Emotion: Drawing Feelings

This week, Steve posed for us in a variety of ways that conveyed emotion. This first drawing of shyness is quite powerful even though that the addition of the chair to the drawing makes fear seem like the primary emotion. The muscles and curves of the chest and the way that the model was arched and leaning slightly are all well portrayed. It is fascinating how a pose can convey characteristics and how the shape and form of the body can help in the future when moving into animating characters.  

Loss is the emotion here and it is clear as there is an evident portrayal of the pain and suffering in the model as he holds his head, racked with anguish. The shadow at the base of the body adds to the gloominess as I used smudging to highlight the bleakness of the pose. Working from the general to the specific was the key to this pose as the arch of the back and details of the muscles all add to the overall feeling of the drawing. Even though it is not anywhere near the standard of Picasso, the emotion of despair that I attempted to create could be reflective of Picasso's blue period, in my mind most notably, "The Old Guitarist." 

The final drawing for this week was fear. The cowering nature that Steve took for this with his hands up to protect himself all add to this. The smudging that I incorporated in order to add to this as well as the clear skeletal bones that are shown on the body such as the scapula make the form stand out and gives the drawing implied weight. This drawing may stirs up our emotions of the unknown and we may are drawn into the intrigue and wonder of what it may be that Steve is cowering from. The depth of the cushion was poorly done on my drawing though as it looks flat and almost out of place. Possibly crosshatching with a dark pencil would have resolved this. Overall though, I am happy with this week's drawing and I feel that I have learned quite a bit about conveying emotion in a drawing. 

The male figure with a new male

 This week we had a new male model with a much more muscular and hairier body than Steve. He provided a different structure with was interesting to draw. This first picture of the man sat down conveys weight in his slouched nature as well as emotion. This drawing is very successful as it combines various textures such as the cloth on the chair and the dressing gown hanging on the back of the chair. The hair on the model came out well, showing a well shaded texture and depth as well as weight implied in his lean. The body is in proportion and the muscularity of the back and legs are particularly evident.

Even though the form of this drawing conveys realism, the pose feels slightly plain and boring. Not much is going on which makes it a bit dull. However, the waved nature of the front of the body from the neck to the waist show a good sense of the weight and structure of the body. The model was naked but still wore a watch which draws the eye away from the rest of the drawing. This is due to making the watch too dark in the drawing and not focusing more on the definition of the lower arm. Overall though the anatomy works well and there is muscular defininition which causes a more interestion effect, most notably around the gastrocnemial.   

Emotion is quite effectively portrayed in this drawing as there is a mood to the pose. The folded arms and he slight twist of the body coupled with the tilted head all make this an interesting pose. Even though the face is not visible, the character is still identifiable as having feelings and realism. It is a somewhat domineering stance but also elegant and full of life. Just looking at it now from an anatomical point, the lines added around the latissimus dorsai and gluteus help to further show the twist in the body. This drawing is an example of how something simplistic with slightly different elements can create a good example of characterisation.   

Drawing a woman: Implied weight

When the female model returned, we drew her in a way that would focus on weight and anatomical structure. This first drawing does have this to an extent but also has some errors to it. As this was a quick drawing, I had to make sure that the implications were all there without a great amount of detail. This worked well as the bent nature of her body does imply that she is leaning on the pole. Her legs are very straight also which, even though was how the model was standing, takes away from the realism of the drawing and makes the form more rigid. The shadows on here convey depth and form too and even though it isn't the most interesting of poses, the individual elements such as the positioning of the hands and the slightly arched nature of the back all work together to create an effective piece.   

The conthroposto of this drawing is what makes it stand out. It adds to the weight of the drawing and the realism of her position. The way the hand rests on the edge of the table makes the pose believable. Continuing on from the form and shape studies that I did during the still life part of the module, the texture of the table cloth only enhances the overall drawing without taking anything away from the model. The muscles on this model are interesting to observe in this position as the contortion of the body provide a new take on the now stretched abdominal and oblique areas. I like this drawing as it has successfully conveyed the elements that I had been trying to achieve during the lesson. The sfumato effect came out on the implied edge of the table as well and the pose and different levels of shading make it so that an implied line can be created from the middle to the top.
  

A study into Steve: Sat down, stood up and holding a turkey...

 A fairly straightforward form for the subject, this drawing looks into shading, texture and muscular structure. The cloth covering the table is interesting and contains various lines and marks that imply it's texture. The addition of the prop takes a lot away from the overall piece but this is made up for by the general layout of the body. Steve, the model has a reasonably thin body but contains some well defined muscles. Using shading, I attempted to  recreate this muscularity around the deltoids and serratus areas. There is also definition in the bicep but it doesn't contain the weight in the drawing to truly make the viewer believe that the prop is being held by him. Weight is however, nicely conveyed around the gluteus as it is believable that Steve is sitting on the table. I found this to be a fairly successful drawing that contains some errors but a learning experience all the same.
    

This drawing again focused on the muscular areas of the body. Straight away see that the pectorial muscles add to the piece. The legs are too small though which is a major error in this drawing. The skeletal structure has some visible elements in this due to the protruding clavicle that Steve has. In comparison to the drawing before this one, I also failed to create a believable person to object relationship. There is, however, success with the form of the upper body and I would even go as far to say that I can see the person's motivation and emotion.

   

Finally, this drawing of Steve in a walking position contains a nice representation of structure and motivation. The character is clearly walking, even though the drawing is slightly angled. As a further experiment, I added in the Turkey to show that the addition of a prop can very easily change the interpretation and meaning behind a drawing. In a sense, this therefore combines a knowledge of life drawing with imaginative composition, something which becomes important in animation and character modelling. As a note, the layout of this drawing contains a lot more dead space than it's predecessors, most likely due to my choice to draw it quite small. This takes away a lot of the emphasis that I tried to establish with the shading and muscularity but once more helped me when it came to understanding good and bad in a drawing. Therefore it is my least favourite and in my opinion, least successful of the three when it comes to a study of muscles and form. 

The skeletal structure: Optional week

This drawing is a study of the human skeletal structure. The form that it takes is an interesting one and the overall contortion of the body adds to this. I found that the three dimensionalism in this piece adds to the realism and layout of the drawing. On completing it, it was successful as the positioning and scale of the anatomy is all well represented. The shading of the individual bones such as the scapula and pelvis helps to make the drawing stand out as well as add to my knowledge of the human structure. If i was to draw this again, I would aim to focus more on the Femur and Anterior Tibial bones in order to make them less flat. On reflection, I would also add more shadows under the skeleton in order to further convey weight, most notably from the right humerus down the the right phalanges. Overall though I am happy with this study into the skeleton as it was a new drawing experience close but still reasonably far from the normal life drawings that I have been used to.