Star Wars Figure Drawings

This set of images shows two models wearing a Stormtrooper costume and a Boba Fett costume respective. These were drawn in free time before the assignment, but as they are figure drawings I thought I would include them. The first one has a good sense of foreshortening on the left arm, but there is a slight proportional fault in that the head/helmet is slightly too big in comparison to the body.

 The second is a 5 minute drawing, and at the time I was new to figure drawing so there isn't as much detail than I would be able to achieve nowadays. That said it is in good proportion for what it is. 

The third and fourth drawings are of the same pose but from different vantage points. The third drawing is pretty well done, though the left leg is a little off. The fourth drawing also has slight error with the feet, though is the better of the two. There is a implied line down from the helmet down the right down and down the left leg.

Before this assignment I was but the Learner, and I am still yet to be the Master.

The Progression of One Minute Drawings

This set of one/two minute sketches of various gestures has been taken from various points in time over the semester, the drawing become more anatomically correct, showing that the further into the theory and practise of drawing anatomy I got, I became able to fit more information into a short time period.

Colour in Landscapes

In this landscape drawing of The Green the focus is the use of colour. As it was drawn during the evening with colour pastels, when house lights were turning on, it shows a more abstract tonal value between the vibrant colours of the shrubbery and the lights, in contrast to the the monochrome buildings. This use of a multitude of colours allows for an extremely impressionistic style to be used. There is a perspective error with the path, the edges should head towards a mutual vanishing point. There is however a good sense of depth despite this, due to the scale of the buildings in the backdrop. There is mixing of colours to various degrees and uses, the orange of the lamppost and the brown of the building midway through the drawing gives a impression of the light beginning to shine on the buildings wall.

Classical Interiors

This is a 30 minute landscape drawing of the interior of a church local to the artist. The piece is not completely finished due to time constraints. The piece has its upsides however, most notably in the way the perspective of the curves changes the further away they get from the vantage point. the curves around the top of the columns too adhere to this constant, and because they are higher than the vantage point they do not become straight. It is has good tonal contrast as the roof behind the arches are much darker than the rest of the piece. The white chandeliers oppose the dark roof but are not equal to it. making it unbalanced. The orthogonal lines of the piece do match up with each other onto a vanishing point, these are the the bottom of the dark roof, and the darker line behind the columns; this line also acts as the horizon line. The pews have faults in that they should be angles more acutely to the dark line behind the columns to give an impression of the height of the interior.

Shadows and Tonal Values

The focus of this drawing is shadows and tonal values, there was much time spent on this drawing hence the amount of detail put into it. The most obvious use of shadows, is at the bottom of the piece where the shadows of the railings cross one another. There are a large variety of tones in the drawing, and due to the centralised nature of the vantage point used to capture the image most of the dark tones are towards the middle. This creates a large contrast between the centre of the piece and the the outer rim of it. The  However, in terms of tone, the drawing adheres to the rule of thirds, as there are a few dark tones on either side of the central third. This drawing is perfect and has its faults mostly in that the orthogonal lines do not match up to one another due to a perspective error as the right side of the image is slightly bigger proportionally. Another error is that the small windows do not match up with the large windows at the top of the image. The elephant statue has slight impressionistic techniques to it, which help it stand out.

Perspective of Curves

This drawing was done in 20 minutes and is a study of the perspective of curves. The closer to the centre of the drawing the curves get, the more straight they get, vice versa the further away the curves get, the longer they get. The horizon line of the piece is midway through the windows along the bottom. The tops of buildings at either side of the curves should represent the vanishing points, though the one on the right has an error in that it does not correspond to its counterpart. There are errors with this piece, mostly with shading, the most prevalent of which is the curves of the atrium, the light would not not create shadows like those seen in the piece, and should instead show a gradual thinning from the right to the left. 

For the second drawing, black and brown conti crayons along with a graphite stick  have been used. From a different vantage point, the focal point is instead not the the curves themselves, but instead the tree in the foreground. Rather than be a highly detailed object, the tree, and in turn the piece its self becomes very impressionistic, as opposed to the other drawing. The mixed colours allows for a great contrast which allows the tree to stand out greatly and give the piece depth of field. The atrium which has the curves on it has become a backdrop, and the horizon line is represented by the bar at the bottom of the curves themselves. It could be said that there is an implied line down the curves of the right hand side of the atrium, and then down the trunk of the tree itself.

