Understanding

I found some images on Wikipedia, I thought may help with my drawings. These show and define all of the different planes on the skull. I didn't realize before that there were so many planes before this class. I used to just draw what I saw, but there's definitely more to it than that.

Practice makes perfect.

I am not exactly the best at art. I may understand a lot of it, but sometimes I can't make my hands do what I want them to. It's frustrating. I wish I was better. I guess all that I can say, is that I can only improve from here. I was nervous about showing my first three skulls to the class, but once I was in here, I was fine. I realized that just because I made a few pieces that I'm not proud of, doesn't mean that I can't hang them up to get feedback on what I can do to make it better. That's just what happened. I got some good advice. I tend to take criticism hard, but in order to better myself, I need to listen to other people. I think one thing that will help, will be to sit down and just make a ton of quick sketches. I need to make more time for myself if I want to improve. That's what I'm going to start doing from now on is instead of starting with the thoughts that the first one is going to be my final drawing, I need to practice first. Practice makes perfect. The more I practice, the better understanding I will get. I will learn how to visualize better and understand my movements better.

Skulls

Honestly, I'm quite embarrassed about these three. But, I will say that I have a lot of room to grow for this semester. I got really sick this weekend with allergies and it made me miserable. Must be the change of season. I've never had allergies before, so I'm not quite convinced it was that considering everyone around me has been getting sick with the same symptoms.

I realize that these are not fully finished, but I wasn't seeing the result that I wanted to with them, so I put them aside especially since I was in bed pretty much the past three days. Hopefully this will be the end of getting sick for me for the semester... key word: hopefully. Anyways, no use chatting that up anymore. Back to the drawings. I've used the example that Amy showed me. I think I'm starting to understand the concept of trying to make the figure look 3D with learning how to use and recognize my angles, although it does need a lot more work.

Good News!

So, I just have to say this because I'm pretty stoked. I got my results back from taking my PPST a few weeks ago. I passed. :) I found this out in the middle of one of my classes and I was pretty much bouncing in my chair from excitement. I couldn't wait for class to be done so I could call my mom and Luke (my boyfriend). I was really nervous about the whole situation and put it off for as long as I could. I kept hearing such horrible things about it, even from people who were scared out of teaching because of that test. Happy. :) Anyways, done with that news and on to Life Drawing....

We took some molding clay in Wednesday's class to get a better understanding of the cranium portion of the skull. It is the hardest part to make look three-dimensional on paper, because there are so very few definite lines. Amy showed us the importance of the high points in the skull, like the parietal eminence (basically the side bumps towards the back of the cranium.) Side View, I put a charcoal pencil next to it to show the scale. It was just an exercise.

This is Amy's drawing. I didn't have Life Drawing 1 with her, so she sat down with me during class and explained to me how to look for noticeable changes in planes and how to apply that to my sheet of paper. She uses more of a box-like approach to explain those differences in the curves and planes. I have been trying that out on my own, and I think I've got the general idea down. Now, to perfect it. We'll see as the weekend comes when I finish up the three skull drawings for Monday's class.

Thinking...

One of the things that I'm most excited about this semester is seeing the styles of each person and how they differ from the next.

In all of the drawing classes I have had, I have never really been able to get too detailed with any of my art pieces, mainly for the fact I take so long to even start a project. That will be something that I will try to work at this semester. My tutor for my rendering class in Scotland told me that I "think too much". I need to buckle down and just do it. I fear too much about what other people think of my work. This time around, I'm going to think about this like it's an individual sport instead of a competition. I'm going to work to improve myself and not worry if someone may be more skilled than I am. I may be good at something but there will always be someone that's better. I need to learn that being good, is well, good. I don't have to be the best, I just need to be MY best. The only way I can achieve that is to keep practicing and learning.

Yesterday was my first attempt at the human skull. I wasn't really happy with it to begin with, but when I stepped back I was kind of proud of myself. That is, until we critiqued each others in groups. I'm still proud of what I accomplished, though... especially when it was at an angle that I bet most people would like to avoid if they could. I wanted to challenge myself. I thought about the critique after a while and decided that I just need to take those as positive remarks, because that's the only way I'm going to learn to improve.

The mouth seems to make it look like more of a profile view. I think that once I understand how to visual planes more, I will be able to get a more correct angle and make it look more realistic. On a positive note, I think my values in the face work well and there are points where you can see overlap one another, like the cheek bone for instance. Overall, I think this was a good first attempt. I just have to remind myself to not think so much and just trust my hand movements and what I see in front of me.

Introduction

My name is Ashley. I am beginning my fifth year of school, third at Stout. I have had some experience with life drawing in my previous drawing courses at RCTC in Rochester. I was also fortunate enough to study abroad last spring in Glasgow, Scotland. There, I took a class at the Glasgow School of Art called, Rendering the Human Form. I found a lot about the way I learn and the process it takes me to make art. Now I just need to keep moving forward and better myself along the way. I think that Life Drawing II will be very beneficial to my Art Education major and I'm looking forward to this semester and seeing the improvements.