Drawing Class

Well,

Once I began my "Concept Development" class (just finished that one - was the most boring class I've EVER taken, but I got another A!) and then there was the unexpected wedding; needless to say, I dropped the ball on my drawing class posts. Here's a few additional drawings that I believe I had yet to post:

This was a one minute drawing using permanent marker. This was in response to one of the discussion questions we had to answer every week. Nothing fancy, but it was surprising how little you can draw in a single minute!











This drawing was complicated. The drawing alone does not appear all that impressive - until you hear the assignment details. I had to draw this... *drumroll please* without looking at the paper AND without picking up my marker. Yes, that's right... I was only looking at Anthony and imagining I was driving those curves with my finger as I drew them. I know it doesn't really look all that much like Anthony, but I was astonished at the fact that it looked at ALL decent! This is actually one that I am particularly fond of.











For this drawing we had to gather some objects from our home that had some meaning or represented ourselves in some way. I obvsiously chose these objects to represent our family. Mom bought the figurine of Anthony, Nathan, and I when they were just that size from Willow Tree. She later found one of Matt and Joel shortly after he was born. It completed our set perfectly! (Isn't she just the best Mom ever?!?) The plaster heart is Anthony's handprint. My beginning to becoming a Mom and the start of our family. That silly little piece of plaster is priceless to me. I wasn't that happy with this drawing, but couldn't put my finger on why that was. My teacher pointed out that I was doing a lot of outlining with my shading, rather than just allowing tone to meet tone. For example, where a shade of gray meets a similar shade of gray, I felt the need to distinguish the two rather than simply putting them on paper as I see them. That is one concept that I understood immediately, but am still learning to correct. That is the most important thing that I take away from that class....

I chose my parents recliner for our indoor object drawing because I was house sitting, and well, it was... there. I thought the wrinkles would add a lot of interest to the drawing. I was quite emotional (a.k.a. angry to the point of boiling) when I drew this and really threw my hand into it. I quit trying so hard and just let my fingers and the pencil do all of the work. I was quite pleased with the result.










I was asked to create a profile of a model using charcoal. It was dusk and getting darker by the second as I drew this one. By the time I finished I was holding it up to the window to use the indoor glimmer of light. Oh yeah, I failed to mention the only way I could get him to sit still was to set him on the porch - overlooking Marissa's house. Oh, I forgot to draw the hearts for his pupils!!! Ha Ha! I do not like this one at all, but it was the first portrait I had even attempted since high school. (Unless my Mom's dog, Jasmine counts...) There's that dreaded outlining again.... *sigh*

Ugh, these two I hate. I have never taken any life drawing classes (yet!) so I am terrible at drawing people... Period! I may be able to get away with drawing a head or torso, but throw the entire body in there and the result is a jumbled mess. For both drawings we were to represent muscle tone. Granted, our instruction was to get someone to model for us, but I decided to do them from my imagination. So, yes... I had no reference for either of these drawings. For that reason alone, I kind of like them. That is very unusual for me, especially for something at all lifelike. The second drawing that looks like a crazy old body builder... I shaded the background and just "saw" his form take shape as I erased a bit here and there. Voila! A hormone enraged being! tehehe



















I was beginning to get a handle on drawing again (it had been SO long for me) and I was starting to get a little comfortable with the charcoals. I was instructed to draw using a model. I forced Anthony to sleep in the living room on the floor so I could draw him in the evening. This is the result. I was very pleased with how this one came out.








Next, we were asked to draw a portrait from a photograph. This was to illustrate how "lifeless" drawing from a photo can be compared to drawing from a live model. Um, let's just say I'm not exactly sold on that concept! Ha!

This is the daughter of a friend at work. I only hope she liked it too. I'm not so happy with the facial features, and a few areas could use some additional shading, but I love everything else. She's an adorable girl and I wish I could have captured her expression better.

I drew this one sitting on the stairs behind our office building. The "gentle" breeze kept blowing my paper around until I wanted to scream. lol It was a nice, sunny day otherwise. This one took about two and a half hours to complete. Not too shabby for Ms. Slowpoke herself. ;o}




And then, there is my favorite - my final. These are all things from my kitchen. We were to draw another still life using a variety of the different graphite and charcoals we had used throughout class. I surprised myself with this one. I chose very difficult objects, placed them in a difficult composition, and really applied myself. I cannot even tell you how many hours I spent on it (many!). I really love how it turned out. That basket weave nearly killed me! Ha!

This is a copy of a copy, so some of the detail is lost... but you get the general idea.