Life Drawing Final Reflection

I improved in the second half of the semester in a few subtle, yet valuable ways. First, I rely less on my comfort zone of sketchy and shaded lines when drawing. Now I can use more defined lines with a variety of weights to show form, using contour, cross contour, and structure lines. In fact, I greatly reduced the amount of shading used in my recent drawing in order to rely on more purposeful and higher quality lines to create dimensional planes and focus on proportions. This was especially difficult yet important when working on the shell drawings, because of the large amount of detail and linear structures on the surface of the shell. Also, having completed the muscle assignment I now feel like I know enough about the body structure to create more accurate proportions when drawing the human form.

My new ability to draw the human body more accurately and realistically, has inspired my to use the human form more often in my work. Now, I am more comfortable drawing the human form, as well as drawing from life. I’m glad that I will be able to incorporate life drawings in my work when using both traditional and digital media. I have always enjoyed drawing portraits and hands because they are well know as some of the hardest subjects to draw. I knew that they entire body would be even more of a challenge and never attempted to draw the body in a serious manner. After taking this course I feel like I have met that challenge successfully and I will continue to try and develop the skills I acquired in this class that help me reach these goals.

Here is a link to my sets on my flicker page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianwrosenberg/sets/

Inspirational Artist- Erik Schumacher

Erik Schumacher
This German artist does great photomanipulation and amazing space art. I thoroughly enjoy his imagery and the subject, content, and themes in his work. He has a distinct illustrated quality to his digital paintings. His unique approach is what rally grabs your attention.
www.space-jump.com

Amazing Digital Paintings by Olli-Pekka Jauhiainen

Olli-Pekka Jauhiainen
-26 years old
-Finland
-Degital Media Major
-TAMK University of Applied Science
-Specializes in surreal photomanipulations, 3D experimants, and illustration
-Plays with metaphors and symbols, putting strong ideas behind original concepts and amazing artwork.
-www.ouwenz.com

Commercial Artist-Alex Paxton

Alex Paxton is a freelance digital artists for a lot of major labels. He does a lot of innovative and original commercial design for big name and lesser know companies around the world. He like the problem solving process of creating graphic art for clients who know what they are looking for. He takes a very annalytical approach to his artwork.

Digital Atist Heiko Klug

Heiko Klug
-Germany
-Digital Illustration and photo integration
-started with graffiti 10 years ago
-2004, discovered the digital medium and started publishing work
-currently a digital media designer in a advertising agency
-Worked for: Ecko, Doritos, Labbo, Tastel
-www.jesar-one.com

Creative Director of depthCORE-Justin Maller

Justin Maller
-Melbourne, Australia
-Creative Director of depthCORE, an international modern art collective established in June 2002. He interacts directly with many of the worlds most talented and prodigious young artists, musicians and designers as they illustrate and orchestrate the thoughts, hopes, and dreams of cultures from all over.
-produces illustrations and concept art for a divers array of companies and publications worldwide
-works with many international design studios
-www.superlover.con.au

Craig_Shields-Inspiration

Craig Shields-
-York, UK
-Illustration, Photo Manipulation, Digital Art
-Graphic Design Major at the School of Art and Design in Lincoln, UK
-Does amazing inegrations between photos and digital painting
-Surpy, DevianART, DepthCORE, Deop Lab
- Freelance
-www.craigshields.co.uk

Life Drawing Midterm Reflection

In life drawing there is a strong focus on muscle and bone structures within the body as well as important visible landmarks on the body. This has really helped me draw more realistically through correct perspective and proportion. I always wanted to take an anatomy class, so I have found this information both interesting and useful. I might not remember every name for each part of the body, but even learning the basic shapes and functions of certain forms have improved my drawings. Learning about the spine alone has allowed me to exaggerate the natural curves of the body’s core, for a more dynamic drawing.

In my relief printmaking class there is an advanced student who is creating a gallery installment about the body and aging. She made hundreds of egg shaped papier-mâché forms, which the class immediately recognized as an abstract representation of the female figure. I find it interesting that she successfully used an egg shape to imply the human figure and in life drawing we use the same shape to reach similar goals. We use the egg shape of the rib cage to show body position, give depth and check proportion in our drawing.

