This week was a short lived and weird one for life drawing, and classes in general. I was disapointed we did not have class on tuesday, it kind of threw me off. On thursday we did not have much class time. My drawings turned out ok, but it was not enough time to really get into it enough. As I become a better artist I hope that I develop a faster hand. I feel like it takes me a bit longer to map out my drawings. I want to have a more fluid approach to the human form and an over all knowledge of the body to make it easier to move faster and with more confidence. In time.

I wanted to take more pictures of the drawings I ended up with but I am snowed in at home and do not have my camera here with me. I will have to post them along with next week. 

I found a site about life drawing with good tips that I would like to share:

1. Look at the Figure
2. Plan your Composition
3. Quickly sketch in the entire figure
4. Draw fast
5. Practice good line economy
6. Don’t erase
7. Add shadows and highlights
8. Draw the whole pose
9. Ground your figure
10. Date your Drawing 

These are the two I found the most useful to me:

1. Look at the figure. Take just a few seconds to mentally take notice of a few things.

Is the figure taller, or wider? The figure on the right looks wider at first glance, but is actually taller. The reclining pose of the figure, horizontal lines, the cropping of the photo, and even the format of your monitor all lend to this illusion.
How is the figure supporting its own weight? This is important to consider to prevent your figures from leaning over.
Hold your pencil up to the figure and visualize three lines, one each through the shoulders, hips and knees (see image above). Keeping in mind the relationship between these lines while you draw will help with your proportions and placement. Even taking 2-3 seconds with this step will help the layout of your drawing and save you precious time later.

5. Practice good line economy.

Practice with some one-line drawings. A one-line drawing is done without picking up your drawing instrument from the paper.

• don’t use chicken scratches. Try to be fluid and efficient.
• draw inside the figure, not just an outline. Study the subtleties within the figure, and your line in turn will become more sensitive.
• try to vary your line width and weight if you are using a charcoal pencil or Conte .
• don’t draw everything. This is a great exercise for learning how to edit. Be selective in both what you draw and what you leave out.

I also Included a few pictures here that I enjoy, some dealing with life drawing, some more for fun!

One of my favorite artists, his style reminds me of contour line drawing

This is such a good example of what we are learning, and a good drawing too!

My life drawing

I am sure this guy has in interesting anatomy =)