Model Drawing 2, Week 7: Midterm Practice

Gestures!  TWENTY 1-MINUTE gestures to warm-up.

We followed up the gestures with some GESTURE REVIEW, which is basically a refresher of proportion, balance, and movement.  I demonstrated a 3/4 front view, a profile view, and a back view.  The idea is that the gesture drawing should only take you a couple of seconds to 2 minutes, and not really much more than that.  It's meant to be your initial impression of the pose.

We then continued to warm-up with TWO 2-MINUTE BLIND CONTOURS, and TWO 2-MINUTE, 2 HANDED SIGHTED CONTOURS.

Student work:  2-handed sighted contours on the left hand side.

I then reviewed basic anatomical shape relationships.  This means:  I'm more concerned with shape design and the relationships between shapes in the body versus anatomical details.  If you draw anatomical details that's great, but make sure the basic figure looks good first!

Note:  I prefer if you lay in a straight support leg first, and then bring the "S" curves out of it through the musculature (or the basic shapes that the musculature makes).  I don't want to see bow-legged women, or support legs that structurally don't make any sense. 

Student work:  TWO 5-MINUTE FIGURES, focusing on the silhouette, contour line, and graphic bathing suit shapes.

I then demonstrated how to coax out the "S" curves from a straight leg.  Note that I flatten the knee first, then draw it back in when I draw the contour line.  I don't like knees that stick out too far because it causes the legs to look bent, which is a re-occurring problem in a lot of folks' drawings.  Also note that the "S" curve in a straight leg comes from the relationships of the shapes within the legs, and how your eye bounces down across those shapes.  The leg is not built from a literal "S".  The reason why I have not covered this concept until now is because it's a very abstract one, and I would rather you balance the figure before you worry about bringing the "S" rhythms out of the legs.  Now that balance is no longer an issue, I expect to see some serious rhythm exploration.

We then completed TWO 20-MINUTE RENDERED FIGURES IN SWIMSUITS.  I except:  GOOD HEAD, HANDS, FEET!!  Basic lighting!  Which means: good shadow shapes!

Student Work:

Note:  The two heads on the side were TWO 4-MINUTE HEAD STUDIES, a product of left-over time before lunch.  Not enough time for a figure, but enough time for two head studies!

Student Work:

I then demonstrated a quick gesture with dress study.  Yes, I used an obnoxiously orange marker for the gesture for the sake of visibility, but you should be using a lighter colored marker.  The dress should be completed in BLACK COLORED PENCIL.  ONE 7-MINUTE STUDY: 2-minutes for the gesture, 5-minutes for the dress.  Architecture of the dress and folds only, no shading.

Student work:

TWO 20-MINUTE FIGURES, BASIC WOVEN DRESS OR SKIRT, FIGURE AND GARMENT ARE BOTH RENDERED!

And that wraps up week 7.  Good luck on the midterm folks!