“You see, but you do not observe.” – Sherlock Holmes
I’ve been drawing more these days, something which has been reflected in my posting here. For the past year I’ve been working 60+ hour weeks at an animation studio. Surprisingly, that period of my life saw me drawing less then I ever have before.
One of the aspects of drawing that I missed the most was life drawing. I was working evenings and couldn’t attend the only life drawing session here in Ottawa. The studio I work at is looking at options to accomodate the night shift, so hopefully this will result in more drawing time in the future.
There’s something soothing about simply concentrating on capturing what’s right in front of you rather then pulling images out of your head or creating a narrative. Life drawings are disposable, a means to an end. The point isn’t in creating a lasting piece of art, but to refine your own skills, particularly in observation. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from life drawing it’s that most people have created a shorthand to how they see the human body. For example, we’re often so preoccupied with the human face that we forget just how long the whole body is, that our legs take up approximately half our full height, that the back of the human head is more pronounced then we imagine in order to accomodate our big human brains, or that breasts are actually quite a bit lower then the neckline.
I’m not the best judge of what is considered work safe or not, so I posted only those drawings which I was fairly certain were innocuous, and will continue to do so in the future. Here’s one more which didn’t quite make the grade.
God I miss drawing! I’m a slave to the computer as I churn out digital images 10 at a time. I work my ass off so that one day I can live off of royalty cheques and passive income so i can paint and draw till my heart’s content!
I work such odd hours that it makes it difficult to attend the life drawing classes at Niagara College. But it’s something I really need to do for my own sanity.
Until you do it, people just won’t understand how cathartic it truly is. To just lose yourself in a drawing, and wake up 3 hours later and all you have is a finger and part of a hand, or 12 roughed out sketches or a perfectly done eye.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned from life drawing it’s that most people have created a shorthand to how they see the human body.”
Oh I know exactly what you mean. Did you know that if you could detach your foot. From the tip of your toe to the edge of the heel, it will fit snuggly between your bicep and your wrist if you laid it flat against the inside of your forearm. Hold your arm up as if flexing your biceps and tilt the hand towards your head as if you are Dude from Shanana. Yet most people will draw the feet too small, sometimes up to half the proper size. Feet are pretty big folks, they carry everything we are upon themselves.