LIFE CLASS DRAWINGS

 I found that the proportion of the body was easy to master with self initiated practice, however drawing the body with a perspective in a 3D space was something entirely different, it needed something more - life class drawings. I had my first experience in a life drawing class recently with a male model - a middle aged man. During a 2 hour session, we were tasked with analysing multiple poses and sketching them within a time frame - some 5 minutes, some 10 minutes and so on. The aim here was not to create a visual masterpiece and become a pioneer for fine art, but to successfully study the human body at different perspectives, taking into account the position of the model. Below are theses studies.

    My primary goal here was to study the arms and their relative proportion with the body when not directly to the side. I believe I succeeded here, but another succession was that the body has character.  It has imperfections. This is a successful study for me, as most of my characters are perfectly proportioned - the ideal body.

    I usually revert to drawing characters from the front  simply because its the simple and most effective option for me. However, characters aren't always head on in a static pose - sometimes the 'character' is in the pose. They way they stand tells us something about the character  Thus, I believe this study is again successful as the various positions of the arms are hard to portray on a 2D plain. Here, you can tell the model is holding a stick in front of himself with his arm on his hip. 

    Again, the same pose as the previous two, only from a different angle. This pose allowed me to study the back and shoulders and how they change in relation to the characters pose. This, of all of the studies, is my favourite, as it incorporates successful body proportion, the character of the pose and successful perspective work.

    The back view was a chance to study the body from an angle I hadn't yet. I had the chance study the back and shoulders again, along with the legs and how they change with the pose. This is another personal favourite of mine and I will keep it for future reference.

    A new pose and a new chance to practice the front view. This is my most successful attempt at a front pose to date. I personally believe the proportion and character are perfect. This, along with what I believe to be successful perspective work, make this study a success - I ought to use a variety of poses more often.

    This pose challenged me with complex body shape and proportion, forcing me to move out of my comfort zone - drawing standing characters. My real struggle here was perfecting the legs and arms. Here, I believe I have come close to it, although my worry, is that when it comes to drawing clothed characters, I won't find the same success.

    The same pose but this time, nothing new here only that it isn't a successful study like the last. A few flaws in the arm length and the body I believe effect the study. However, the perspective work is fine and in this study, I learned from mistakes.

      Another front view, only the model had sat down, leaning against the wall head on. The task here was to represent this pose through perspective - it had to appear 3D. In all, when working on perspective, this is my best work. The hardest part was representing the left leg in an upright position without making it look like the leg was just shorter than the other.

     This final pose was similar to the first, only here, the model was slightly leaning forward, putting an emphasis on the waist line and the legs. I tried my best to portray this pose with mostly success. The model is slightly leaning, but not as much as the model actually was.


        Overall, this Life Drawing class was more successful that I originally envisioned. Throughout all my experience as a drawer, I had stayed in my comfort zone, only drawing static, front view poses with no depth or real character. Over the past few weeks working on proportions I had to chance to polish my skills with this class, but adding character and perspective. Now my drawings should be much more successful and ultimately, more realistic.

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