Learning Art Essays - Drawing, Figure Drawing,

Learning Art I am working on the structure of the human anatomy. Our teacher wants us to feel the structure through gestures and get the proportions correct. We have just finished working on the Human skull, have worked with the whole figure, and now we are moving on towards the hands and feet. The fine detail, of course, can not be captured exactly as is, but the objective of our assignment is to make the figure appear as human like as possible. I have a technique that has made me improve my work. I draw as if I have never seen what I am drawing and I have to present the work I do before a queen or someone of a high rank. It also helps to get total determination before you start your assignment to think you will do well. Be clam and relaxed to a point where you are comfy yet still alert for your work. Your drawings should have a guesture that is almost equivalent to the movement of your subject that you are drawing. I found out the easiest materials to work with are the most simple. Instead of newsprint paper, which is more soft, and harder to work with, I use sketch paper. The sketch paper is more rugged. I use a pencil instead of charcoal. The pencil gives you the advantage to get a more fine point as well to make your lines lighter if necessary. It is also easier to erase. In class, we usually either have a model to draw, or work with each other's figure. I feel it is better to work with our classmates rather than the model because we have gotten use to each others appearance's which makes it easier to draw. For our homework this week, we are assigned to draw the foot three or four times on the same sheet of paper, life size. I feel that my class and myself has an easier time doing the hands and feet than the human skull because if you slightly are incorrect on your drawing it doesn't make the drawing unrecognizable. With the face, you can be off in the slightest of ways and everything else will be thrown out of proportion. It is a well concentrated assignment. Before I came to Montserrat I had no experience whatsoever in drawing, so when I started in on this, it was a real challenge. I felt that I have been able to keep up and have learned more quicker than I thought I would. I adapted fast to what she was teaching to our class, and I must say I am proud of myself for that. The only experience I have had was art class in junior high, and even then it wasn't drawing the human figure, it was more like painting and ceramics. The previous summer, my grandfather who is an artist, brushed me up on some work that he knew I would be doing that has also helped. I have still a lot to learn, but I am patient about it.