Life Drawing

This is a 15 minute study of a male torso drawn using a 3B pencil, paying close attention to details such as bone structure. I chose a vantage point where I could clearly see the whole of his chest without being sat directly in front of him, as I wanted to clearly be able to see the ribcage but sitting directly in front would make the drawing too two-dimensional. I used tonal values to give the form a more three-dimensional feel, however it still looks flat against the white background. Shading the background instead of leaving it white would stop it looking as flat, but I think that, in this instance, it isn't too much of an issue as there is nothing to distract from the detail inside the outline of the torso which is the main focal point. 

Had this been a longer study than 15 minutes, I could have used a different shading approach to give the illustration a more realistic feel. I chose to shade very loosely instead to ensure the whole area was filled. I think this method also helps to draw attention to the skeletal structure under the skin as the low number of values exaggerates these slightly, making it seem more contrasty than highly realistic shading with more values would do.

Life Drawing

This is a 10 minute life drawing study of the human body in a tense position, drawn using a 2B pencil. I expressed the tension shown by the body through the heavy lines at the top of his back showing where his muscles are tensed tightly together. I also used hatching to show where shadows were being cast on his body, making it more 3-dimensional.

The sketch is unsuccessful in the sense that I don't think it is proportionally accurate. I think I should have drawn his legs longer; the whole body is as tall as six and a half of his head measurement. From his neck to his buttocks, there are 3 heads. From there to his feet, there are only 2 and a half heads. As the average person is seven and a half heads tall, I think his legs are too short. His back looks very elongated, however this might be exaggerated by the shortness of his legs. Improper proportion could have been prevented by taking the time to measure and roughly plot out the bodies proportions on the page before starting to draw and I should pay more attention to doing this in future.

Life Drawing

This is a 15 minute Life Drawing study using a 3B pencil. I worked quickly to produce the basic form of the model that was still proportionally accurate. Whilst I feel I was successful in doing this, I could have paid more attention to areas such as the front arm to more clearly express its muscle and bone structure as the lines are very straight and not completely true to real life.

I used a hatching method of shading to quickly express the areas of the body which were in shadow, this contrast successfully prevents the sketch from looking flat and gives it a more realistic, 3-dimensional quality to the image. Whilst this was a study of the entire figure, I think I could improve in future by paying closer attention to detail around the head as it doesn't seem to fit right with the rest of the figure.