Drawing #1, Almost Finished

I've pretty much finished this drawing, all that's left is to critique it with my professor and make whatever changes for mistakes I find in the next few days.

Warning: Big Image

Drawing #1, Initial Sketch & Shading

It's been well over a year since I've played with any serious drawing so I might have a rocky start at first.

I've begun my first drawing. The focus of this series is on experimenting with variations in human anatomy; trying to create organic forms that are similar enough to be recognized as human in form, but different enough to display a unique interpretation of it.



I started off by dividing the space using diagonal, horizontal, and vertical lines. I specifically didn't use the "rule of thirds" that is taught in basic design courses. I got this idea from one of my favorite artists Marko Djurdjevic. I agree with his use of it because the rule of thirds as a rule limits what artists are capable of by limiting their composition. Mostly the idea of the rule of thirds is to keep beginner artist away from the center or sides of a page, but it really just causes artists' work to become stagnant. I initially did this on thumbnail but reproduced the lines on my full size.



Next I sketched in the basic form that I had created on my thumbnail. Here, I'm trying to focus on orienting body parts mostly along diagonals I have one limb that is oriented vertically which I later decide to get rid of because it is compositionally boring.



Finally I begin shading. I work mostly by shading with compressed charcoal and use and erasing and finger blending to create highlights and gradation. I love being able to push the charcoal around with my bare fingers. I use every surface of my hand to add unique variety to the shading I'm creating. This is something I miss when doing my digital arts, I can't actually get physical with my work, its all just a bunch of electrons.



I've changed composition mid-shading. Not usually something I like to do but the drawing just doesn't have the punch I want it to have. I erase the figure's right arm and head and redraw the head to make the figure glancing away and hopefully add some depth to the drawing. I plan to redraw the right arm reaching more into the background.

I'm still experimenting with my background, as I want to give the appearance of the figure being physically part of the background and this is something new to me.

Hellooooo

I've started this blog to detail my semester's progress through a series of drawings I'm going to be working on. I will be starting with charcoal and then including pastels at a later date. I will also be doing a couple digitally, but my main focus is on traditional media. The digital part is only so the course gets credit under my computer graphics major ;).

I will keep this updated on a minimum of a weekly basis.