Week 9 - Modern architecture

This week was a focus on modern architecture and we visited the Bradford media museum to focus on the modern architecture seen inside the building. The first sketch I did was of the entrance of the museum, this sketch shows good detail in this modern architecture, the detail and shading in the vertical supporting columns, the metal oval door and blacked out windows are effective. The amount of lighter and darker shading gives a sense of metallic texture to the columns and door. You can see the slopping angles of the windows are captured in this sketch, they were difficult to get right.

I feel this sketch was drawn too closely and the viewer would get a better sense of the architecture if more was included. Also more shading would determine the lighter and darker areas of this picture. I  think a smaller picture would allow less precise vertical and horizontal lines and more interpretation. The perspective of this sketch seems to close but does show how it was drawn from a balcony. The props that hold the windows in place give the picture a third dimension because they angle differently giving different perspectives.

This second sketch is a thirty minute sketch of the stairs seen in the Bradford media museum. This sketch has a lot of very abscure angles including the angle of the stairs and the glass pains that from the stair supports that the rails are attached to. This perspective is a sort of fish eyed lense effect like you would see using camera as parts of the stetch open out and spread across, so it is difficult to get these two perspectives to look right in one image. The shading has been used effectively to dermine the difference in texture throughout the sketch like for example the wood stairs and the landing and the handrail leading all the way up. The use of diagonal lines and horizontal help to lead the eye from the bottom to the top of the stairs. Some foreshortening can be seen in terms of the stairs in front and the ones smaller at the back which indicates there is a gab between the two sets of stair to create distance.

The use of darker and lighter lines, shading and vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines help to create the sense of 3D and also the darker lines draw the eye across the page and up the stairs. I feel this sketch successfully shows the perspective of this sketch but. I feel it is lacking and could use a smaller perspective to gain more information in terms of the surroundings of the stairs and more shading to get the different textures seen in this sketch. This sketch overall is successful in showing modern architecture as it shows the way it has changed in term of how stairs are interpreted into a more modern building.

Week 8 - Non-human figure drawing

This week is about non-human anatomy and figure drawing in animals, my first drawing was of a stuffed panda in the Leeds museum's taxidermy collection. This sketch took me about twenty minutes to do, This sketch shows the posture and pose of this animal well. The external lines of this sketch help to show the structure of this animal with its big back legs, back muscles and neck muscle, these lines really show off the bear like anatomy of the panda and also the size of this animal. The positioning of the legs and back posture give this sketch a sense of weight as the weight appears to be shifted on the front paws and powerful shoulders.

The amount of detail is good because the features like the face, ears, claws and fur texture can be seen, the shading helps to show the texture of the dense fur on the panda and the black patches which are so dark and cover the eyes. Proportionally this sketch is fairly accurate and the paws and legs a relevant to the size of the torso and head. The perspective of this sketch shows how this wasn't draw directly sidewards on but at a slight angle as the face and front paws suggests. I feel this sketch could use more shading to get more detail out of the fur and face also shading to suggest where the light came from.

The second sketch was of a completely different species of animal this time and took about twenty  minutes as well. This sketch is of a stuffed horn bill at the Leeds museum, the pose is shown well in this sketch you can see how the external convexed lines help to form the curved body and wings as well as the neck and head which is pointed forward. This is a fairly dynamic pose for an animal because the legs are not side by side instead they are positioned diagonally. Also the wings are slightly stretched and not exactly to the body and the most dynamic thing is the head outstretched from the body. These lines also help to show the anatomy of this bird and how the wings are tucked in to the sides of the torso and the neck muscles stretch out to hold the head up and the long thin beak with the shovel end. Proportionally this sketch is fairly accurate as the legs are almost twice as long as the body.

The posture this seen effectively in this sketch because you can see how the weight is off and looks like it is leaning forward, and the positioning of the legs looks as if it is about to take another step forward. I feel the legs could have been drawn better because the back leg looks slightly bent in a weird way and the foot looks a bit short compared to the other foot. I feel this sketch could benefit from more shading to bring out the feathers of the bird and also a better idea of how the light is hitting it. This does diminish the fact that it is easy to tell what animal it is and also the pose and posture of this animal.

