Life Drawing Summary

This semester has been really fun. I have enjoyed every part of it and feel I have improved in my drawing skills.

One thing I hate about taking art classes is that we are forced to do things by a certain deadline, and have certain

specifications to follow. However, for this class I felt it was very laid back, which helped me ENJOY drawing and

felt like I was doing it for fun rather than for school. This is really important, because it makes me not only enjoy

what I am doing, but it also helps me be better at what I am doing! So I really appreciate that.

I have been recommending to people to take this class, because it is fun, relaxing, interesting, and also challenging.

At first I hated doing the skeleton and the shell, but towards the end of the semester, I found it fun and theraputic,

and helpful. Making the contour lines on the shell has helped me with my sketches for my industrial design classes, so I really

am happy about that. My shells got better and better each time I did them, and I was happy with how they ended up turning out.

My first shell was horrible, but after getting a new shell, I enjoyed what I was looking at, therefore drawing better.

Going to the Bodies Exhibit at Mall of America made me appreciate making the muscles on the skeleton

more, because I had a better understanding of what I was doing. I was really frustrated with the skeleton at first, because

I just couldn't grasp how the muscles were supposed to look from the book. But then Amy made us start all over again, which

I was really happy about! I sat down and took my time looking at every little detail, which helped me make a better mannequin

at the end. There is a big difference when comparing my first mannequin to the final one. Pictures don't do it justice, but

when looking at it live it is really nice to look at.

Overall, I have really enjoyed this class! I tend to get stressed out from my industrial design classes (which i love to death, but

one can only handle so much in one semester!) so this class has been a nice balance. Now, I don't mean this is a 'slacker

class' at all, because even though the homework load has been light, I feel it has been very helpful. We have gone through

a lot of drawings and a lot of material, and we have learned a ton of stuff, so I feel this class has been very beneficial.

I keep on referring to it as therapy, which I strongly feel it is. I always want to just sit down and draw people, but I never have

time and I've never felt confident enough in my drawing skills to do it. So this class has given me the chance to actually do it.

The only negative thing I have to say about this class is that I wish we had spent more time on the face, arms and hands.

For industrial design, it is important to be able to draw hands, because often times they are used in sketches to demonstrate

how an object is being used. So I am a little bummed that we didn't get to spend more time on that. Other than that, I am very

pleased with the class and would recommend it to anyone who is considering taking it!

Here's the link to my flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44071825@N04/sets/72157623010037468/

Thanksgiving break

I really enjoy learning about the facial features. I wish we could spend more time on it... Over break, I managed to get my uncle, aunt, cousins and parents to pose for me so I could draw their eyes and noses. I haven't done portraits of people since high school, so it was fun being able to do that again at an older age. I didn't have a lot of time to draw them, because they were getting impatient. After all, it was Thanksgiving. But I managed to get some drawings in my sketchbook anyway.

I find it difficult to do the nose from straight on. It is hard to show the tip of the nose without making the person look like a pig or an alien! Contour lines help, but I still don't feel confident in it. I am trying hard to make the eyes look more three dimensional, but I am having problems with that. I feel I have a good grasp on the face since I draw faces all the time, but I tend to make faces look two dimensional, so this is a nice challenge. Hopefully I will improve on this, because I have always wanted to get better!