Final Assignment Critique

So here's the final critique from my instructor. I got an A- on this, which I'm happy with.

So I'm not going to talk so much about the drawing as to address design concepts as we have not talked at all about them. In this I think that it is pretty good in that you have some things that tie it together. The figures are tied together with lines that are somewhat circular you may or may not have planned this but it is a fact. The eye will always be drawn to faces and the faces are close to one another so it puts the focal point in that area. One face is hidden so the focal point becomes obvious in the other. face. It is human nature that your eye will go there.

I'm pretty happy with my progress in this class. I still have one of two more critiques to post, as I just post them in the order the instructor marks them ;)

Self Portrait Feedback

I finally got some feedback on my self portrait. I was quite curious as to how my instructor was going critique this one because up until this point he had reference photos to fall back on. He could directly specify certain features that were off, or just drawn completely wrong because he knew exactly what we were duplicating. With this one, we drew them live, and therefore he didn't have any reference. On top of this, unless we've uploaded a student profile picture, and he's taken the time to check it out (highly doubtful), he has no real idea what I look like beyond my own representation here. So needless to say, I was pretty curious how he was going to tackle this one from a marking standpoint. I should have guess though, seeing as this is an anatomy class, and he's an expert in anatomy, that he would focus solely on that. He can tell when something is off, or needs more definition, simply through his understanding of the forms. And this is what he did, commented on what looked of, and doesn't make sense anatomically. This has got to be one of my favorite instructor critiques for this reason. It has taught me that we don't need to rely on the reference if we have an in depth understanding of the forms. That is where I aspire to be someday.

The face is very good here Dan. It has a bit of a Deco look to it. The hair needs work if only to fine tune the skull a bit. The neck needs some work as well. The face is the strong part. I would look at the upper lip to be darker if the light is coming from from above. Look for specifics of the forms of the features. For this I would recommend further reading into Stephen Pecks anatomy book that gives such a great education about the forms of each. The ear on yours is very good which is rare. Get the Peck book. You deserve the information as you have real ability here and should push it. X is the wide point of the head and the line from the back of the jaw is the wide part in general.The values are quite good. The lips are too pale and the upper is most likely deeper . You can make the lashes a soft tone I would look for a few highlights as they will give you an indication as to the tone of the flesh around it. The red and full part of the lips do not come all the way to the corners of the mouth. I would look for the area immediately above the eyebrows to be thicker. There is an area where a sweat band is worn that is thiner. There is a sort of bump at Z which is the frontal eminence

Grade: A-

Clay Tree

Created for my final experimental animation assignment. This was to be the scenery for a short featuring the lion puppet I created earlier. The base is made from balsa wood, the skeleton is aluminum wire, the body is Van Aiken clay, and the foliage is from a local craft store.

Ugly Face Critique

My final critiques are upcoming, and I think these are the ones I need the most. I clearly had trouble with the face and skull. I will have to practice lots in the summer. I have Vilppu DVDs, and I've also purchased a 3B Skull off of Ebay. I would suggest you do the same if you're looking to improve. Here's what my instructor had to say about the ugly face:

You have shrunken the skull as you have been focused on the face. The face will not look right as the skull does not back it up. Look at the areas HL. These are the highlights. In some areas you have made these the whole area. As around the nose and cheek. Look at the highlight and then look around it to see the value that is around the HL. Look at the side of the jaw at I. This area is the square form of the massetter. muscle. It is deeper in value than you have done. The shape is right but the value is off. No amount of fixing the form will change the fact that the value is off. You need to get the values better to have the form right. It is as if the form is turned in the wrong direction.

Intro to Anatomy Final

This week was the final week for Anatomy class. It was a chance for us to show off what we have learned this semester. I think I've learned a lot, but there's so much room for improvement. There were no exercises this week, just one assignment, and a tough one at that. We had to take two different full figure poses and compose them into one drawing.

I chose to work on toned paper, as the module examples used it, and I still had some left over from previous drawing classes. I was pretty excited to use toned paper again, because I really liked the result I got the first time I used it.

There's a few errors in anatomy, but for the most part I would say it's pretty accurate. I don't think I could have done this three months ago, which is a testament to what I learned in the last few months. If I had to guess I would say I spent about 3-4 hours on this. I did it over the course of the day, from early morning to about four o'clock in the afternoon, as I can't sit still for too long. I could easily spend another 2 or 3 hours on this finishing it up, but I decided to stop here.

