3/21

This week in class we started to work our way up through the body into the back and chest muscles. Working with the male model it was really easy to notice many of the back muscles which stretch in a v shape from the middle of the back out to the inside of the arm. The muscles in the back are some of the bigger muscles that make up the body and I found that because of the distinct shape it was easy to locate and draw the muscles. We also started to work with the chest to go along with the clavicle bones and the form of the shoulders. I haven't had a chance to draw the chest area as a whole but still need to get a better grasps on the form of the clavicle in relation to the spin and ribs. My goal is to be able to incorporate all of the body parts that we have learned in the gesture drawings.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/60362265@N07/

In life drawing one I have noticed an opportunity to further my skills in drawing along with gaining a better basic knowledge of the human anatomy. In the beginning we had focused a lot on the the line of the neck, spine, and tailbone. I found that the easiest way for me to have an accurate representation of the spine was to use a "measuring tool" such as a pencil or even a thumb. With this tool I was able to find the center of the back and the points of the neck and tail bone. Most of difficulty I have encountered in class came with the angle of the neck compared to the back. the more dramatic of an angle the harder it was; this was an easy thing to get better at with continuous use of my measuring tool. Next we learned the rib cage and the egg drawing technique. This technique has made it easy to understand and compare the proportion compared to the spine. it also led to a better understanding of the proportion of the hip. The basic "u" and "v" shapes that the back and front of the hips create was probably the easiest technique to understand, but i still have a really difficult time making sense of the side and how the front and back are connected. This usually leads me to omit that area all together and then just drawing what I see on the models body. Most recently we have looked further down the body into our thighs, quadriceps and legs. these muscles are easy to see on the models body so finding the angles is not to difficult but it is hard to find the proportions of the leg. Sometimes I find my knees out of line which throws off the angles of the body. I think what makes this more difficult is my lack of understanding of how big the leg is compared to the whole body. my goal is to be able to efficiently create the connection of the hips knee and ankle within the next few weeks. This class has really gave me a confidence in my drawing skills, especially when thinking about having to draw human figures in the future. The many basic shapes that we have learned has also giving my a better understanding of the correlation between the human body and geometry. It forces me to think how perfect the human body is.