Final Journal

-The first objective was to understand and use a structural approach to drawing. This course definitely taught me how to do that. I now know how to approach the human form and draw the main structure first, instead of being overwhelmed by the individual characteristics of that person. Structure in all forms is now more obvious to me and I can say that I do pay more attention to it and use a structural approach to drawing.
Another objective was to develop a working knowledge of artistic anatomy through lectures, drawings, and clay modeling. I really learned a lot about the body and how we are put together, but there is just so much to know that I feel that I'm not really confident yet with the artistic anatomy past the basics. My weakest area is probably muscles, and that would only be improved with much deeper and more applied studies of the muscles.
I feel that my drawing skills really have improved this semester. Never before was I introduced to cross contour drawings, but all the practice in this class really helped me to realize its importance. Having to draw the shape and the valleys across the human form really taught me to look closer too. I also found myself thinking about my own body a lot when trying to figure out where something was on the model that I couldn't always see, such as the pelvic points.

-One thing that I feel I definitely improved on was my shell. In the second half of the semester when we started using the ink, I was able to let go of my control and let the ink do what it wanted. I feel like a loose, "messy" look is really not my style or comfort zone, but it was fun to try! I feel that being open and experimenting with new things is very important for an artist.
Something that I had to work on was refining my lines and adding variety to their form. This I tended to focus on mostly in my shell drawings in the second half of the semester. When drawing from the model, especially in gesture drawings, I was trying to go so fast that I did not really spend any time thinking about my line quality. During the long poses, I was aware that I needed to add variety and I did try, I just have a very hard time working lightly, I think!

-This class was great for me to take. Being an art education major, I will be using this knowledge throughout my teaching career. From my experiences in the schools so far, I know that the human form is what most students are apprehensive about. Now having a basic knowledge of the structure of the body knowing tricks for how to go about drawing it (start with the egg-shaped rib cage,etc.) I can teach my students the same way. What I wish we would have spent more time on is proportions, though, like for instance where on the head the nose goes or how long a thigh is in relation to the head size. Little tricks like those would also be very useful in teaching students about drawing the body.

Even though I was unable to post all my drawings from the semester because of an upload limit, you can still check out many of my works on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48324086@N05/sets/

Journal

This week we spent all of our class time learning the facial features. We started with the eye, which is my favorite. Eyes used to be very difficult for me to draw because I'd always try to get the perfect oval-ish shape that they were, when in actuality they are really round but with the lids coming over them in three sections on top and two on the bottom. This helped me a lot to get more realistic and 3-D looking eyes. This picture was from that day also, but after we learned how to draw the nose. It is interesting that the nose is broken into three sections as well, then the round part at the end. I need to work on not making my three sections too large. In this drawing I think the nose got a little too big to go with the eye, but overall, I think both of the features turned out pretty good.

Journal

Well, last week we learned about the skull and began our drawing studies from skull models (not actual models). I felt that I had quite a bit of experience drawing heads, but drawing an actual skull is very difficult! The first thing I had to learn was that there was nothing ROUND about the head whatsoever. Also what was difficult was getting proportions right when the head was turned a bit. On the front 3/4 view, I ended up drawing the far side much too big, making that part look like it was viewed straight on and the other half of the face looked like it was turned at an angle. (That's what all those eraser marks are from!) This angle-proportions thing is probably going to be the hardest to get right on the actual model. Plus faces are what we are so used to looking at and we KNOW what they are supposed to look like. Any wrong angle or proportion is going to be very easy for viewers to pick out.

Journal

Well here it is...my fourth and FINAL shell drawing for this semester! To be honest, I was really getting tired of drawing the same shell. It would have been nice to switch to a different type of shell mid-semester. But I guess this way we really got to know this one. For this drawing, I took on the most difficult angle yet. I did struggle with it, especially first drawing out the spirals and getting them right. I had avoided this angle all semester, but now that it's finished, I'm very proud of my accomplishment! I also really like my ink job. I feel like I'm really starting to get used to this medium and can somewhat predict what the ink will do. During the critique of my third shell, I said that I had wanted to do two things in the future: use more white of the paper for my highlights and to let loose and let the ink do what it wants. I focused a lot on those two goals when doing the ink on this drawing and I am happy with the results. I left some areas white and I think it is very effective. I also allowed for more running and drips to happen, and I think it really adds to the feeling that the shell came from the water. It's very interesting to look back at my first shell drawing and see my improvement! I'm proud of how far I've come in just a few short drawings.