This was done on Canson Mi-Teintes Dark Grey #345 paper with black and white charcoal. It's about 18x24. What an amazing class! I can't wait to learn more about anatomy and improve on my drawings.

Allow Myself to Introduce...Myself

So here's the much anticipated self-portrait. A much better effort than the previous portraits from this week, and a much more accurate representation of me than I expected to render. This will be the first of many self portraits to come.

It's the classic 3/4 pose and 3 point lighting setup, so I'd like to experiment with different angles and lighting. I also want to loosen up a lot and have a little more fun with the next ones. This one was ridiculously intense, and I am soooo tired now.

This was done live, as in I setup a mirror, which is what the assignment called for. This was probably one of the most daunting aspects of the assignment. It took me a while to get my pencil moving, but once I realized it was just a picture like all the other assignments I was fine. But for anyone that hasn't done a self-portrait before, they are HARD. So I thoroughly recommend giving it a try. I can't wait to do my next one. But for now I need a rest. I did this one over the course of day, but I would guess it took me 3 hours. 18x24, Charcoal.

Another Ugly Face

Here's today's effort. This is the first assignment from this module, and I've already had three cracks at it. It is such a hard portrait to draw. This is way better than the first two, because I took the time I needed to block it in. I have no idea how long this took me, somewhere around 2 hours is a good guess. It's pretty off model as you can see.

Portraits are something I'm going to have to put some real work into after school. Right now I just get really intimidated by them. I've got high hopes for the self-portrait, which is next.

Not Feeling It: Head and Neck Anatomy

This week we're doing the head and neck. Portraits have always killed me. I can't even block them out correctly. Clearly I need practice in this area. I was planing on doing a lot of self portraits at some point after school ends, but it looks like my first one will be for this week's homework assignment. I'll have it up here by Monday. Hopefully I'll get better at figuring out the anatomy of the head and neck by then.

I shuddered when I finished this assignment tonight (left). After failing miserably three times at the first assignment, I moved onto this one in hopes that I could at least get something done today. And while I'm glad I did just that, I look forward to forgetting all about this one.

But I promised myself I would post everything I produce, no matter how bad it is. How else am I going to prove to myself that I'm getting better?






Here's the final ecorche assignment. I'm glad we did this on a weekly basis, and not all at once. I really feel like I learned a lot this way.

Instructor Critique: Hands and Feet

Ever since I asked my instructor for more critique, I've not only been receiving just that, I've also been getting graded faster. It just goes to show you have to speak up in classes. If the instructor knows you want it more than the other students, he will devote more attention to you. You gotta be hungry.

Here's some great instructor critique, with better results than I expected:
(For some reason Blogger is putting a GIANT space at the beginning of this part of the post...)

