Drawing Class: Semester Two Week Ten & Final Life Drawing Sketches

These final sketches are more mural related poses, however mostly they take on more of the receiver of an attack as opposed to an attack-ee. I am generally pleased with these, the proportioning is some of the best I have done so far. Further, foreshortening here seems to be handled better than previously, although some of the poses where much more challenging than usual.

Foreshortening here was dealt with quite well.

The foreshortening of the leg in the right drawing really difficult to get right. 

These drawings, although incomplete, still look quite nice.

Last drawing.

Drawing Class: Semester Two Week Nine

This week we were drawing more poses in relation to the mural we are working toward as the final product of our drawing module. This week, we were drawing Steve again, and we had some varying poses relating to conflict. It was quite interesting, with poses of attacking, crouching and such. All should be quite useful to our final goal. Also, it was good to have some new poses specifically geared toward an end, as opposed to a collection of more arbitrary poses ( I know most lessons have had a focus, but this was something different to technique of drawing).

First we had some crouching over corpse/ forced to kneel poses....

Then some kneeling attack poses....

The same, but from another angle...

More crouching, battered down by an onslaught of attacks, followed by the head as viewed from various angles. All the drawings were done within a short time of about five minutes. I am quite pleased with these drawings, although I was getting quite tired toward the end. Further, these sketches seem to have the torso elongated this time, a change from elongated limbs to be sure.

Drawing Class: Semester Two Week Eight

Today, we did "information collecting": two minute quick sketches, ten minute full poses rounded off by ten minute poses of a particular area (foot, hand, head) that we haven't focused on in great detail before. We are to create five characters for the final mural piece we are going to work on together of a large hundred man battle scene.

Our model for this week was Steve. I dislike drawing Steve; he is a very difficult person to draw. I find it difficult to not let my impression of him being way too skinny influence my drawing. As such, I can see the regular pattern emerging of being unable to cope well with foreshortening resulting in limbs becoming elongated and just weird looking. Or is that just me imagining things...?

Sorry, it's not the greatest quality photo. Bad focus on it.

Animating: The First Liquid Fuelled Rocket

In order to draw the first rocket to be fuelled by a liquid substance, I had to first find out what it looked like on launch, something much easier to do than with the previous weaponry, as it is more recent (within the last 100 years,) thus, cameras and the like were around also.

Here, is Robert Goddard, stood proudly next to his (beautiful) invention.

Taken from en.wikipedia.org

With a picture as a visual reference to inform my drawing, what I then needed was to know how, exactly, the contraption worked in order to animate it accurately. After finding a video reference, I decided to give up on knowing how the frame reacted to launch (I have my ideas, but they are probably inaccurate). Instead, I will use lots of smoke screen to cover it, as is shown in the video found below. I think it should be alright, as it is a recording of perhaps not the first, but more certainly one of the sequential launching of said missile. 

Drawing Class: Semester Two Week Seven

For this lesson, we could choose where to put each pose, what size and such, but we had to put them in some form to make up a composition.  Length of pose varied, so that was an integral factor in my choice of placement and therefore the overall look. I like how this turned out, the last picture I drew in the middle foreground really helped to add depth to the arrangement. Perhaps, though, I should have had a more definite horizon so it wouldn't seem as if the floor is not properly flat; the fourth drawing in should have been put further back considering it's scaling and such would have made the overall better. Foreshortening of the legs was a bit challenging again.

Drawing Class: Semester Two Week Six

This week we were concentrating more on foetal poses, with the model curled up into a ball or of that theme.  First, we did a series of poses within two lines, followed by three larger drawings; the first of which I drew a bit too large and the drawing had to end abruptly, the second was smaller and the third more so still. I guess it worked out all right as it appears as if the model is moving further away. Lastly, we did two even larger sketches. 

I did prefer working from small to big instead of the other way around; I am pleased with the drawings that I did. For this lesson I would give my work overall an eight - the drawings are more accurate than last semester - with proportioning and getting the angles correct becoming more frequent occurrence.

Drawing Class: Semester Two Week Five

We were trying to do a series of drawings that were all around the same size. I guess mine are of a similar size, but they aren't really in a straight line. After break, we were using the lighting to do dark shaded drawings, with less emphasis on getting the proportioning perfectly accurate.

Despite that they are all roughly the same size, I couldn't get the to align properly on the page. As you can see, the almost seem to be moving in a curved line. They aren't perfect, but at least they are well balanced and quite consistent in quality, though the arms are questionable for accuracy throughout. Personally I prefer the shaded drawings to the line sketches.

Drawing Class: Semester Two Week Four

Storyboarding Without Characters

How to give the impression of a story without any characters...at all? I had a few thoughts of what such a thing would look like, but was quite taken with the idea of Harry: The Apocalypse of Millennium Square.

My four (probably should have been six, but what have you) of the sequence were the final sink into desolation and the slight emergence toward life again.

