Saturday, January 5, 2013

Figure Drawings

End of semester 3 hour drawing - vine charcoal and conté 

So I'd say that my drawing has improved. Last semester I took a Figure Drawing for Illustrators class and it proved to me what drawing for 6-8 hours a week, with professional guidance from my lovely teacher, Erin Meads, can do. There is a 10,000 hours rule - if you work on improving a talent for 10,000 hours you WILL get amazing results. Plain and simple. Line upon line. One hour at a time. It's not a philosophy or opinion to be debated. It's a law of the universe. 

Now, I just need more time.

I thought I would post pictures of my progress from the beginning of the semester to the end to illustrate my improvement.

 This drawing was done a few semesters before taking the class in a live gesture drawing session.


This was a sustained pose done on the first day of class. This is the first sustained pose from life I had done in over 15 years. I was a little rusty.


Gesture drawings beginning to mid-semester.









Sustained poses mid-semester




Gestures and sustained poses mid-semester to end of semester









End of the semester portraits and sustained poses




This one is my favorite of all.










Erin Meads is a wonderful teacher. Tremendously positive and encouraging, she gave such soft criticism  while pointing out my strengths that only made me want to work harder. Because of her tutoring, I finally feel like a real artist.

To view some of Erin's work, you can visit her blog: Erin Meads

Happy New Year! Come Monday, I start painting for 6-8 hours a week. 
Wish me luck!