of class. Tuesday was a practice day and a refresher of the facial features. We focused on drawing the eyes nose mouth and ears to bring back some of the structural tricks we learned in life drawing I. A lot of the techniques came back to me instantly while I was drawing my classmate. I tried to practice putting the features together, but I always seen to start too large and the portrait ends up getting cropped. I need to pay special attention to this when I begin my drawings next week. Thursday we reviewed the neck and hair and took a little trip to penco to get supplies for the final drawings. With the time that it took to get the materials and the lecture, we were left little time to start the drawings. I am eager to get started on Monday! I am hopeful that my drawings will turn out well. I think they will be a nice addition to my portfolio since we didn't spend much time drawing portraits in life drawing I.

Review Week 5

This week we practiced drawing the skull from memory. We will be having a skull test where we have to draw 5 views of the skull from memory next week. I found it very difficult to remember the structures of the face of the skull. I need to go back and study the landmarks and memorize how they look in relation to one another. I struggled with the cheekbones and mouth and jaw area in particular. I feel like I spent more time trying to create volume in the cranium than studying the facial structure. I think I may have just looked at the shapes and drew them as opposed to actually studying the structure of the bones. I didn't have as much trouble drawing the overall shape of the skull from each of the views and I found it much easier to draw the back of the cranium since we focused on it so strongly in the last series of drawings. Overall, I have a lot of practice set ahead for me so I can be well prepared for the test next week!

Review Week 4

This week we continued to work on our skull drawings and critiqued the work on Wednesday. I tried to create the form by adding value to the rough drawings. I think I was successful in identifying the form, but I relied too heavily on rendering the drawing. I should have created more of a balance between shading and contour lines to make the drawing more structurally effective and visually dynamic.

Review Week 3

This week we continued to work on the skull. Our assignment was to create 5 drawings of the cranium alone. We were to draw a 10 minute gesture of the top of the cranium, and 4 finished drawings of the profile, back, 3/4 back and 3/4 front. One of the 3/4 drawings must be only cross contour and the other should have cross contour and long axis lines with value on one side plane. I found the drawing of the top of the cranium to be extremely difficult. Due to working in the studio with limited views I have a slight view of the side plane as well and I found it difficult to make the form look accurate. After this drawing I focused on the straight back view. It is difficult to draw such a simple shape and try and make it look not only true to the form, but interesting as well. I abandoned this drawing and plan on starting over. I moved on to the 3/4 back view. I had more success with this angle and I was able to incorporate cross contour and long axis lines into the drawing, as well as value to one side plane. This weekend I will continue to work at home with my skull to finish the assignment for critique on Wednesday. I hope it will have enough detail to create an interesting drawing!

Review Week 2

This week we continued to work on our skull drawings and critiqued the three views in class on Wednesday. I used my time wisely in class on Monday and was able to finish my back 3/4 view and begin my final drawing. I came in outside of class to use the skeleton and finish my front 3/4 view. I was very pleased with the final results of my skull drawings. I feel that I was able to create interesting drawings that show my process and evoke some sort of life.
I worked on altering my line-weight and creating forms that were accurate to the subject. I found it helpful to draw the form of the cranium by looking at the lines ingrained on the skull itself. This helped me to create a true long axis line, and also in drawing the contours of the spherical form. I worked hard on improving my drawing process by beginning the drawing with a general description using simple shapes. This helped me create an accurate drawing quickly and simply as opposed to beginning the drawing by looking and drawing exactly what I see. I also greatly focused on building the planes of structure on the skull. I think I will be able to improve on this facet of the drawing process and I look forward to trying to utilize this in the next drawings.
I am most pleased with my back 3/4 view. I found this view to be the most difficult, which is most likely why I am proud of the drawing. I also enjoy the profile drawing, but the 3/4 front view is my least favorite. I think my ability to create a more dynamic drawing was more difficult when drawing such a familiar, descriptive form. My first three skull drawings from this semester greatly surpass my skulls from the end of life drawing I.
On a side note...my skull that I ordered finally arrived on the day of critique! I am happy to hear that we will continue working from the skull and that my purchase won't go to waste or merely be a creepy Halloween decoration :)

Review Week 1

This week we began drawing the skull. We briefly studied the skull at the end of Life Drawing I, so it was nice to pick up where I left off. We were introduced to the planes of the skull and the structural form the bones create. It was very helpful to lay out the overall form of the skull using circles and block shapes to create a general shape. I found my dimensions of the skull to be much truer to the form when I work from general to specific in the drawing process. I have discovered that my most problematic step in drawing the skull is the area from the nose to the chin. I tend to disregard the diagonal angle created from the nose to the teeth and down to the chin. I also have trouble making 2/3 of the skull cranium and only 1/3 facial structure. I am pleased that these are the most of my troubles, since I will be able to focus on these issues and correct them in my further drawings. My drawing process is fairly slow and I have only come close to completing one of the three drawings. Unfortunately the skull I ordered online still hasn't arrived, so I envision my future self spending plenty of time in the lab in class and out working on the final two drawings.

Introductory Post

Hello Life Drawing II! I am Sarah Leslie, a fourth year student here at Stout. Only three semesters to go! I'm a studio art major with an emphasis in drawing. I am taking life drawing II not only to complete my studio requirements, but also to further my understanding of the human body and how it is drawn. I would like to better my skills of drawing from live subjects and improve my mark-making. I am eager to start on the skeleton studies, since we didn't work with them much in life drawing I.

Last semester I took Drawing III for the second time. Feel free to check out my work on my blog http://sarahlesliesblog.blogspot.com/ I am excited to return to a more traditional drawing class to freshen my skills for drawing III once again in the spring.

Unfortunately my demanding work schedule limited my amount of fun this summer, but I was able to take a road trip to Montana where I finally saw my first mountain! What a humbling experience to stand in front of one of natures greatest majesties. The transition of landscapes was enticing and so very different from the Midwest. But school is back and session and it's time to get back into the swing of things. I hope our life drawing II class periods can be my escape in a hectic schedule of three studio classes, aesthetics and a job!