Mid Term Portfolio

Life Drawing this semester has been helpful in developing my understanding of the human form. The gesture drawings done at the beginning of class have been somewhat challenging for me because I have always had a very slow observant way of drawing. I have learned to become more gestural with my line work in order to record the desired form in the time given. This quick work has taught me to observe the underlying bone structure. I am also gaining an understanding of the subtle changes of plane across an organic figure.

            I want to continue to improve my ability to draw the human form in a convincing way. Drawing is something I really enjoy doing but a lot of the work I am interested in drawing at this point involves people and expression or movement. Prior to this class my drawings of people have looked more abstract than I would prefer. Working from a live model has truly been the biggest change in my drawing.

            The mannequin work has also been a challenge that seems to be paying off, the actual placing of the muscles on the form is extremely time intensive. I can now see some things I didn’t see before, such as how the legs truly come away from the body and how the back comes away from the spine.  Drawing the shell is a strength of mine because I have previous experience with still life drawing. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48599455@N05/with/4452886763/

This week in drawing we added onto the human from the thigh to the knee. We discussed how the leg really starts at the crest of the pelvic bone and then moves away from the body. This is something many artist struggle with initially because may begin to draw the leg coming away from the torso at the same plane as the groin. This week I was working at getting the rib cage and pelvis to line up in the appropriate fashion and I am beginning to see how that truly benefits how I draw the overall form. 

Walker

Alice Neel, American 1900-1984

Charlotte Willard 1967

Oil on canvas

Collection Walker Art Center

I enjoyed how the room, Benches, and Binoculars were set up. With some of the paintings placed high on the walls the viewer has to look through the binoculars to see the details in some of the paintings.

I picked this piece because I really enjoy portraiture and the vibrancy of this particular painting caught my eye. There are layers and layers of color, such as the pinks and reds of the chair, the washes of blues and greens on the wall, and even the hints of blues and olives in her skin tone it very interesting. There is also great use of textures, such as the striped leggings or the mountain of curls atop her head. I also enjoyed this piece because of her subject matter, the way the woman, Charlotte is sitting and making eye contact with the viewer gives the impression that she is listening to the viewer or they are involved in a conversation.

Her expression I can’t figure out, it maybe it is the face of satisfaction or quiet listening. Her interesting look makes her into a character, she is a slightly older woman who is wearing slightly large pieces of jewelry and, I can’t tell, she may also be wearing a wig. Suggesting that maybe her personality is a little over the top.