Non Human Anatomy

This set of sketches and drawings feature taxidermied animals, and a skeleton of an Elk. The Elk skeleton shows a quick rendition of a vantage point. It was done in around ten minutes, and as such is lacking in from few areas, the most obvious being that the perspective of the skeleton is slightly wrong, as it should be smaller towards the skull and front legs. The observation of the otter is done well, due to the foreshortening of the paws, and the detail of the graphite strokes form the fur texture.

The two bird sketches; a parrot and a bald eagle, were each done in 2 minutes, leaving little room for huge detail, but enough for the feathers. The superior in terms of balancing is the eagle as its mass is very centralised. However the parrot is a very good example of foreshortening and depth and was deliberately chosen for this reason.

Anatomy and Movement

These three drawings each show the movement of the two models through a series of both static and dynamic poses. These poses focus on capturing how the human body is affected by movement, and is accomplished by capturing key frames whilst the model is moving very slowly. 

The first drawing shows the model moving along the floor, whilst the last shows how the model moves in the same spot. This last one is very dynamic as the key frames are all captured when the model was in the process of non subtle movements.

Something common to all three pieces is that proportion is mostly correct though there are some prevalent exceptions in the first in second drawings. There is a major foreshortening error in the first frame of the second drawing. as the model is drawn as though he is top down rather than laying down on the floor. As for the second frame of the first , the body is completely out of proportion compared to the other sketches.

Emotion and Posture in Pose

These four images show how poses and body language in general can display the emotion of the one who is making them. tough the poses of the latter three drawings have their respective emotions written next to them, the poses themselves display the emotion clearly through their balance, along with the position of their limbs, whether or not the shoulders hang, and if the head droops or is held high. The pose that shows confidence clearly show bravado due to the arched back, high shoulder and head that looks into the distance. The Curiosity pose shows and almost child like curiosity, as the arms and hands in particular show almost nervousness. While these gesture drawing have some anatomical errors, they display the given emotion proficiently.

The first drawing in the set is supposed to show that the model is in thought, this is displayed through the resting of the head on the arm and the face implied to be looking at something. There is good foreshortening on the left thigh and there is balance is well portrayed in the pose.

Gesture Drawing

These three drawings represent gesture drawings, they are drawn using Charcoal, and Conti Crayons respectively. The three show static poses, though the first could be interpreted as a dynamic pose as the model could be perceived as about to prepare to stand up. 

The shading of the charcoal drawings is well applied, showing the curves and form of the models body being hit by the light. In particular the first drawings shading contrasts very well with both the drapery she is lying upon and the background. The position of the models right arm in the first drawing is shown to have have effect on her back, and thus on the shading on her skin. the piece is not with out its errors though, the main one being the left leg. It looks unnatural due to it not being foreshortened. Though at first glance it appears to be out of proportion, it can be see that the right foot covers part of the leg. this area could be improved by adding the foreshortening, but also from a bit more detail where the foot and toes rest upon the back of the calf.

The second drawing too has good shading, in particular the curvature of the spine down to the buttocks, it is also well balanced, due to the torso being the central mass to the models relaxed gesture. however this piece contains more errors than the latter. Most obvious is the lack of the bottom part of the left leg. from the vantage point chosen, the position of the leg, along with the drapery not covering it, the leg should appear below the right. the right leg also seems out of proportion with the models torso, making it a bad example of anatomical correctness.

The third drawing too has its errors, the whole torso, and body in general gives the impression of it being too long. it also suffers a similar error to the second drawing; the heel of the right foot should appear behind the left leg.

Balance, Weight and Dynamism

This is a 30 minute graphite drawing of a female model, leaning on her hand in a static relaxed gesture. This makes this pose, non dynamic as the model is not moving. The shoulders show weighting and the whole pose shows balance, due to right shoulder being raised more than the other and the torso being the central point of mass. The proportion of the models body is displayed very well and is therefore a good anatomical study of the model. The focal point of he image is the models back, as the shading used shows both the defined musculature and fat around the models oblique muscles. The weight and balance are also amplified by the oblique area due to the fat rolling on the left hand side, and it not doing so on the right. This area can clearly do with improvement though, as the lighter areas do not show any highlights where light would be reflected, this leaves these parts rather bland. A better example is the lower abdomen towards the buttocks, as the more diverse range of hues and highlights gives it a better contrast to the rest of the body. The right arm could be more defined in terms of musculature, as it shows the basic shape of the arm instead of showing the shape of the flexor and extensor muscles, along with the wrist.

