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/