do a bit: drawing course: week 7

My second last class :( We did life drawing this week... I really loved it! I have done a little bit of life drawing about 20 years ago and I don't remember a thing really! But I found that I got into the swing of things really quickly!

First we did loads of 1 minute basic line sketches to get our bearings.

:: 1 minute drawings - charcoal on A2 paper

Next - 3 minute drawings: We drew circles for each part of the body and then drew the body outline, if we had time. This was a really great technique to get the body proportions right... I need all the help I can get!

:: 3 minute drawings - charcoal on A2 paper

Next - 5 minute drawings: We drew circles in pencil this time and then drew the outline of the body in charcoal. *Please excuse the smudging over the top of the drawings which is caused by other drawings on the facing pages. I had to use both sides of the paper as I nearly ran out of paper!

:: 5 minute drawings - charcoal on A2 paper

The next set of 5 minute sketches: We used squares and triangle to sketch out the body and then drew the body outline over the top with charcoal.

:: 5 minute drawings - charcoal on A2 paper

Next - 10 min drawings: These were my favourite from the whole evening! At first I thought I liked using the circle technique as it is give a smoother finished outline. But after chatting to one of the ladies during our break, she was using squares and triangle... I decided to switch and try the squares and triangle again! I am so glad I did as I much prefer the slightly more angular look it gives to the drawing when you do the outline. So funny, the lady I was chatting to decided to switch to circles!
Some of the positions the model was sitting in were quite difficult to draw especially where she has her leg tucked under the other... I think I did really well :)

:: 10 minute drawings - pencil and charcoal on A2 paper

It was such a great class and I am so pleased with how my drawings turned out... such a huge improvement from the beginning of the class!!! I really do surprise myself sometimes :)

Next week...my last week :( and more life drawing... Yay!!!