Week 8: More Portraits

This week we continued portraits/head drawings. On Monday I drew Megan's 3/4 back angle. I like how it turned out..it went surprisingly well. On Wednesday I was the model, and that was probably tougher than drawing!

For the 3/4 back drawing, I struggled at the start with getting the head proportioned right. I started with the face and made that look pretty good, but then the skull/back area was too small. I then had to erase the face (which sucked cuz I was pumped on how that turned out) but in the end it was for the better. I struggled with the eye and made the eyeball too big. I thought I could see more of it so I drew it out too much. After studying it a bit more I was able to draw exactly what I was seeing - not what I thought I saw.



I struggled with the ear as well. I made it very flat looking and it just didn't look real. After talking with Amy, she suggested making the top have more of a roll/thickness to it. The result was a more believable ear

The hair was fairly difficult as well, specifically the back of the head and pony tail. The back looked very flat, but after adding contour lines behind the ear it really brought out depth and space. I tried to make the pony tail look like a solid structure and then reduce it. At first it looked like a banana, but it eventually turned out pretty well. I had to curve the bottom more.

On Wednesday I modeled, and it was tough! I hope the drawers got what they needed. But it was good, and I have more appreciation for life drawing models.

Week 7: Portraits Cont'd

This week we started our first portrait. My first drawing was the 3/4 front view. I figured this view would be easiest to start and surprisingly it turned out really well. I'm happy with how it turned out and I think it actually looks like Evan. If you read my last blog I really don't like doing portraits because I was never able to make the drawing actually look like the person. With this drawing, however, I feel like it does and I'm pumped!

I had to erase quite a few times so it definitely didn't come easy. I struggled with the nose quite a few times. I made it too long and too steep. I also adjusted the outside cheek under the eye quite a bit. I didn't add enough depth/curve for the cheek bone and as a result it looked fairly flat. I'm happy with how the mouth and chin area turned out. I feel like there's good depth and the lips feel full.

Evan's hair is fairly thick, so it was easy to draw it up sort of boxy and shape it from there. This was the first time I tried drawing the hair as a single object, and it finally "clicked" for me.

I struggled with the ear quite a bit... I still think it feels fairly flat. Otherwise I'm very happy with how it turned out!

I feel like I can finally see the skull through all the skin and hair, and this really helps when drawing portraits. I know why each structure is shaped the way it is, and having this knowledge has added more depth and accuracy to my drawings.

Skullcandy Logo

I came across the Skullcandy logo and I gotta say...it's pretty cool! Check it out:

Week 6: Portraits

This week we started portraits...something that I'm not too excited for. I feel like portraits are my weak point. I've always struggled with them BUT this will give me another chance at improving my portrait skills.

My first drawing was OK. I didn't push the value too much because I was so unsure of my lines. The one thing I don't like about portraits is the fact that if it doesn't look like the person it's a failure in my book. And that's where I'm at with my drawings. I would really like the drawings to actually look like the person but it just ain't happening as of yet. I think the proportions were pretty good, and each drawing looks fairly decent.

I've said this before I really respect artists who can draw a person and have it look exactly like them. I have no idea how they can get everything exact, so I hope to improve to the point where it actually looks like the person.

Still need to push the value, but it's getting there


This one started out good..I didn't get a chance to fix the eye but otherwise I like it.

Week 5: Skull Memory

This week we drew the skulls from memory. I thought I knew the skull but I was waaaaaaay wrong! Wow. It sure is easy to draw it when it sits right in front of you, especially after doing it for a month. However, the second I started my first memorized skull I knew I was in trouble. Once I got a few strokes down parts of the skull came back to me, so it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I really struggled with the front side. I had no idea where anything lined up. Overall it turned out pretty well.

I think this assignment was perfect. Seems like everyone in the class was getting used to the skulls and thought they knew them pretty well (myself included), but once we started from memory it was like starting from day one. It was a new challenge and made drawing skulls fun again!

The frontal: Once I got going the skull came together nicely. The red marks were the corrections. I gotta thank Evan for helping me out!

Week 4

This week we started our assignment which includes various views of the skull. My ten minute drawing went pretty good. I should've drawn quicker because 10 minutes went by in a flash.

My first big drawing was the profile side. This drawing had to be shaded, and I haven't done much shading lately so I was a little nervous about that.

It took quite a long time for me to get the proportions right, but I think they are spot on. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I definitely need more work on the shading, but for now it's good. I also feel like it needs more contrast. Overall I love it, and I can't wait to start the other drawings.

I feel like I'm finally getting a better feel for the skull. I am starting to notice things I didn't see before. I think I'll be able to draw it from memory very soon.

Week 3

This week we drew the skull from 3 different angles - side, back, and front. Overall I'm happy with how everything turned out. The critique helped tremendously and I feel better prepared for the next drawings.

The First Drawing - Side

I started out drawing from the side. I feel like I got the proportions correct except for the top of the skull. During the critique someone said the top (round) part of the skull is about 2/3 of the entire skull. After they said that I looked at my first drawing and realized my proportions were way off. Other than that, I think the face part - including the jaw, nose, eyes, etc looked pretty good.

The Second Drawing - Back

Although everyone said this was the toughest side, I feel like it was easiest for me. This drawing took about 2 hours, so it did take a lot of work, but overall I'm very happy with it. Going back to the top proportions, I think this one is fairly accurate.

The Third Drawing - Front

The final drawing turned out fairly well. I felt like I rushed this drawing. The facial proportions feel pretty good but I think the top of the skull is still too small. I like the line weight and really tried to give depth through the lines.

Overall the drawings turned out, but there is a lot of work yet to do. I also didn't really shade the drawings at all, but rather used line weight to give it space. After our discussion on drawing in general I think I'll be better prepared for the next drawings

Week 2 - Skulls

This week we started out by drawing skulls. I never drew a skull before, so I was kind of excited to be doing so. My first attempt was pretty good. I got the creative drawing juices flowing again and everything came back to me quickly.

I am more successful at drawing objects that are right in front of me then I am at drawing fictional things or things only in my mind. I like drawing tangible things that are right there in front of me. In Presentation Techniques, we did a lot of "made up" environments that I couldn't really see or touch. Although that class went well, I struggled with creating made up places. I think I need to practice drawing things in my mind because having the ability to convert ideas to paper is very important. Back to skulls... I was excited to be drawing them since they were sitting right in front of me. I could go up and get a closer look and even pick them up if needed.

My second skull wasn't so great, but my third and fourth were very good. By the third drawing I started getting a feeling for the skull. I started learning where each bone was, how it looked, what it attached to, etc.

Day two of drawing went well too. We did longer drawings then day one, and each drawing was more detailed than the previous. I tried to use good line quality to show depth and space. I feel like the drawings should have started off lighter and gotten darker and bolder as I went.

Intro - Week 1

I'm a multimedia student at UW-Stout. I am taking Life Drawing II because LD1 was a great class for me and I learned a lot. Although I feel a little rusty right now, my life drawing skills improved so much since the first day of class last year. We used many different methods that at first seemed odd but as you go on you realize how they benefit you. I enjoyed that process and had fun progressing as the semester went on. I look forward to doing the same once again.

My three main interests in multimedia are video, graphics, & web design. Combining video and graphics into websites is what I love doing. I hate coding websites but enjoy designing them.

Check out my two websites:

LPmultimedia.com

LPmotocross.com