life drawing one update

hello everyone,

i want to update you on life drawing one after being gone all week. the stomach flu hit my house with a vengeance! first me, then my son. nasty stuff. we’re both back at school today—thank goodness.

as far as class goes, these are the things I’d like you to be caught up on by tuesday of next week (nov. 11):


your maniken, including the latest muscles of the leg (these are listed above):

flexor digitorum longus tibialis posterior flexor hallucis longus popliteus soleus gastrocnemius

extensor digitorum longus (long extensor of the toes)
extensor hallucis longus (long extensor of the big toe)
peroneus tertius (consider this part of the extensor digitorum longus, as its fifth tendon.)

peroneal brevis (left)
peroneal longus (right)


2. a summary of the class up to this point. do this in a format that makes sense to you (one long blog post, three or four shorter ones, a video you link to your blog, etc.) you have creative license as long as you address the following topics and do it well. obviously, this is way beyond a “midterm” portfolio. however, I think it will still be useful for you to look back at the semester as you answer the following questions and complete/revise/add-on to a blog post that examines what you’ve learned up to this point in the semester and what you’d still like to accomplish in the six weeks we have left (-1/2 week for thanksgiving, and including 1 week for the final exam day).

gesture drawings
first, select three gesture drawings characteristic of your work from early on in the semester.

second, go through your drawings and select three of your best gesture drawings (one 30-second pose, one 60-second pose, one 1+ minute-pose [anything from 60 seconds – 5 minutes]).

photograph these six gesture drawings and post on your blog, in order from earliest to latest. it will make the writing easier if you title these drawings, even simply (such as gesture #1, gesture #2, etc.).

in your blog post, reflect on what you’ve accomplished in your gesture drawings. point to specific areas/passages in the drawings as your write (I’m attaching two ways you might want to do this— images i created using jing [available as a free download]. one includes the comments on the drawing itself. the other uses numbers that would correspond with comments written in the blog post.) address how well you’ve done the following, as well as point to specifics on what has changed in your drawings from the beginning of the semester up to now. (you do not have to address each of these in every drawing, but you should touch on each one at least once throughout the entire discussion of your gesture drawings):

1. included the whole figure on the page
2. placed the figure in a picture plane that’s proportionate to the overall piece of drawing paper (rather than drawing random sketches anywhere on the page, in any proportion)
3. used anatomical landmarks (rib cage, pelvis, spinal column, structural aspects of femur and tibia, etc.)
4. focused on long axis lines rather than outlines
5. incorporated line variation (value [light, medium, dark], character [sharp, soft, long short, fast, slow, etc])
6. captured the feeling of the pose (can you tell immediately what pose the model is in by looking at the drawing? can the viewer relate with their own kinesthetic sense to the pose?)
7. exaggerated angles and pose (are there diagonals in the pose? strong lines of emphasis and movement?)
8. related a sense of a living figure on the page (this is really a composite of all the elements above. here, you can discuss the drawing as a whole).

long drawings
photograph and post your three best drawings at this point in the semester.f or each drawing, describe what makes it strong. what did you see in that drawing that you did not see before? what did you get on the paper makes the drawing successful in terms of our class? i would rather you talk in specifics here rather than generalities. you may not have a whole “good” or “strong” drawing in terms of everything being right—proportion, gesture, anatomy, composition, etc. you may have one drawing that is best in anatomical description, one that’s best in line variation, etc. with these three drawings and your descriptions of them, i want you to show me what you have learned. what have you accomplished? how well do you know and use the language of drawing (the literal written language and the more metaphorical visual language)? prove to me (or another professor, gallery owner, grad school committee, design firm, etc.) what you have learned and how this learning/problem-solving you’ve done makes you a better artist, designer, employee, seer, etc.


maniken
post four images of your maniken. these should have plenty of detail, in focus (!), have a clean, non-distracting background (use photoshop if nothing else), and show me (and/or any other interested viewer) your clay building skills and understanding of the muscles we’ve built so far.

with each photo, describe what is strongest about your maniken from that point of view and what you would revise to make more accurate, more clear, or more consistent in terms of anatomy, muscle grouping, clay craft, etc.

use anatomical language as you describe the manikens.

1. 3/4 anterior view of upper body
2. 3/4 posterior view of upper body
3. 3/4 anterior view of lower torso and legs
4. 3/4 posterior view of lower torso and legs

blog
reflect on your use of blogging to help you record and reflect on your experiences in life drawing one by addressing the following questions (feel free to use screen shots as illustrations, or provide links to earlier posts and/or comments):

• what is the most interesting/attention-holding blog post you came across by another student this semester? what made it so?
• what do you enjoy about blogging?
• what do find frustrating about using the blog?
• what would you like to post about that you haven’t?
• how many comments have you left for your blog group members?
• when blog group members have commented on your posts, have you replied back?
• if you could give one blog assignment to the class, what would it be?
• how would you rate your blog at this point in the semester in terms of

1. image quality?
2. response to other students (quality and quantity)?
3. blogging about miscellaneous or art-related content other than just assigned blog posts?
4. helpfulness to other members of your blog group and/or other students in the class?
5. representing yourself as a professional artist to a public audience? looking at your blog, how would others describe you and your work?

a tentative schedule for the rest of the semester:

nov 11 – 13: leg, foot
nov 18 – 20: shoulder girdle
nov 25: arm/forearm
dec 2 – 4: hand, skull
dec 9 – 11: facial features, self-portrait (final portfolio [similar to what you’re doing above] due)
dec 17 & 18: LD I finals (homework self-portrait due, added to final portfolio)



i do not like being out of class for so many days. we will have to transition quickly back into life drawing mode next week. making sure your maniken is up-to-date and your class summary is done and done well—both by tuesday, nov. 11—will get you back in the mode, I’m sure.

have a good weekend. work hard. stay away from the germs!
Amy