Third Week (Life Drawing)

This week in life drawing, we learned about the spinal column. We learned about how to draw the long axis which is the line that is going down the middle of the torso, and how to create the rest of our drawings from using that line as a reference point. For example, you can draw the long axis, and then you know where to start drawing the head because it starts at the neck, and you also know where to draw the lower body because it ends at the pelvis. The reason why you use this line to do this is because it always has a set shape to it. Because of this fact, you can use the curves to determine how the rest of the body is positioned. This was extremely helpful for me in improving my skills and knowing exactly what I am supposed to draw.

In order to practice these skills, this week we spent both days in class doing timed gesture drawings and we were required to start each drawing by drawing the long axis first. This was good practice for remembering to do this each time. This was actually really easy for me to do, and it made creating the rest of the drawing a lot easier.

The things that are difficult for me are remembering to use my whole shoulder instead of keeping my hand on the paper, and drawing the axis lines instead of drawing the outlines. Hopefully I will eventually get used to them. The reason it is so hard to not draw the outline is because that is what I am so used to doing. I have looked for the outline of a form every time I have drawn it. I have not really considered before what the inside of the forms that I am drawing look like. It is a very interesting thing to think about.