LIfe Drawing Class!

1. (26/01/09) Today during life class we started by drawing the model in 2 minute poses. I found it quite hard trying to draw the whole of the model's body within that short space of time but after a couple of goes you get the feel of how quick to draw to be able to make the most of the time given.
2. We were asked to switch places with another person and then draw onto their paper. We still had to use the material that we were working with even if it was different to the person's whose paper we were drawing on to. This created an interesting effect as it wasn't just the use of material that was different-for example graphite, charcoal, pencil but also the styles of the drawing! Everyone drew in a different way-whether loose, sketchy, detailed, etc.
3. After this we created four drawings-we had 10 minutes long for each. Using pencil I draw three outline of the model sitting down and then one standing as the positon had been changed for the last drawing. While creating these drawings we had to have our body and easel away from the model so that we were encouraged to keep our heads looking at the model to get each detail rather than just guessing. The tutor was highlighting how most of the time you are drawing it should be spent at looking and observing the model and just glancing at the paper-we should get use to drawing while looking at the same time. It did prove hard to do this and it hurts you neck after a while but it does make you look at the model more so you aren't as likely to guess what the model looks at-you are forced to see the posture and to take measurements to check the distance between parts of the body so it is drawn in proportion.
4. We then had to move the easel closer to the model and create a compositon similar to the previous that focused on measurements, for example checking the model's head had been drawn in proportion her body.
5. We then completed two very experimental pieces were we all had a stick that had a sponge on the end that was then dipped into ink in order to draw the model on large pieces of paper upon the wall. The stick meant that you were in control of the sponge as much as you could only hold the end of the stick. The sponge and ink and the fact the paper was pinned on the wall created various effects-if you had a lot of ink it would drip down the paper, if you had less you could use the edge of the sponge to add more detail as you could create a thinner line. If you made sure that the ink on the sponge was a bit dry it meant you could use it to add tone to the composition. The final otcomes were really interesting.
6. Finally we created a drawing of the model lying on a matress. I find it hard to scale up when I am drawing-which is something I really need to focus on. Also I need to pin point parts of the models body-then draw the lines that make up the body and final the detail. This is so if the points of the body that I original create need to be changed they can be before I have spent time adding detail, tone and colour to the composition.