	See how all the complexity that you see in the ecorche of the flexors and extensors simplify into a cone shape and above that it is rectangular and below it as well. The palm is a pentagon shape and the deltoid is a 3 sided form with small downturn at the end. See at the arrows how they wedge together to give the characteristic look of the arm . If there is a trick to the arm , then this is it. Grade: A-
	See how the rhythmic dotted lines tie the forms together lyrically. It makes the forms beautiful as in art , weather it is forms or colors or tones or words or sounds, it is not the individual thing but the RHYTHMIC relationship between the things that matter so much. Grade: A-
	Look especially at the thumb here , It is really two shapes . There is the form of the knuckle on top and then the nail and the fat pad combine into one form that tilts up. there is a line around it that separates the form facing up from the form facing down. Grade: A
	At A you can see how the fingers curve back in toward the middle finger. They would eventually meet if you extend the lines. Most miss this and it is very important for the sense of elegance to the hand. Also ,everything goes toward the middle finger. It is the longest on each knuckle and the fingers curve toward it. Notice as well that the ends of the finger tips are shaved toward the middle finger. Grade: A
	The palm is a pentagon and then there is a triangle is the base for the thumb. Look for the lower arm to be a rectangular cross section . R is the ramp form that comes off of it and sits on the top of the back of the palm making it a little swelled there. Look for the pattern of the ovoid muscle on the side of the palm. It has a top plane that starts low and rolls over the top and then goes down again. The first row of knuckles is a soft diamond form with a chord running over it. The second is a raised square as is the third but much softer. There are 2 planes on the side plane The bottom of the fingers are rounded, flat and then tapered with a bump. The second digit tends to taper more than the others. Grade: A
	I would look for the pattern of the sole to continue back to the heel. I think of it like it is a little horizontal balcony on the side there that never completely goes away. The arch at A sits on top of the sole. Look at the gulleys that run behind the ankle bones and then sweep forward under the foot. See the little plane at the top at B. If you tie your shoes to tight it will hurt at the plane change at C Grade: A
	The outside ankle bones are diamond shape on the outside with a chord coming off the back of it. It is in the middle of the side profile. The inside ankle bone is flattish and has 3 planes on the bottom and it takes the front half of the inside profile of the ankle Grade: A
	Look at the bottom of the foot. At A you have the arch which is that part which will come off the ground and matches the ball shape at the top . S is the sole of the foot and it makes the foot print and it matches the platform flat shape on top. Look at the big toe to try to see that end form. Grade: A
	The one thing that I would have liked to have seen more clearly was the ball of the foot on top of the sole. It has a ridge on it that runs to the big toe. Look for the knuckles of the big toe to be squares that are raised. The big toe is very similar to the thumb and it tilts up at the end in the same way. The toes goes down. Look at the big forms to make the large value areas. In the toes I would have looked at the changes in value that describe their tilt across the toes Despite the shapes and wrinkles , knuckles often describe them selves as just deeper tones as the blood in the skin there makes it deeper and more red. Grade: A-

These critiques are great for me, and it's important for me to post them up here, because once the semester is over, they're gone for good. And the purpose of this blog is for me to share information, and look back on my progress. You know, to actually make sure I'm getting somewhere...

Instructor Critique: Triceps Brachii

This is another example of getting lost in one area of the figure. As I was studying the muscles of the arm, that's where I focussed almost all of my attention. Notice how the instructor didn't comment on the triceps?

By spending too much time in one area, I lost the opportunity to even basically flesh out the major landmarks of the back.

Instructor Feedback
C is the bump on the shoulder which represents the end of the clavicle. A is the flat Acromion which is he extension of the spine of the scapula. D is the deltoid which has a down plane as well. L is the bottom of the trapezius. T is the tube shape of the spinalis. R is the bottom of the ribcage and it segways into the oblique in a u shaped curve. These forms all show up as variations in value. On your piece here you have really just a few tones. I would look at these forms and see if you can pull them out of there.

Grade: B.

Hands and Feet

18x24, Charcoal, 2 hours
This week were studying the hands and feet. I think it's insane to clump these two extremely complex forms into one week, but what do I know?

We had a nice change of pace. Instead of doing the same half hour (or in my case one hour) sustained drawings followed by a homework assignment, we did several quick 5 minute studies of the hands and feet. I guess the idea is that we have to simplify them to basic shapes to be able to get a good likeness on the page in five minutes. This results in a better understanding of what shapes both of the forms are composed of. I was pretty excited about this one so I dove right in. I officially suck at 5 minute drawings, but I had so much fun, and I'll be doing a lot more of this in the summer.

For the homework assignment we had to draw our own hands and feet in the same composition. As you can see I have the ugliest feet in the world (left). What a fun week for anatomy. My goal is to understand these forms (especially hands) well enough to be able to draw them accurately from memory. Then I can focus on cartoon hands.



Here's my quick 5 minute studies:

More Instructor Critique

These are so valuable to me. I guess my instructor has been getting busy, because his comments aren't as numerous as they once were. So I asked him to give me more feedback. He suggested I read his feedback of other students work as well, which I haven't been doing this semester, though I usually do...How did he know!?

I've been looking forward to the critiques on these ones.

