My reality.: Portfolio Summary.

"I hope I shall be able to make some drawings in
which there is something human."
- Vincent Van Gogh

Mid-Semester Portfolio

Alicia Riehle
Life Drawing I
Fall 2009

Throughout Life Drawing I class so far this semester, I have already learned so much. First of all, I can sketch much more quickly. Although many of the drawings that we have done so far have been focusing on slowing down, the fast gesture drawings have already helped my sketching in my other classes get looser and more relaxed. Besides drawing speed, I have also learned a lot about the human body and it's many different components. It has really helped to not only draw from the models, but to also be learning anatomy within the classroom and on our own with the clay modeling manikins. Throughout the past, I never realized how much of a difference it ma kes to learn about the internal muscles, bones and tendons, and then to draw them with the external form of the body. It is so helpful to figure out the components in order to figure out the right proportions of the body. Seeing the models and comparing them to the skeleton and our manikins has really taught me a lot about the different proportions of the body, especially in terms of different people.

Although I have had a good time learning about the human form and this new drawing style, I have also had my share of challenges so far. I think that the first struggle that I had was with drawing quickly, all while not worrying about outlining the form I saw. Throughout my other drawing classes and past experience, I have always focused on drawing the external more than the internal of an object. With Drawing I, we also practiced chiaroscuro, which has made it hard for me to not shade my drawings and not necessarily worry about the lighting in the room. I have also struggled with line weight and mark making. It has been difficult for me to make many different types of marks within my drawings, I tend to draw to dark. It is very difficult to decide what drawing medium to use and so far, I have stuck mostly to conte crayons. As I tend to draw very dark, for the rest of the semester I am really going to focus on my line weights and try to be much more intentional with my marks in my gesture, homework and long pose drawings.

While on one hand their are many struggles for me in Life Drawing class, there have been a few successes that I am particularly proud of. One thing that I am very happy to see is my sketching is getting more loose and quick every week. This is a very important skill for the business world I will be going into after school so I am very happy that Life Drawing has helped me push that skill already. Also, have been really enjoying doing the contour drawings and the slower, loose 'internal components' drawings in class. These drawings really make me slow down and pay attention to what I am putting on my page. While I think I can still push these drawings plenty, I have already seen a change in them since the beginning of the semester.
It is with the drawings and exercises in this class that I have become more aware of why drawing the human form is such a skill: It is so difficult! There are many things to consider and many tiny details to notice in every sketch and drawing. I have enjoyed learning all that we have done this far in class, and I do look forward to what the rest of the semester will bring!