I hope to continue learning about key features of the human body and new drawing techniques and tips, to further improve my drawings. I also enjoy spending the time we have in class learning from experience. By spending most of our time each week actually drawing and getting individual tips, I feel like we are getting most out of the class.

Here is the URL to my midterm portfolio:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianwrosenberg/

Walker

Chuck Close, Big Self-Portrait
1967-1968
Acrylic on canvas
Walker Art Center, Art center acquisition fund, 1969
-I'm amazed that this is a painting. I draw a lot of photo-realism, but I find that painting is way more challenging when it comes to this type of detail. The size of the piece helps, but this means you need to be able to view the piece from a good distance to see the realism effect. I'm glad the painting was hung up high and there were binoculars available so it could be seen from both views. Still, I wish I could have gotten up close to see the brush strokes and the way the paint sits on the canvas.
-I find it interesting that in this self-portrait the artist looks ragged. His hair is messy, he doesn't have a shirt on, and he has a half lit cigarette-but in his mouth. It's as if he just woke up. I would expect someone to try to look attractive in a self-portrait to help promote the piece, but that is probably why he portrayed himself in such a unexpectedly realistic way. His non-commercial and almost indisposed manner crates an unusually striking image. I believe that the attention to detail and the photo-realistic quality is what makes this piece so popular. I think that the artwork that shows the artists skill in a way that can't be easily recreated is a key part in producing outstanding art.

Spine and Ribs 30 Min

I started with the egg shape of the ribs. I had to draw the bottom of the egg to correctly show this foreshortened view of the model. I then marked a few contour lines to keep my drawing in porportion. I used cross-contour to give volume to the body of the figure. I also used the cross-contour lines to show the outline of the model. I drew very lightly so you can not see all the detail of the drawing in this photo. There are a lot of cross-contour lines that enhance the planar structure of the drawing. Some of these lines even represent areas of the body that are not visible in real life from this view. These qualities give a 3D effect to the drawing. The point of view I had of the model made this drawing very challenging.

Shell Information & Picture

Common Name: Striped Fox Horse Conch

Latin Name: Pleuroploca Trapezium

From the family Strombidae, class Gastropoda, subclass Prosobranchia. Shell is trianular in shape with a wide lip (ours is cut off). Found in Indo-Pacific shallow waters (the Phillipines). Conch meat is harvested and consumed by people in the Caribbean countries. It is harvested by immediatly freezing the catch for up to 3 days. It is then placed in luke warm water to help defrost. During this process, a hole is drilled in the 3rd loop from the lip to help release suction and pull the meat out in one peice. This animal feeds on fine plant matter.

Reflection

I found learning about the spine and surrounding bone structures really helped me when drawing the model. Starting with the spine in my drawings allowed me to section off major parts of the body and create more proportionately accurate figures. I used the bottom of the ribs, the clavicle, and the top of the hip bone to keep proportion as well as give volume to my figures. I am excited to learn some major muscles to further enhance my drawings with a feeling of increased tone and body. I think that learning the muscles in the arms and legs will help me draw those features with more realism.

Prismacolor

This is a prismacolor pencil drawing of a photo I took. I took the photo of three marbles on a mirror behind the school I was attending. You can see the silhouette of the building along the bottom edge of the marbles. I used a compass to make the circles and the rest is freehand. It took about 6 hours to complete because of all the color layering and background space. I won first prize and $200 for this drawing at a art show in Madison. This image was taken on my phone.

Blind Contour

I started at the head, worked my way to the feet, and went back to the head. Thus, there are two sets of everything. I skipped out on drawing the knees a second time without thinking about it and they turned out to be some what in proportion. Oh and the best part is that I was looking at a naked woman but I ended up drawing an old man.

Introduction

I moved to Madison from the suburbs of Philadelphia. I went to Middleton High School and got my AS degree at UW Richland. I am now a Junior with a Graphic Design Major. I enjoy studio art but I am at Stout to learn the digital imaging programs. I want to get a BFA and go to Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh for a Masters Degree. I draw photo realism, surrealism, and tattoo designs. I usually stick with black and white, but I love prismacolor pencils.