Well there is nothing here Dan. Actually, I remember critiquing this as few students redo their work like this (and I applaud you for it.) So what I am saying is that I must have somehow erased it as I was putting in the grade. I remember saying that I could not bring up the other image along side it which I tried to do to compare them and so I just have to do it with the model. Sorry. So for here, the angles are better . Use of straights is pretty good as well. The angle of the front leg extends too far and should go down more. There are always 3 angles on the front of the thigh if you count the little down plane to the front of the pelvic box at A. At B on the rear I think that you will see that if you stick to straight lines into the smaller forms that it forces you to see the small variations and to not gloss over the details. This adds to the resonance of the image. That would be a way to push your drawing to a more finished level. If you think that you cannot see anymore then it is perhaps that the rounds are glossing over the little formats that you would see if you forced them in your mind to be flat and straight. The front of the ankle is an example as it is a big curve C. The values are much better and there is another area to push the drawing in. just as the outlines can be more particular , the values can reveal the form inside the outline with more particularity. Look at the large light from below the pectoral to below the knee. There is much more information in there but you have to be able to strike those values with some precision in order for it to work On the backs of the calves you have made these areas too light. What happens often is that you stare at the highlight and make it that. The highlight is just a variation on top of the larger value so look at that. The bent arm is too dark, so the very bright highlight may have made it look darker than it was. I would push these two areas of more particular outlines using straights and pushing the subtlety of the values.

I hate to repeat but so much of the issues with drawing comes down to angle changes and judging the angle correctly that is where you have gone off in areas here in the legs anyway. In the torso I would insist on those planes in the plane chart as they are what gives him his abdominal muscles. The legs are a bit short. I would find the halfway point. Without any perspective it will tend to be around the pubic bone but with perspective it will be slightly different. Measure. The values are better and better. Look from area to area to compare. They are not correct by themselves but only by comparison to other area. for instance look at A and see how it relates to B. I would say that B is deeper. The arm on the left side is lighter as a unit that the other and yet yours are pretty close. The foot on the right descends lower down. so compare with straight line measures







On the first assignment I received a B+, and the second a B. I'm happy with those marks. I'm already looking back on these drawings with disgust. I guess I must be getting better.

Arm Study, Self Critique

Here's my latest arm study. All the studies from the last few days did warm me up well for this sustained drawing. I think I spent close to 2 hours on this one. Not too bad considering the recommended time was an hour and a half.

I always find it amazing how quickly I spot errors once I've put everything away and pulled it into Photoshop for compression. So lately, in an attempt to see my errors, I'm using exactly that as a tool. I'm pulling it into Photoshop, then going back to the drawing board (pun intended) once I see any major errors. The arms on this one bugged me all the way through. They look so long, but I measured them a few times so I was pretty sure they were the right length.


Well I brought it into Photoshop and overlayed mine over the original, and low and behold I was right. The arms are pretty close to the right length. But the torso, hand, and arm widths are slightly off, which all result in the arms looking like that of an orangutan! I got so preoccupied with these unique arms, I messed up on the basic angle of the back. I'm also pretty surprised how far I was off on the angle of the pole.

Oh well there's always the next drawing. Live and learn!

Triceps Brachii

I'm a little happier with this effort, though I stopped short again. I followed my own advice (from the last post this time, and it worked out better. I'm learning there has to be a tough balance between method and madness. Method being drawing technically, and madness being loosening up and not thinking so much (bogging yourself down). If only I could get something like this out in half the time, I'd actually be able to "finish" an image. The value is completely unfinished here, as you can see:

Upper Arm Study, Lower Leg Feedback

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Well actually, yes I am, I don't like it. I think if I enjoy the process, I enjoy the drawing more. It's been one of those days again, struggling to get things on the paper. I hope I can use this as a warm up for the other two studies this week, which I'll tackle tonight after work.

This week were studying the Biceps, Triceps, Flexors, Extensors, and the Brachioradialis. Personally I think its too much for one week. Not that I can't handle it, I just think we could use more time to study this complex area. But I guess that's what Intermediate Anatomy is for.

Here's some instructor feedback from one of last modules studies on the legs:

Look at the use of straight line relationships to see how drawing an angle from another spot will help you to figure a form out. The foot was obviously too large so I drew angles from areas that looked pretty good and saw that a lot of it had to come off. Line A shows the difference in tone between the area above and that below. See the convex curves coming forward on the inside of the leg from the soleus and gastrocnemius. The box of the pelvis is clear here.

Once again I'm having trouble with angles and finding the form before moving onto blocking in the shading. I tend to move back and forth between steps which I should stop. Instead I should be taking it one step at a time, because I'm clearly rushing myself and running into all sorts of problems at the end.

