Life Drawing

Life Drawing

Week 1

We began by simply having a go at sketching out the models pose with only 1 minute.

By the end of the session we had done multiple drawings of about 15-20 minutes, allowing for more accurate body shape and some shading.

Week 2

In this session props were introduced, in this case a chair and a fake sword.

I found that the inclusion of other objects could make for some interesting and challenging shadows.

Week 3

For this session we focused on heads and facial features for the first time.

A key technique I learnt was to use a circle for the base of the head, therefore ensuring the head shape is the right size.

Week 4

In this session I learnt a good way to get the body structure in a quick sketch to later be filled out, allowing for the pose to be captured much faster.

This resulted in more accurate body shapes and proportions. Additionally we did a drawing of our own hand since they are difficult part of the body to draw correctly.

Week 5

At this point we began drawing fabric and armor, since this was something a lot of our characters had for our coursework.

I found the creases in clothes to be very challenging to draw, but with enough time spent on it i was happy with the results.

Week 6

This session was focused around getting the pose of a character rather than the details.

We experimented with the silhouette technique, where the entire figure is blocked out. However I found this to be quite inaccurate. 

Week 7

For this session we continued practicing what we had already learnt.

I found that some of my proportions were still out, but most of the drawings were relatively accurate.

Week 8

At this point we were asked to experiment with colour. Not necessarily accurate colours, but just having the shadows and highlights a different hue.

I found this task to be especially difficult, since I struggled to get any precise detail in the shading when using colours.

Week 9

In this session I learnt an even better way of mapping out a pose quickly. It involved drawing each part of the body as a primitive shape so it could later be filled in more accurately.

I found this to be a very effective technique for quick and well proportioned drawings.

Week 10

In order to practice for our character turnaround required for our coursework, we used this session to draw the same figure in the same pose from multiple different angles. Additionally we had some more practice in sketching a pose.

I found this to be a difficult task, since I couldn't quite match the proportions on every single drawing. However the poses were much more accurate due to the techniques I have been learning.

Week 11

This was our first session with a female model (top left drawing being an extra from the previous week)

I found drawing the female body took getting used to due to the different proportions, but once I had some practice I was pleased with the outcome.

Week 12

In the final session we did multiple pose drawings, as well as tried a new way of showing the curves of the body.

I found that whilst not very realistic, adding the lines across the body did help to depict how it curved.

Overall I found the quality of my drawings did improve over time, with the new techniques I was learning helping to me to get more accurate proportions and body shapes. Namely the use of primitive shapes when sketching the pose, since this is something I started doing for all my drawings and found it to be very beneficial in terms of the time it took to draw a pose and its accuracy.