Life Drawing Week 4

This week in life drawing we focused mainly on the rib cage and chest. Learning to draw the "egg" before drawing the rest of the figure (besides the long axis) really helped me to place the figure correctly on the page. It also helped me to see the model as a living, breathing human-being rather that a still life that I was required to draw. 

For me, the most helpful drawings that we did this week were the drawings that used relational measurements. This greatly improved my ability to see proportions. I was much happier with my last drawings using this method than any of my previous attempts without this method.



One of the most challenging things for me this week was to learn to stand farther back from the easel and not grip my charcoal pencil near the tip. I always felt that if I had my hands closer to the tip, I would have more control over what I was drawing. It turns out that gripping the pencil farther back can actually be very rewarding.

This is a drawing done by Alex Kalser. While it does not have the proper proportions or anything close, this depiction of the body is intriguing. I especially enjoyed looking at all of his conscientious line work. The contrast between the thick and thin lines creates a fantastic result.