Clothed figure drawing class 2nd week

Today we explored line sensitivity -- hard edges and soft lines dissipating... Also the shapes that make up the figure and how they wrap around the body, legs, arms, shoulders, etc. to create volume and shape. And also how the clothes and body parts overlap together. We had a few class demos to get it started.

I never thought I could be so tired from a six hour block! On top of that I got lost going home and lugging around all my drawing supplies! Drawing takes so much physical effort -- my instructor today related drawing to going to the gym to train the physical muscles to do something... training the physical body is a lot like training your brain. Once you train your hand and your physical movements with the strokes and the writst and the arm-- in synchronicity together... it trains hand-eye coordination and your brain remembers. Its not just about the skill of drawing but training your eye to see and to observe all the details of the model and to translate it through a visual language to communicate somthing.

Also from the first week we learned about the relationships between all the different lines-- with regards to proportion, action, and movement of the body from side to side.... how compression areas are smaller --and opposite sides are longer. I also learned about the angles of the figure and parallel angles that give the figure a direction. We used a black conte crayon in class and had a live model to draw from. Some basic things that I had learned through beginning to draw the figure:

1) Make lines lighter then define them with sharper edges.
2) Think of the torso as a cube
3) Watch the center line or plumb line
4) Observe and note the direction of the folds
5) Watch the shoulders, elbows, knees and see where they fit
6) Proportion of the rib cage.
7) Compression on the top of the leg
8) Responding to the movement of the leg and body.