Posture and Pose

These drawings are of same same model in two different yet similar poses and took 15 to 30 minutes to complete respectively. The first has a straight forward view of the model and thus cause the the right leg to show extreme foreshortening and it is effective as it works in conjunction with the the twist of the body. The left leg is also well defined, as it shows the sartorius muscle and the patella bone. Overall this first drawing has very good proportion apart from the left calf, which seems to be slightly too small. The arms show good musculature as though the vantage point is front on, the triceps are show to be contracted. The right hand too is successful in showing that the model is leaning on it due to the angle of the hand, despite is lack of detail. The position of the body, with its twist, draws the eye on a curve from the clavicles down to the patella. Shading is good in this piece, showing that the left arm isn't touching the abdominal muscles. Ideally this piece should have more detail on the head, and is one of the major shortcomings of it, the second being that the table that the model is resting on is not drawn leaving a lot of negative space.

The second drawing show the curvature of the models spine, and foreshortening of the shoulder, making it clear that they are on a different axis to the hips. It shows how rather than the buttocks being completely flat when rested on, muscle and fat get moved towards the back. This piece, unlike the first is more noticeably out of proportion in certain areas such as the right led and right arm. it makes the model look unnatural and almost skeletal. The perspective of the foot is also wrong, as they should be more side on rather than what they are. Though this piece has a background, it is too dark takes away from the shading of the models body.

Muscular Anatomy

These are studies of the musculature of the male arm and leg showing the major muscles of each, they each took 15 minutes and were produced using a graphite stick. 

The first drawing is effectively shows the quadriceps of a male models right thigh revealing the relaxed shape of the muscle. In turn the Biceps Femoris is shown to be contracted, making it clear through the skin of the model. this is is the focal point of the image, as it is one of the more detailed areas, and it leads the eye to the underside of the knee. On what is shown, the Gluteus Maximus, and Gluteus Medius can be seen on the models buttocks. On the calf, the Gastrocnemius muscles are shown, and the shading subtly shows their true shape. The Achilles tendon on the lower area of the calf connecting it to the foot is also shown by way of the shading around the ankle and lower calf.

The second study is of the same models right arm. Once again shading is used effectively to highlight muscles along the forearm, such as the flexor and extensor muscles. The Bicep and tricep muscles are also shown well this way, along with the deltoids. The highlights from the light only amplify the musculature, and also give it depth and third dimension.

These studies are successful in showing the muscular anatomy of the models arm and leg, though improvements could be made, the first could possibly have benefited from showing the beginnings of the abdomen and back. The second could do with the same, it could have had the beginnings of the clavicle and the oblique muscles. Due to the studies goal of showing the musculature of the the leg and arm, the foot and hand have little detail.

Anatomy

These three drawings feature the same model, there are two poses shown but one pose has been drawn from two vantage points. Their purpose of these drawings is to get familiar with the anatomy of a human being, such as the structure of the legs and arms and the curve of the spine. They were produced using a Graphite Stick, and each took either 20 or 30 minutes to complete.

Anatomically speaking, the first two drawings are quite accurate, as the arms are in proportion with the rest of the body and stay true to the underlying musculature beneath the skin. The first drawing features a good use of foreshortening, this is due to the vantage point making models right thigh face the background. The same can be said in the second drawing, however in this the foreshortening affects the shoulders, due to the vantage point showing the model semi-side on. The second drawing has a good depth to it, making it look three dimensional, this is due to the piece effectively capturing pose of the model.

The third drawing has a noticeable anatomical error. The left calf and foot are too short for the rest of the body, and due to the leg being bent it makes the error all the more prevalent. This drawing is not without its pros, as it shows good natural curvature of the spine and how fat over the abdominal muscles is reacts to it. 

As for the shading of the first drawing, it shows how the bones and muscles affect fat on the body, this can be seen on the models back, as the right scapula along with the position of the right arm causes the fat to roll creating areas of shadow underneath these rolls.