Week 8

Shoulder Blade & Collar Bone-

The scapula and clavicle make up the shoulder girdle.  The two key points to keep in mind for drawing this section are the 1)medial border of the scapula, which runs along the angle of the ribs, almost parallel to the backbone in resting position, but also moves in regards to the arm. 2)spine of the scapula- spiral along the top of the blade.  The shoulder blade is actually larger than we assume it to be, it is half the length of the ribs, from the 2nd rib to the 7th rib.  The summit of the shoulder is the high point where the clavicle and scapula meet, also known as the acromion process.

We did some short 30 second drawings in class and then did a one hour pose.  I feel like the shorter ones helped us quick grasp the angle of the medial border of the scapula in relationship to where the arm was placed.  Seeing different poses over and over gave us an overall understanding of the movement.  Sometimes, such as in the longer pose it is very subtle and more difficult to see where the shoulder bone is located.  Since it was a somewhat normal position we knew where they were by referencing a skeleton.  I learned that we have to keep in mind the egg shape when drawing the shoulder blade and it almost cups around it.  It also helped to see the effect the spinal erectors have on the positioning of the shoulder blade.  Another thing I initially did wrong in some of my shorter drawings was draw the clavicle in reverse.  It is tricky to see the curve, even in simpler poses. I am excited to put these muscles on my maniken to even further understand this section of the body, hope it doesn't need too much clay though because I definitely feel like I am getting to the end of my pile!

Week 7

Feet-

No model tuesday resulted in a maniken day.  We added the feet muscles in preparation for Thursdays class which was all drawing.  The feet muscles are all pretty round and long and skinny, kind of noodley.  The feet are a very intricate part of our body.  There is the ankle system (Talus), the heel system (Calcaneus), the navicular bone, the tarsal bones, metatarsals, phalanges, etc.  The toes and fingers are similar structure, the only difference is size because the feet have to hold weight.  The second toe runs up to make the arch.  The tips I learned to draw the feet to make them look realistic is to exaggerate the narrows and wides in the foot.  Also exaggerate the toe planes - trying to avoid sausage toes!  Another interesting fact I learned was that the knee and the ankle on the same leg are going to have opposite diagonals, which makes sense because our body always balances itself.  We did some 5 and 10 minute drawings of the foot and then we moved to an hour long.  I think I made a lot of progress in working my way up to the hour pose.  The first few really smoothed out a lot of my glitches because I felt very comfortable as I went into the last pose.  I think showing planes is really the most convincing part to these feet drawings.  It is important to stay focused on all the contour lines because there is so much going on.  It is so interesting to see how all the bones are placed under there and how they all fit together and then to convey it on paper.  A tip from my midterm portfolio was to use a more compressed charcoal for a more controlled drawing and less smudging, I worked with a charcoal pencil and i really liked the difference.  Now for a week of spring break. Enjoy!

Midterm Portfolio

Midterm Photos

Looking back at our first day of drawing, I think I captured the whole overall movement of the figure better because I wasn’t focused on looking at just the rib cage in particular, but the figure as a whole such as in Drawing1.  Focusing on the spinal cord, rib cage and pelvis definitely helped out a lot though, I think it is confining me more and making my drawings into more realistic figures.  These three things we have primarily focused on thus far in the semester.  I need to learn how to quicken myself in shorter gesture drawings.  I’d have to say about two minute gestures are perfect time to go quick, but yet get most of the information you want and also having a little bit of time to look.  I do, however, enjoy the long poses the best because you have ample time to really observe and pick out muscles and make corrections.

Mannequins can get me frustrated easily.  Not only is the book tough to accurately represent the muscle, but I have a hard time forming the clay and making it smooth.  I think it is due to my cold fingers not being able to activate the clay.  I’ve learned that it is better to go bigger because it is easier to take off clay than add it.  On the positive side, I really do enjoy the lectures we have in class regarding the anatomy of the human figure and how the muscles interact.  It is also cool to add on muscles and then visually see them on the model when we draw.  Sometimes, since there are so many muscles I get them confused or forget the names, but I think time and practice will make me a pro.

One thing I need to work on is finding the movement in the spinal cord and rib cage because I just assume it is all straight and start off with a normal egg.  I need to push myself to look at the overall movement first and then lay it in.  I also feel like I get lost in the pelvic bone at times.  I have a tendency to make the triangle in the back of the pelvis parallel along the top of the bone, which i corrected in Drawing6.  Some of my longer drawings get a little smudgy and I need to start off with lighter strokes, however I do think a little smudge adds to the overall piece and shows its history adding character.  Overall, I am liking my progress and know some areas i would like to improve on and am excited to finish off the body.

Week 5

Tuesday-

The first half of class was dedicated to mannequins.  We started adding the adductors, which are more of the inner upper thigh.  They weren’t too hard; they were mostly all pretty thin long strips all overlapping and sort of fanning out from one another.  There are the “long”, “short”, “great”, and “graceful” adductors. As for the quads that were due for today, I was the only one who did the vastus laterali (outer thigh above the knee cap) too large, and I learned that I have to remember the rectus femoris (inner thigh above the knee cap) is a long teardrop shape for visual reference.

