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.