Long Portraits

This week we've started our long portraits, about 2-3 hours of drawing. Our groups' first model was Evan and I think it turned out great. Enjoy!

Portraits!

Yay! Now we can put a face to those bald bones we've been drawing for over a month.. I wanted to focus my Life Drawing II skills towards storyboard character drawing efficiency. This tends to mainly mean gestures, expressions, and skeletal posture. I've been waiting for the moment of expressions and it has finally come! I'm honestly going to make this post short and sweet. I'm proud of my portraits since we were given little direction and were just told to draw. The first one is Luke, the second Evan B, and the third is Paul. Enjoy!

Nip-Tuck

Alright so this post has little to do with Life Drawing II and much to do with Art in general. My good friend Paul and I were flew through the first and second seasons of Nip/Tuck on Netflix and finally graduated to Season Tthree! Woot! The show itself is a manifestation of present American society's selfish and glutinous ideology and their continuously evolving definition of 'beauty'. Although that description may not sound too pleasing to some, the show is incredibly intriguing and emotionally charged.

I feel our drawings in class are a physical manifestation of our own ideas of perfection. Think about it. Our own eyes in connection with our hands fill in or change aspects of an object based on how we want them to look. We then must return to the drawing and correct any perceptual flaws. This idea of reconstruction is not absent within the plastic surgery proffession of Christian and Sean, the main characters of Nip/Tuck. Whether on paper or in the surgery room, we are both striving for perfection, with realism. Most patients do not want to look fake rather 'normal'. A natural realism or natural perfection you could say.



Because the show focuses on improvements to define 'beauty' and perfection, how on earth does someone choose imagery depicting such difficult and subjective concepts? They find 'perfect' people. The idea of the nude in modern day's perfection is displayed on this Season III cover. What do you think of this depiction of perfection? What is your ideal beauty?

Critiquing a Critique

I was unhappy with the critique this week. 7 minutes and no one said anything worth while. I knew I had been struggling with cross contour and the class beforehand I had already spoken with Amy about this. I wanted to hear from the class, but no one had anything to say besides Evan. Thank you Evan for speaking at least, but I didn't take a liking to your comment because it was subjective. And I guess all critiques are subject, but you have to take them with a grain of salt unless the comment is collective. From the lack of response from the class, this wasn't collective. Evan stated that he enjoyed my 10 minute drawing more than any other. He thought it was more pure and natural because he didn't like the blendy value drawings and I had already stated the faults of the cross contours. The 10 minute drawing is not the strongest of the ones I accomplished these past weeks, sorry Evan. I really enjoy the value drawings I've accomplished. Expanding on my last post about going in-depth into Photoshop painting, value has been my priority these past months. I felt a true connection with the skulls and I really enjoy the profile view. I was totally in the zone with this drawing and therefore left most of my original lines to show the progression of connection, from basic to detailed.

The following is the 10 minute drawing, 2 value drawings and a cross contour:

To sum this week up, SPEAK UP people! It makes the class much more interesting when everyone participates and ANYTHING you have to say is helpful. It also encourages others to speak up or gives them a new perspective to reflect and comment on. I HATE, absolutely HATE crappy critiques. It's a waste of my time and yours. Sorry for the tough love, but Wednesday was brutal and I never want our critiques to progress like that again...ugh.

Connecting

This week I focused on connecting with the drawing. I love the artist high you feel when you are really interested in the subject matter and focused on the task at hand. I love turning on that iPod; the sounds fill your mind and calm your thoughts. The page extends into your peripheral vision; just you and the page. Wednesday it was Duffy and Gnarles Barkley singing me into the zone. Whats your favorite song to draw to? Comment away..

For a unrelated comment, I have begun going in-depth into Photoshop painting. I have attached a close-up of a character I've created. I began painting highlights and shadows onto the character and realized how convenient knowing the body structurally was to painting this storyboard frame. Although I haven't spent the time I wished I could on this painting, I think it hasn't turned out too horribly. Comment on suggestions! :)

Okay, so basically that's a self-portrait.

That's all for now, until next week.

~Megan