Two Months Remain

So we're half way through the semester...and I'd be lying if i said it's gone by slow. I was nervous to try my hand at drawing again, as its been over three years since my last drawing class...but it's proved to be a good learning experience time and time again. I've gone from barely being able to get the figure on a blank page to locating major landmarks of the body to replicate it on paper. I didn't really notice the progress I had made until I looked at all my drawings, lined up next to each other...first day up until the most recent, and there's a definite progression heading in what i would say is a positive direction. A big struggle of mine, was fitting the entirety of the human body on the page, especially when dividing the page into four smaller units...not only could I not get the body drawn in 30 seconds, but I would also veer far outside the boundaries which I created. This is still a challenge for me, as I seem to always want to draw larger than space allows...we'll see if i can get that settled by the end of the semester. Correct proportions and foreshortening have also been tough, but with more and more lectures on the bones and muscles that make up the body, my drawings seem to get more and more accurate. Though there are some definite shortcomings in my drawings, this class has taught me a lot about seeing. I can't emphasize that enough. In past classes and drawing in general, I tend to draw what I want to see; what I think something looks like. This class has taught me to look at what is in front of me, and draw it for what it is, not what i feel it should be....and that's created a big change in my drawings as a whole.
I hope to expand on what I've learned so far...understanding foreshortening better and also gaining more knowledge when it comes to all the complexities that make up the human body. The manikins have been a great learning tool (tedious and annoying at times) but nonetheless, I'm gaining knowledge with each muscle I build. My manikin is a bit wonky looking, so perhaps I'll work on bettering that in the following weeks as well....

so please, take a gander at my work thus far..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44090108@N02/