For this task we were asked to loosely sketch some of the structures that make up the human body. I mostly used images from the internet for this task, and worked quickly but accurately through the sketches.
I have worked predominantly in pencil through this part of the course, so I decided to branch out a bit and work with something a bit more permanent – a black ball point pen.
I found that, whilst working through these, I was focusing mainly on the shadowing and range of tone upon the body parts; where the muscles dip and rise, where the skin folds, where body parts met or blocked the light, and the joints of the limbs.
I really loved this task. I found it extremely enjoyable and I was ecstatic when I realised that I had made a huge amount of progress in my depiction of the human form. Even my partner pointed it out to me, which completely made my day! Approaching this area of the course, I was anxious and unsure of myself, but I can see that I have come a long way and my creative technique is shining through. Hallelujah!
If I were to choose a few favourites of the selection above, I would have to say that I am most proud of the neck, the first sketch of the foot, and the hand. The foot and hand are areas of the body that I have always, always had serious issues with. I’ve found them extraordinarily challenging to draw in the past, and have often become very frustrated with the process or just given up totally. There were even points during these sketches where I thought I’d spoiled it or that it looked ridiculous, but with persistence, resilience and some tweaking, I got there! And I am so chuffed with the outcome.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I definitely see room for improvement. My work is by no means perfect, and there’s a lot more work needed, but, for now and for the short amount of time that I have been working on drawings of the human form, I think I’m doing pretty well.
Areas that i can see do need improvement are legs and the depiction of movement and shape. I think I’ve done an alright job with the legs that I have drawn here, however, they could be a lot better. They could look more leg-ish and more realistic. I was very aware that I could at some point go too far and have completely ruined the sketch, which is something I have done many times before and something that me and my tutor have discussed. I’ve got to the point where I’ve become happy with imperfection and leaving something as it is, and accepting that is the best that I can do at that time. I feel this way with the legs and, slightly, with the arms. The issue that I find is the drawing of a close-up body part of limb. From a distance, I feel confident and sure of my ability to depict these things, however, it’s the finer, more specific details that I am having some trouble with; muscles, texture, shape.
Jesy Gilkes 