Ecorche: Muscles of the Upper and Lower Arm

This week were studying the muscles of the upper and lower arm. There's lots of work to do so I got a head start on my ecorche figure. I've added the arms to the anterior and posterior profiles. I also shaded it at my instructors request to better identify the planes. More assignments to follow tomorrow.

The Importance of Plumb Lines: Instructor Feedback

Here's my latest instructor feedback. Once again I thought I did quite well on this assignment. But this time I'm actually pleasantly surprised that I didn't. That's because after I've finished a drawing that I think I've done quite well for my abilities, I often doubt myself whether or not it's actually any good. At that stage I cannot see the errors either because of inexperience, or because I've stared at the thing for far too long (which brings me back to loosening up and drawing quicker). Or a combination of both.

But I like how the Academy doesn't reward effort, but rather result in these foundation classes. I've been in too many classes where the grades were weighted. The best student work received an A, and it descended from there. At the Academy, an A drawing is an A drawing, and it's remarkably difficult to achieve as well. I've only achieved it a handful of times, and I think that's great. This always keeps me fighting to get better, and I think it helps me achieve it that much quicker. If I were to have graded this I would have said a B+ or A-. Well I got a B, which is the lowest grade I've received in this class, and it's extremely humbling. It also fires me up to perform better, and be more aware of the fundamental of drawing, like plumb lines. Here's some inspiring words from my instructor:

I would drop some plumb lines down and see how the upper body sits back more. Also the back leg is off in its angles. Light and shade is excellent but it will not make up for the angles and thus gesture being off significantly. Three words for you here Dan; angles angles angles. Try to strike them as best you can and then carry them through to see where they go. Use the vertical and horizontal plumbs to check what is going on.This is the one thing here that held you up. Don't be discouraged by it. If you had gotten that it would have been 100% better. So get it next time as your other elements are good.

Here's the photo of the model and the overlay, showing just how far off model I actually was.

Lower Leg Muscles: Assignment Redo

18x24, Charcoal, 1h 30 mins

Some poses just get the better of you. Here's my second attempt at one of my assignments from anatomy class this week. While I achieved a much more accurate rendering, the head is still off and it took me over an hour to do this. I spent a whopping 40 minutes just blocking it out. By redoing this drawing I've gained a better understanding of a difficult pose so I think that whether or not I'm happy with my result, it's a great way to accelerate my drawing progress. At least I hope that's how it works :P

Muscles of the Lower Leg

Today we studied the muscles and tendons of the lower leg. We also covered the basics of the knee insertions. It's amazing how complicated things start getting at joints. The feet are coming up soon, and they look ridiculously complicated.

Today was one of those days where drawing just does not come to me. On these days I spend a lot of time just trying to get to grips with the pencil, and I'm not able to maintain a clear focus. This usually eats up a lot of time, and leaves me sore and cranky. This drawing (left) was supposed to take me about 40 minutes, but it actually took me about twice that.

The three major muscles of the lower leg that we covered this week are the Tibialis Anterior, Peroneus Longus, and Gastrocnemius (Calf).



This drawing shows exactly what I'm talking about. I clearly have proportional problems here, notably in the arm and torso lengths. These are things I'm completely oblivious to during drawing, but see immediately after I'm "finished". The head is also too small. It all turns out to look quite gangly and deformed.

Having said that, it was quite a difficult pose to draw, and I'm surprised I did this well on such an off day. I completed this one on time in about 40 minutes. Nonetheless I'll be redoing this one for sure, as soon as time permits.

My main focus has to be on blocking in the major planes quicker and more accurately as I continue to progress. These proportional problems I always seem to have should all be solved in the first ten minutes of the drawing, not realized at the end. Both of these drawings are done on 18x24 paper with charcoal.

Here's the updated Ecorche including this week's three muscles:

Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Adductors...

I loosened up my approach on these, and it was very liberating. I had a lot of fun, even though there are some obvious errors. I am getting faster now. It funny how when I stop thinking so much I can draw better and faster.

18x24 Charcoal - 45-60 minutes

18x24 Charcoal - 45-60 minutes

Ecorche Assignment (Muscles of upper leg added):