Upon refleection, I suppose we could have coordinated the drawing out of ideas better to give better flow; worked on top of each other's  drawing to better blend the styles. Alas, that did not happen. Regardless of what could of been, I quite like the strange mishmash: somehow it complements the original idea.

 In the beginning, I had the trees on fire, and the roofs mid-collapse. 







Second, I had the fire rage out to just embers. Strangely, the leaves seem to be unaffected...

Okay, so the mistake got noticed and now the dead leaves are blowing away on the wind. Strange that I've made the trees downfall on a slower time to the rest of the environment.

And the dark skies are beginning to clear, The trees are just skeletons of themselves and most of the buildings are gone. I quite like the council building, so I didn't let it fall down too much. Naha.






Here is what came before mine in the series (Harry's) where the starts at present day, and then the apocalypse hits:

Drawing Class: Semester Two Week Three

Decreasing Scale

First life-drawing lesson this semester. Martin was posing for us, and we began on the right with a large drawing, with both time and scale decreasing as the lesson progressed. I quite liked the first drawing I managed, but (fun this) it just went downhill from there.

I think I need to work on the hands and feet in the poses more, as they hold a lot of the pose's expression.

Marks out of ten for each drawing (self-evaluated, of course):

One - 7.5
This was a 15 minute pose. I quite like it, but perhaps the leg is drawn a bit too skinny. However, I think the proportioning is quite good.
Two - 7
Another 15 minute pose. Proportioning is still good, but the leg is definitely too skinny looking and the hand isn't right.
Three - 7
15 minute pose. Scaling proportion seems fine, but I couldn't quite get the arms to look as they should. Again with the too skinny legs.
Four - 6
Maybe I drew the legs a bit short. Maybe they are a bit out of shape. Poor definition of arms and torso.
Five - 6
I like that this one is positioned a bit behind drawing four. Hand is drawn a little better, overall better definition, but the legs and arms look too skinny. Again.  Maybe that the feet are about level with drawing four doesn't help.
Six - 5
Proportioning is falling apart a bit here. More obvious that the top doesn't quite fit the bottom half. Can't help but think that everything from the neck down is a bit off.
Seven - 4
Didn't get this one quite finished. Dislike that the sizing is too like drawing six. General pose is right.
Eight - 4
Somehow the scaling has gotten stuck as the same as drawing six.
Nine - 4
Drawing one again, but smaller, as there wasn't that much to correct. Completely ignoring the bottom guide. 

Drawing Class: Week Six

This lesson we began with super quick lightening sketches, how long they lasted I can't recall, perhaps 20 seconds long. As the time was short all we had to do was to get the impression of the pose down. even if as stick men. For these, I would give myself 7 out of 10 as they seem to fit the bill, but not all were completed.

The next set were to be small 30 second poses about the same height. For each we had 30 seconds.

Next, we had to put down some 2 minute outline drawings, which I found quite a bit more challenging. After a few, we were reminded that they had to be continuous line. I don't like drawing that way very much. It's quite hard.

Continuing, we had some 3 minute poses with the model robed before break.

After break, we did some larger drawings. First, a sitting pose, which we did twice to see if the second time we could record it more accurately. After this it was a standing pose. These poses where fifteen minutes long and we could draw normally again. It was a good way to end. My drawings are all right as well.

Drawing Class: Week Eight

We began with some one minute continuous line drawings. I concentrated really hard on not lifting my pencil this time, as well as not going back on a line. The Result: some extremely long and wobbly looking people. I am not particularly pleased with them, but they did highlight some observational errors in recording proportioning accurately; as the limbs are both too long and thin, something that I have noticed occasionally in previous drawings.

These wobbly looking people changed from one wobbly to another, when we were given pens and told to mark on the silhouettes, with the strokes not changing direction, either slanted one way or another, no changing part way through. So, I kept mine all horizontal, and drew from the top down. Also one minute poses, moving down through fifty seconds, forty, thirty and twenty, ten, five, three and one second in length. They definitely become more obscure with the shortening of the time. Quite an interesting session and I think that I recorded the poses quite well, all things considered.

Drawing Class: Semester Two Week Two

Rubbings

This lesson we were let outside to find textures. I felt like I was four again. After collecting six rubbings from various surfaces, we then had to pick out a pattern from one of them. Then, we had to draw that as a sculpture and do isometric projections of it. Finally, we were tasked with drawing it properly, as if it were on a podium or exhibit in front of us.

Couldn't "see" a pattern that wasn't already there originally.

All I could see were bricks and the tops of trees.

In this one I picked out a dragon with fluffy hair and a cat-esque angel. 

I decided to go with the cat-like angel for my sculpture. Here it is with it's not-so-well-done isometric projections, followed by what I thought it would look like as an exhibit based on those projections.

Failed to fit the silly thing in...

...so I drew it again in my sketchbook.

Later, I went over the scanned in version of the sculpture in Photoshop; and here it is. As suggested, it does look quite dramatic.

T'is a bit eerie...