As for our gesture drawings today I focused on the ribs, the pelvis, and the thigh since that is what we learned about thus far and I didn’t want to try and add too much and then confuse myself since they are rushed as it is.  It is cool to see your progress through the day when you do so many quick drawings and focus on such a little area.  I definitely need a lot more work, but I am feeling better and starting to see the pelvic bone more.  Ironically enough, the three pictures I have from class today are a side view, a front view, and a back view.  For the back view, it really helps me to visualize the butterfly shape that is formed.

 

Thursday-
Drew the whole time today!  We worked up our gesture drawings to an hour long pose. It was alot of observing and trying to see the pelvic bone and surrounding muscles for me. It was nice to get time to step back and really look and not be so rushed with short poses. As for mannequins we are adding the hamstrings and the sartorius, the longest muscle in our body. Happy weekend everyone! :)

Week 4

We didn’t have much class this week; Tuesday’s class was cancelled due to Amy’s child being sick and Thursday a “walk-out” was in place for all students and teachers protesting Governor Walker’s budget proposal. The half hour we were in class for we added the pelvic bone into our simple gesture drawings.  Personally, I think the pelvic bone is the hardest to see thus far.  I feel like I was still observing when time ran up for the gesture drawings, trying to soak it all in still.  The top part is easiest to see where it sticks out, but I kind of get lost in the bottom of it.  I will definitely need to work on this area.  During some poses it was really hard to see and I just had to sort of guess.  It will help me to review the front, back, and side views we went over in class.  I was disappointed we only got to draw for a short time.  I did find out however that there are many open drawing times throughout the week and I really want to make it to a few of them for extra practice.  We are starting the thigh muscles on our clay mannequins for over the weekend.  I feel like mine are unproportionate somewhere because they don’t look quite right but I can’t figure out what yet, too thick at the top maybe.  Im guessing we are still going to add more muscles that is the problem. I’m going to need to compare it to an example in the classroom, still haven’t mastered from the book yet.  Progress on our mannequins so far:

Week 3

Rib Cage-

Rib Cage = Breath Life, anima, breath, animation.  The breastbone or sternum, meaning sword, is one of the main components to the rib cage.  The angle of the sternum determines the angle of the whole rib cage.  The top of the rib cage is a hole called the pit of the neck and continues down starting the sternum with the manubrium, or “handle”, a small rectangular shape.  The body, or “gladiolus”, the longest part of the sternum follows and then is ended by the xyphoid process, a small raised triangular area.  Coming down from the sternum are two long curved ribs followed by two short ones.  The actual ribs angle down (cartlidge comes up) therefore the neck is longer in the front compared to the back.  Ribs 11-12 are floating ribs and the lowest most point of the ribs is called the point of the 10^th rib.

We drew egg shapes for our gesture drawings as we studied the shape of the rib cage and the direction it flowed with the body.  It is cool to focus on one part of the body to really learn it.  It is definelty easiest to see the rib cage at the bottom where it sticks out at its diagonal right above the belly button. There was a pose where the model’s head was leaning toward me so it was like I was looking right down her opening and had to imagine the egg.  We had a girl model for the first time on Thursday; the only way you can really tell if it’s a boy or a girl just from their bone structure is from the pelvic bone.

Building the clay models proved harder than first expected.  The book can be very confusing with only showing one muscle at a time and it sometimes takes a great deal of observation to place it on the mannequin and then it still usually isn’t accurate. It is much easier to look off a model that has already been built.  So far we have put on the spinal erectors, the ab muscles, and now we are working on the glutes/hips.

Week2

Vertebral Column-

We started learning about the Vertebral Column today. In latin it literally means "to turn". The vertebral column is not a solid form but rather made of overlapping segments that are very mobile, however it does appear as one continuous line when drawn.  There are 4 curves that make up the vertebral column.  The two primary curves we are born with, which are the thoracic and sacrac, and they always stay the same.  The secondary curves, the cervical and lumbar start appearing with the evolution of muscles development (as in the neck) and movement.  These secondary curves curve toward the front of the body.  The primary and secondary curves counterbalance each other with alternating inward and outward curves.

It is crazy how much movement you actually see in the spinal column when you take time to look at it.  I liked our 15 and 30 second gesture drawings, focusing on just the backbone.  Looking at my page afterwards, filled with curvy lines, you could really see all the movement and motion going on, just through those simple lines.  Our 10 minute examinations of the spinal column really made me check over the exact curves that flow through the backbone by using measuring tools and looking closely at angles.

Muscles-

We learned about muscles today.  Muscles follow 3 rules: 1) they contract 2) they have attachments that always stay the same 3) they must cross at least 1 joint.  Tendons are the connective tissues that attach muscle to the bone and promote mobility! (not to be confused with ligaments that essentially limit motion) We also went over some vocabulary terms referencing angles/sides of the body.  Front/Back Anterior/Posterior.  Pelvis up(flex)/Pelvis down(extend) Ventral/Dorsal. Outside/Middle Lateral/Medial. Towards the head/Toward the tail Cranial/Caudal. We are getting started on sculpting our clay models, focusing on spinal erectors primarily the spinals, the longissimus, and the ilicostalis.