Charcoal and Skelingtons.

Week 2

Life Drawing
This week in life drawing, we were asked to try either charcoal or pastels to get out of out comfort zones. I chose charcoal and generally felt quite awkward at first as there was no way of rubbing out or generally removing construction lines or mistakes. After the first awkward drawing, i felt more and more at home using the charcoal as it allowed a lot more freedom with each stroke. I drew a selection of poses but will only display the top two or three  to highlight which i believe show the most progress.

This was my first successful attempt using the charcoal. Highlighting all the key areas such as the pelvis and rib cage, i worked around them using darker and darker lines in an attempt to highlight the key details over the construction lines. I found this to be much easier than pencil sketches due to the thicker, blunt nature of the charcoal which drew attention away from extreme detail. On top of this, i used eight construction lines spaced out across the page to separate each area of the body. I found this technique to be far too awkward though so i doubt i will be using it in the future.
 

With this attempt, we were told to make a section of the body either bigger or smaller. I decided to adopt the head for this. After drawing the body as normal, following the skeleton for proportions, i greatly exaggerated the head, making for a rather comic look. The proportions around the upper chest and shoulders are fairly stretched and unrealistic so i believe these areas need more work within future drawings. I could not physically see his feet at my drawing angle so i had to leave these bare.

I am most proud of this sketch as i believe it shows the most potential.We were given an hour to complete it so i positioned myself closer, sat on a beanbag a couple of meters away from the model. As he was sat in a chair, it make the proportions fairly awkward to draw. To overcome this, i ignored his figure and spent a while drawing the chair with the goal of using it as a reference for the rest of the image. After i had this draw, i began sketching out the body. At first it seemed to be going fairly wrong so i sketched new shapes over the old ones and made it look rather messy. After continuing on with the sketch, it began to take shape so i added simple shading by rubbing my finger across darker areas and leaving areas struck by the light with a paler finish. As i still had time left after this, i began adding further detail such as basic facial features and body hair across the arms, back and legs. With simple shadows to remove the floating effect, it took its form as a finished sketch. I would like to use this media more often as it feels more creative and the shading is far easier for a more realistic look.

 


Skeletons 

Starting in order, the first task i was assigned for this week was to draw the human figure over a variety of skeletons. It was a fairly quick task but was extremely useful in helping me understand the human skeleton. Through these drawings, i learn to draw the proportions of the human body using the shape of the spine, skull, ribcage, shoulder blades and other bones, ensuring that no possible deformities appeared in the final product.

Attempt Number 1.

 Attempt Number 2.

Attempt Number 3.