Journal

This was a one hour pose we did during class in which we were to take an extra close look at the shoulder girdle. It's difficult to see all the muscles here in the female model. I feel like they would be a little more apparent in a male. Anyways, I'm pretty proud of how this one turned out. I took on a challenging viewpoint. My arm and shoulders are a little messed up because the model did a slightly different pose half way through, but I didn't want to go back and change what I'd already done with the arm. What I think is most successful is the lower back and pelvic region. I spent a lot of time trying to get the cross contour lines to follow the hills and valleys of the model. I also really like that the cushions and pillows are implied with a lighter line and are there for simply to make the pose make sense, but the focus is all on the figure.

Shell #3

This is the third shell drawing we had to do, but the first that involved ink wash. I've never worked with ink before, so this was definitely a fun experiment. In most of my works, I have a very controlled style, but I realized that didn't work well when working with ink and water! I tried to control the drips and where the ink would spread, but that was difficult. It's better to not fight the medium you're working with. For the next, and final, shell drawing, I'm going to try to let loose and let the ink do what it wants rather than being so controlling.

Journal

Today we started learning about the foot. Feet and hands have always been a challenge for me, but after learning about the bones and muscles and the inner workings, they are even harder to draw! We only did two fifteen minute drawings of the feet today and one challenge I've already discovered is finding the right length of the foot and also making the toes the right size. I feel like I don't really know where to start with the foot...for the torso, we had landmarks on the inside, like the ribs and the pelvis, but it's hard to pick out a form-defining shape inside the foot without drawing all of the bones. Nevertheless, I thought the pelvis was hard when we started that...it's just going to take more practice. Everything seems more overwhelming on the first day.

Midterm Progress

Thus far, life drawing has not been really what I'd expected. What we're doing with the gestures and longer poses is great practice, but I expected to be learning more about proportions and drawing complete, finished drawings. In my life drawing class at my previous university, we didn't even look at a model until we'd studied proportions, such as how many heads fit into the length of the thigh, and so on. But it has been very beneficial for me to combine the knowledge I have from that class with what we're learning in this one. I really enjoyed learning about the different parts of the spine and how to draw the spine and the ribcage and the pelvis. Also what is good about this course is the muscle studies. It's been helpful to have a little bit of understanding of the muscles when I look at the model. I can then better articulate the correct shapes and shadows that I see on the model since I know that it is just a certain muscle group that I am seeing. Another thing that has been helpful in getting me to notice little details on the model is the cross contour drawings. I am getting a better understanding of the form and the roundness and curves of the human body, but sometimes I get tired of always doing contour drawings. I would really like to do some figural work including shading instead of just always line work.
Even though the work in this class sometimes seems tedious, the continuous practice, I feel, has really helped me a lot. I feel like my drawing and observing skills are really improving. I also really liked going on the field trip. Studying the animals at the Bell Museum was very interesting and made me realize that the skills I'm gaining in this Life Drawing 1 class can pertain to all things from nature, not just the human form. I have thought of many life/nature related projects that I'd like to do with own my future students.
Here is the link to view some of my work from the first half of Life Drawing 1.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48324086@N05/

Journal

This skeleton thing is really harder than I originally thought it would be. I am fine making each muscle and putting it on the skeleton, but what is difficult is not being able to see what each muscle looks like in relation to the others we've built so far. I feel that it would be very helpful if the book had a picture of the "muscles so far" of groups of muscles on each page after the new one has been added.

Walker Field Trip

Rather than focus on one piece that I particularly enjoyed at the Walker, I decided to go with one entire collection. This was called Benches & Binoculars. The entire room was filled floor to ceiling with framed works. This, I learned, was the traditional way of displaying art in a museum. For this collection, they have put together a group of works that they have displayed here since the museum opened in 1879 to remind us that everything, at one time, was contemporary art. There is such variety in the subjects and styles and sizes of these 75+ pieces that it was almost too much to take in. Just like looking at a complex collage, every time I went back in to look, I noticed something new.
Besides talking about the walls, I would like to spend some time discussing what was between them--the benches. Having a place to sit in a gallery encourages the viewers to sit, to observe the room for a longer time than one would when just slowly walking through. The binoculars invite the viewers to observe and explore the works even closer and to spend even more time with them. Something else that I noticed was the color chosen for the carpet in the room and the benches. I was told by a staff member that normally, that room has a cement floor like the rest of the museum, but for this special exhibit, a deep purple carpet was chosen to cover the cement. I can't help but wonder why purple? I did some research on the color purple and discovered that it is well-liked among creative and eccentric people. Also, when surrounded with purple, it is said that you will have peace of mind and be very calm. Perhaps that was the goal in choosing purple--to calm the eccentric minds that most often visit art museums such as this. Or maybe there was another reason, I cannot be sure. Some other words I found that are associated with the color purple (among many others) are: power, luxury, wisdom, independence, creativity, mystery, magic, ambition, purpose, and uplifting.
I really enjoyed this exhibition. (I revisited the room several times!) I like the walls being FULL and being surrounded with so many different pieces. Even though some works went unnoticed at first, I feel that for me, this is a more successful way to display works. It is much more interesting and the room had a calm, peaceful feel (perhaps that was partly because of the purple floor and furniture). I truly WANTED to spend more time here, which is a feeling I don't usually get in a gallery that displays one or two works on boring, stark walls. This was a pleasant change.

