Final Portfolio

Throughout the semester I feel that I have advanced in my skills and come a long way. The course objectives that I feel I was able to achieve during the class where the ability to use a structural drawing method to create a 3-dimensional feel, refine my mark making, and develop an understanding of artistic anatomy through the construction of my maniken. The strongest of the three was definitely the way that I learned to use structural contour lines to express a 3 dimensional figure on the paper. The objectives that I struggled the most with this semester was blog posting and the drawing of muscles underneath the skin. I do feel that I was successful communicating to the class because I never missed one class period, I participated in critiques, and I looked forward and took criticism very open minded. But, because I felt that I was participating and communicating well throughout the semester, I did slightly struggle when it came to posting a blog post every week. I was able to still produce a decent amount of blog posts, but I do think that that was the one thing that I could work on a little better.

In the second half of this course I feel that I greatly improved with the way that I was able to produce 3-dimensional feeling drawings that were not just an outlined figure. I really began to grasp the concept of where line-weights should become darker and where they work lighter. Also, in the second half of the semester, I feel that I was able to accomplish drawing parts of the body that I was very intimidated by during the first semester. Hands, feet, and all the facial features where the three things that I veered away from whenever possible during the first half of the class. But, after being lectured and learning techniques of how to draw them, I feel that I was able to tackle these challenges that I had. Overall, I feel that after the first half of the semester I had a general idea of line-weight variation and techniques to draw the human form, but in the second half of the semester I really began to put all the pieces together.

In the future, I will definitely utilize the skills learned in this class. For industrial design, contour lines can be extremely helpful to help enhance the 3-dimensional feel of initial ideation sketches and even concept renderings. Also, in order to make a final product more believable, it is very beneficial to put it in context. Often, this means showing a human interact with the product. So, now that I have a better understanding of how to draw the human form, I will be able show an accurate representation of a human interacting with my product designs.

Final Portfolio:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danieljnoll/sets/

My First Self Portrait

Here it is. My first ever self portrait of Daniel Noll. Honestly, this was probably one of the hardest parts of this class yet. I was very intimidated by the thought of having to draw myself. But now, after completing my drawing, and having a better knowledge of the components of a face, I am very happy with the final result. I know there is a lot that I definitely need to work on, but, for my first ever portrait, I think I should be pleased. I have come a long way since the beginning of class.

Maniken Complete!

Finished my maniken today. The arm muscles, though plentiful, actually went quite smoothly. Overall, I think that the maniken was a very interesting part of this class. Coming into Life Drawing I I was unsure with what to expect. The various assignments of this class helped keep a variety which was nice. Its very exciting to now be able to look back on my maniken and see all the muscles working together.

Today was the last day of class and we were able to dedicate 2.5 hours to a long model study. Because of this, I wanted to create a post today reflecting upon my longer drawings from the first half of the semester. Below I have posted an image of my number 1 drawing from the first half of class. The things that I really enjoy that I did was the variety of line quality and nice use of line tapering. The problems that stand out to me is that the piece is not a complete body. Due to a lack of knowledge of certain body parts, the ankles, feet, arms, hands, neck, and face a very unfinished. Although I do enjoy the quick and unfinished quality in certain spots, I am excited that I now have knowledge to draw the entire body.

For the second half of the semester I have been dedicating a large majority of my time to my industrial design studio course Art and Science in Production. We have been working on a furniture project using bent plywood and steel. The initial process of ideation sketching was followed by revised renderings that where the 3 best ideas. Below, I have posted two of my renderings to show how the subtle use of contour lines really helps give the form a more 3 dimensional feel. Overall, life drawing has really helped me use contours to show geometric and abstract forms.

Skull research

The past few classes of drawing skulls have been very interesting to me. The three skull drawings that were due was definitely my favorite assignment yet. The organic and complex form of the shells create an amazing composition on the paper. Before completing my drawings I did some research online to view what other artists where doing for skull drawings. The inspiration that I derived from these images, along with all the skills and knowledge that I have learned about life drawing really helped me create three very nice skull drawings.

Midterm Post

The past half a semester in Life Drawing I has been an excellent skill building and learning experience. The variety of drawing subjects and assignments has kept the class very interesting. I really enjoy how the class periods usually consist of learning about the muscles of the body, doing gesture drawings, and then doing one or two longer drawings. I enjoy the change of pace compared to past classes like Drawing I and II where it was 3 hours straight of still lifes. The amount of information obtained from lecture and working on the manikin has been very surprising to me. Coming into the class I did not expect to learn so much detail about the human figure, but after doing the muscles I definitely understand why it is so beneficial. Although the manikins can be frustrating, I think they are one of the most beneficial parts of the class. Looking at images and sketches during lecture only sinks in to such an extent, so physically molding and attaching the muscles has been very reinforcing.

Drawings that have been very beneficial to me have been the 3-5 minute gesture drawings. This amount of time allows me to obtain a variety of line-weight, but at the same time forces me to use quick gestural motions to capture the entire figure. This style of drawing is easily related to my industrial design studios. Being able to capture perspective and form in quick strokes of pencil or pen is a desired skill for ideation sketching and rendering. I feel that my strengths are in my line-weights. After having classes like Presentation Techniques and various Industrial Design studios, I have learned about the importance of varying line thicknesses. However, I feel that my weakness in the class is proportion. I often struggle starting my drawings and when I finally get my proportions correct, I find myself not using the entire page. During the 2nd half of the semester I want to focus on creating correctly proportioned figures that take up the page space well. Also, I want to slow down and start with lighter strokes in my drawings, and then once my proportion is correct, start laying down varying thicknesses. Overall I am pleased with my progress so far and I am excited to finish out the semester.

Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danieljnoll/