Life Drawing - The Art Institute of Las Vegas: Winter 2007

Lifedrawing

Downloads
• Syllabus
• Life Drawing Models

Week 10: Final Week
Congratulations on making it to the last day. You all have done an awesome job. When we meet this week, you will be taking an anatomy test. Don't worry, this is easy, you don't have to be a doctor to know this, , its just common names that can be found anywhere. We also will be engaging in a few long poses and we will have a slide show of how you did in comparison to your preinstruction drawing, its at this time, that I will be giving you feedback on your work so that you can get better.

HOMEWORK: Anatomy
Study for your Anatomy Final. You will be tested on the main muscles and bones of the body. Knowing this information will help you in two ways: 1) The more you know about how the human form, the more you can construct. It gives your drawings form, volume and it brings to the viewer a level of believability. This not only applies to drawing realistically, but to drawing characters too and 2) it will help you with exaggeration so you can get more emotion in your pieces and 3) when you jump on 3D software, your joints and muscles will look better too because they will be based off of reality. 3d rigs for animation and game design are given these common names too.

Your anatomy final will be 50% of your final grade. Study up, you can do it. The time you invest is worthwhile.

You will be tested on the following muscles and bones.

Front View
• Sternocleidomastoid
• Pectoralis Major
• Deltoids
• Biceps
• Brachioradialis
• Abdominals
• External Obliques
• Quadraceps

Common Bones
• Skull
• Clavicle (Collar Bone)
• Spine
• Ribcage
• Humerus (Upper Arm)
• Ulna / Radialis (Lower Arm Bones)
• Iliac
• Femur (Upper Leg)
• Tibia / Fibula (Lower Leg)
•

Back View
• Occipital
• Trapezius (The Diamond Muscle)
• Latissimus Dorsi (The Butterfly)
• Triceps (Large muscle of the upper arm)
• Gluteus Maximus (The Bumm)
• Hamstrings
• Gastrocnemeus (Calf Muscle)
• Soleus

Week 9: Anatomy

HOMEWORK: Anatomy
Now, we begin to put our new knowledge into practice. Take any one of the models, or you may use your own, and draw the figure as if the skin was removed. As always, I will be grading you on smooth value and clarity. Show the viewer of your drawing that you understand what the muscles are doing underneath the skin. Use the image below as inspiration.

Week 8: Cross Contour Lines / Design and Composition
As we near the end of the quarter, focus on creating a portfolio piece. Practice and refine everything you have learned thus far. For our in class assignment, we focused on cropping and refining our compositions and page design.

HOMEWORK: Cross Contour Lines
The cross contour line is a line that describes the surface of the form. Think about it being a grid that is placed on the figure. Your assignment: take three images of models and do a detailed contour drawing of it (just like the previous assignment), afterwards draw lines to describe the form of the body. Please refer to my example below. If you have a dollar bill and look closely at George Washington's face, the lines that you see are cross contour lines too.

Download model pictures here:

Week 7: No School

Week 6: Symbols: Left vs. Right Brain Drawing
Hopefully you understand the differences between the two types of drawing. For the class, we need to be drawing from the right side of the brain. Remember to go slow and do not rush.:

Below are some images to help you be more right brained and to be more accurate. See the drawings of the glasses to the right. Yes, they look like glasses, but it is a symbol and is not based on observation. On the head, they look funny. To help you not draw symbols, draw the negative space or the "air" around whatever you are drawing, and the object will magically appear.

HOMEWORK:
Take an hour and a quiet place where you will not be disturbed, and draw yourself looking into the mirror. You may use any medium and the portrait must be lifesized.

You will graded on
• Accuracy - The drawing must look like you.
• Correct proportions of the face - Refer to your handout on head proportions.
• Professional Execution and Craft
• Clarity

TIP:
To ensure a better score, do not draw your face just once. Do it many times and turn in the best one that you feel fulfulls the assignment. Usually, the more drawing a student does, while remembering the principles discussed in class, the better the drawings become. Remember, you have two weeks. The time you ivest into understanding these ideas will make you more powerful. :- )

Week 5: MIDTERM
This week, you completed a series of drawings demonstrating these three things:

• Gesture
• Layin Process
• Line & Value Clarity

HOMEWORK:
Take the images passed out during class and do a detailed contour drawing of the figure. Follow the process of gesture and the layin to construct the figure. Draw these construction lines light. After you have constructed the figure in the way we've been drawing, begin to draw the outline of the figure. Be sensitive to the anatomy as you see it and capture as many details as you see. Be sensitive to the negative space that is in and around the figure. Please see my examples below.

See also how this exercise relates to character design. The silhouette is the most readable and recognizeable shape to the human eye. Your contour drawins should look something like this.

Week 4: Linework Clarity and Value
This week, I covered the pickout technique to achieve a wider range of value. We also covered linework clarity.

Week 3: Process Review - The Layin
The figure is the hardest thing to draw because it so complex. By breaking the human figure down into simple recognizable shapes however, it becomes much easier. Its also easier to animate if you understand these principles. The human figure and anything else in the unvierse can be broken down into 3 basic shapes. Please familiarize yourself with drawing and shading these shapes. These are:

Spheres (For heads, ribcages or hip areas)
Cubes (For heads, the ribcage, the hips and joints)
Cylinders (arms and legs)

The Layin Process:
Requires that you draw a gesture to get the feeling or action of the pose, then install the basic shapes above to familarize yourself with the forms that you see. Please see the Glenn Vilppu drawing below and see how he has broken down the figure into the above simple shapes. His site is a great place to visit. I encourage you purchase his text as its the method I teach in class.

>> Go to Glen Vilppu's website.

HOMEWORK:
Take the master drawings handed out during class and apply the Lay-In exercise on to the them. To do ths, you need to draw each figure three times.

1) First draw a gesture (making sure of correct proportions and energy)

2) Draw the figure again. Do a gesture, then add the basic shapes to drawing (spheres, cylinders and or cubes) over the gesture, paying close attention to the tilt of these shapes.

3) Draw the figrure one more time following step 2. After this is done, Go back and add detail and shading.

Submit all of these together either stapled or in a folder to keep them together.

Grading:
I will be grading you on the following:
• Proportion
• Simple shape recognition
• Craft and Execution
• Accurate Detail
• Stapled and or placed in a folder.

Week 2: Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday

Week 1: Welcome
Welcome to lifedrawing everyone. In this class, we will be learning how to draw and analyze the human form. Watch this page for a recap of what we covered in class and homework. I look forward to being your instructor this quarter and watching your skills improve. If you have any questions please let me know.

TOPICS COVERED IN CLASS:
• Class Overview
• Process Overview
• Materials Overview
• Gesture / Form / Anatomy
• Let's Draw
• Syllabus Overview
• Form and Homework

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• HOMEWORK
Create a still life drawing of your TV set. Be sure to breakdown your TV, stand and anything else in the picture into basic shapes and form. You will produce 2 drawings for this assignment.

1) Do a simple shape breakdown of your still life, no shading or detail.
2) Do another drawing, this time using good drawing materials and draw the still life again, breaking it down into simple shapes first. This time, add detail and shading.

Turn in both drawings stapled together, with the first drawing on top.

Below is a drawing from J.D. Hillberry. The basic forms that can be seen in still are speres and cubes. Can you see them? Check out the still life drawings featured on his website. Click here to go to JD Hillberry's website.

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NEXT WEEK:
Gesture and Form. Come prepared to draw as soon as you get into class. Warm up drawings will begin immediately.

Welcome once again to the class!