Journal

Lately we've been doing long cross-contour drawings. This type of drawing is completely new to me. I can't decide if I actually like it yet...it is really teaching me to look hard at the model and see little bumps and dips that I probably wouldn't have noticed before, but it is very difficult! This one was done on the day when we learned about the ab muscles and the sternum. We had to draw the center line down the model's torso, then start our cross-contour lines from there. I think what I don't like so much about this technique is that it is not free. My hand moves very slowly and is very controlled, but I like to work dark and in a painterly way. This will just take more time and practice to get used to it, I'm sure. I just have to keep in mind that it is indeed helping me to learn the human form and how to really see.

Shell Education

My shell was once home to a very large predatory sea snail called a Channeled Whelk, or Busycotypus canaliculatus. They are primarily found on the eastern coast of the United States, but they have also been introduced into the San Francisco Bay. They prefer sandy, shallow, sub-tidal areas. This species of whelk is nocturnal and feeds on clams. Some people enjoy eating Channeled Whelk, but more often they are used as fishing bait.
The shell itself is typically five to eight inches long. When alive, there is a short layer of stiff hair covering the entire shell, but when uninhabited, it has a smooth surface. It is also characterized by its pear-shaped body and large spiral (whorl) at one end, with a straight canal at the other. These shells range in color from buff gray to light tan.
Throughout history, Channeled Whelk shells have been used for many purposes. Native Americans would cut off the long canal of adult shells and make them into beads used on their Wampum belts. In the Early Colonial days in Massachusetts, three of these beads were worth one penny. American Indians would also use them as drinking vessels. Furthermore, the Aborigines used the shell’s sharp edge as a cutting tool. Today, besides food and bait, people use Channeled Whelk shells as decoration in gardens, lawn paths, and flowerpots.

http://www.mitchellspublications.com/guides/shells/articles/0026/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channeled_whelk
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/whelk.aspx

Journal

Well, two full weeks of the new semester are behind me. Drawing class is going well. I'm really learning quickly drawing from the models in class and doing the gesture drawings, and I really enjoy looking closely at the spine. What I'm not so much a fan of are my shell drawings. I find it much easier to draw the figure than I do to draw this somewhat foreign object. I like to draw the abstract shapes and curves, but one particular shell gets, well, boring to draw after a while. There are only so many ways I can turn it and many times the drawings all tend to look the same. Drawing this same object all semester is going to get really dull, I predict. I might enjoy more drawing a set of differently shaped shells and create a whole shell collection. But I suppose this exercise will be good for me. It will help me truly look for the minute details in an object and will help me to also develop good self-discipline...hopefully.
I'm really looking forward to another week and to starting out skeleton muscle models!

Blind Contour Drawing

1.) mostly dark
2.) varying
3.) choppy
4.) consistent
5.) dismembered

Past Work

This was a family portrait assignment. Using a photograph as our guide, we were to depict our family portrait scene in the style of a famous artist. This painting was inspired by DeKooning.

Me

Hello Everyone!
My name is Erin Fedie. I am a senior art education major here at UW-Stout. Despite all of the schooling already under my belt, I sometimes feel like a freshman again, because I just transferred here last semester. At my previous university, UW-LaCrosse, I did not have the option of taking a life drawing class. I'm excited to study the human form and all the muscles. In the experiences that I've already had in the public schools, I realize that what students are most uncomfortable working with is indeed the body. I want to be very secure in my own life drawing skills and understandings to truly be able to help my students learn to draw forms confidently. I'm really looking forward to delving further into this class and hope to really take away a lot of new and valuable drawing skills.