The third sketch I did was a quick 10 minute sketch of a bison seen in the taxidermy collection at Leeds museum. This sketch doesn't really offer a lot but it was good starting point to get warmed up. It offers a good sense of pose but is llimited by the fact you can't see the whole body, the head is shown well and allows you to see how the bison wasn't looking directly forward and more to the side. Also the positioning of the front legs as you can see they are one forward and one back. The detail is mainly in the face and allows you to see the nose, mouth, eyes and horns, this sketch does show some anatomy mainly in the torso and head because the external lines show of the big back muscles seen in the sketch and also size of the head and legs structure.
This sketch is lacking shading and detail which would greatly improve it especially because it is drawn so closely. The posture seen is sketch is a well balanced one that has the weight spread fairly evenly across the body and legs as far as we can see. The proportion looks accurate and the head seems the right size in comparisment to the body which is the biggest and strongest part of the is animals anatomy.

Week 7 - Life Drawing - Movement and Action in Dynamic Poses

Week seven was a continuation of life drawing but we moved onto a close look of the movement and action seen in the dynamic poses that a life model can position themselves in. There is a number of different poses that can be drawn  both a dynamic and static pose but the ones seen in the sketch are a set of more static nature although some bits show a little dynamo to them. The first sketches seen here are two of a set of three poses which start from a very closed pose and stretch out into more open poses as seen above. The first pose on the left is a moderately open pose but isn't as open as it could be. This is a fairly static pose with her arms and legs all roughly the same distance apart and by her sides, but some may argue that there is a tiny bit of dynamo in the position of the left arm and head position.

This sketch is well proportioned and the continuous lines in this sketch really help to show of the curves and shapes of this model. A good level of detail in included to show off the main features of the body and this level of detail helps to gauge a good sense of weight in the poses of the model and it is clear to see that the weight of is positioned fairly central but more on the right side. This second sketch is a lot more open pose which is also fairly dynamic because this positioning of the arms and the hip twist throw off the balance of this pose and as you can see one arm is more outstretched than the other. The proportions of this sketch are good but the right arm seems a bit misshapen, it does offer good reference of pose weight and anatomy but could use shading to capture the skin texture and the lighter and darker parts.

This is one of my better sketches it is a very closed pose that shows some dynamism in it, this is because the weight of this pose is very unbalanced and the weight is at the front as she leans forward which puts stress on the back and the legs are positioned weirdly this is show bad posture. This gesture shown in this sketch is very enclosed and secure and gives a sense of defence as the arms cross across the body protecting the vulnerably parts of the body. The convexed lines really show off the shape and curves of the body really well, there is a sense of foreshortening at the back of the back and bum.

   

The proportions of this sketch is very good and a good amount of detail is shown which helps to show the pose, posture and gesture of the model. I feel a closer focus on the hands and feet would have helped to add more information on the pose of the model and also would make it look more realistic. Also shading would help to improve the level of detail in this sketch and the stretch and sag of the skin and the blemishes seen, this would also show where the light had shone on her and where it creates shadows. Overall this sketch is a good sketch because it show the principles of life drawing well and also give a good sense of the types of dynamic pose that can be created.

This last sketch is the most dynamic of all the poses I drew in this session, as you can see the body is stretched out across  diagonally and one leg is stretched out whilst one is bent in and the arms are placed behind her head, this helps to create the dynamism in the posse. This is a very open pose as the limbs and torso are stretched out and relaxed. This sketch really does show off the posture and pose of the model and gives the viewer a very good sense of how the model was laid, but it also you long convexed lines to show off the shape of the her body and also the positioning of the limbs like the leg bent under and the arms under her head.

The portions of this sketch are very close but I feel that a bigger sense of foreshortening needed to be achieved in the sketch to show how she was laid. I also feel greater detail could have been given to the face and feet so that it could look more complete. Still needs more shading which is something I should try to fit in the short amount of time I have to draw. Overall this is a successful sketch in terms of its pose posture and dynamism but still could use some finer touches to make it better.