Visual Language: Strike a Pose

The last part of the task involved drawing four separate poses like before, but with a lot more emphasis on capturing the model, not just the basic shape, but the details too. I really enjoyed this task, as it gave me the chance to slow down and pay attention to what I was actually drawing and step back from my work to improve upon it as I worked on it.

First drawing - James

The first drawing I did whilst I was doing the previous part of task, so I had used pencil, as this is the material that I was using during that morning. Again, this drawing isn't one of the best I have produced ever and the body is out of proportion in many different areas. The lines are very scratchy and the overall drawing feels rushed, messy and lazy. However, it's not the worst drawing I have ever done, but it's up there. I wasn't happy with this drawing at all and it made me frustrated because the image I had in my mind wasn't the same as what I had in my head. I also found it difficult to draw the image to a scale that would fit the page, which also had a negative effect on my proportions, as I was trying to fit the drawing onto the page. 

Second drawing - Matt

For the second image, I was determined to not let the page determine how large I'd draw my image, as this was effecting the proportions of my drawings. I thought that this would allow me to create much more proportionally equal drawings, but this wasn't the case at all. This drawing ended up being just as disproportional as the previous ones despite the fact that I wasn't constrained to the scale of the page. This means that it's just me not the fact that I'm drawing on a certain scale, so proportions are something I am going to have to work on. For this drawing I also chose to draw with ink, as I really like the material and I feel that allowed me to make very quick smooth lines and left no room for scratchy lines at all. This increased my confidence in my line making and made me think less about making the image perfect and more about my initial placement of each line. 

Third drawing - Lauren

Thinking back to the most successful drawings of the task so far, I decided to go back to using chalk and black paper. I found that there was an instant improvement in my drawing and my scale and proportions were working a lot better. However, I could have placed the drawing in a more central area (but no one's perfect, right?). Ignoring this small imperfection, the drawing itself is far better than the previous two. I think this is partly to do with the fact that I find it a lot easier to see the lines I am making when I am using white chalk on a black background, as there is a high level of contrast. This is something I should keep in mind when I do drawing in general and I think I would benefit from experimenting with drawing with different levels of contrasts between materials and backgrounds.

Fourth drawing - Callum

Sticking with chalk for my last drawing, I wanted to push myself and focus on adding more details to things like the clothes. By using chalk I was able to get the outline drawn quite quickly, a lot quickly than I would have using pencil, as I wasn't obsessing over creating perfect marks. This allowed me time to look more closely at Callum and the details within his clothing. I started by adding creases to help convey Callum's body shape and posture and I feel that I have managed to do a good job at this. I found that I had completed this drawing in the quickest time out of the whole task, which I was pretty surprised about, as I hadn't realised how much I had improved. Because of this extra time, I began to focus on smaller details within the drawing and I am really pleased with the outcome. I feel that this is one of the strongest drawings I have done throughout the overall task and I feel that there is an obvious progression of improvement to be seen throughout the task as a whole. 

Overall, I have really enjoyed this task and it has given me a really good insight into which materials I need practice with and which materials I am good at. It has also encouraged me to be more experimental with the materials I use to draw with, as it has come to light that I find it easier to draw onto a darker background with a lighter colour, as there is a higher level of contrast. Although I have improved throughout this task, there are still many areas within life drawing that I need to improve on and this task has made me realise that I need to practice drawing more than I am at the moment in order to continue improving. I also need to push myself to draw things I am unfamiliar with in order to broaden my drawing skills.