My reality.: Final Reflection - End of the Semester!

"Our bodies are apt to be our
autobiographies."
~Frank Gillette Burgess.

End of Semester Portfolio

Alicia Riehle
Life Drawing I
Fall 2009

Throughout Life Drawing class this semester, I have learned a lot about the human body, drawing styles, techniques and form. Although I have struggled at times, I have worked through a lot of the drawing issues that I had before taking this class and I have developed my style in the meantime. In the beginning of the semester, we learned about the spine, ribs and pelvis. These structures were important to help me develop proportion, direction and movement into my drawings. I still find it very helpful if I look for the spine first and work through the ribs and pelvis as well. Next, I started to learn more about the directions that the limbs should be draw and that has helped a lot in making the person I am drawing look full of life, instead of just like a stick!
Moving on to the shoulders, hands and feet, I learned to add details to the body while still looking constantly at the directions that the limbs are going. I enjoyed drawing feet but I found that I had a lot of troubles with them. I even had 6 toes on a foot that I drew at one point! One thing that really helped me when drawing the foot was to draw the structure underneath. To do this, I kept a skeleton close to me in class while I was drawing and I printed out a anatomy drawing of the foot to help me break down the different areas and to get the right curves to the foot.
Lastly, we worked on developing our knowledge of facial structure and the ears. I found this section of the class to be very fun. I really like to work on details within the physical body and so I was very happy that we went over drawing faces. After drawing the skull a little bit, I had a better understanding of the cheeks, eye sockets and nose areas too.
This semester, I have learned a lot from this class. I know that the skills that I have begun to develop in this class will help me a lot in the world of design while I am still in school and when I graduate as well. I look forward to drawing more people and I find that I am very comfortable doing so now. Life drawing has also taught me a lot about the human body in general and I am more connected to me drawings now, more than I have ever been. I can't wait to draw a portrait of someone and have it actually resemble them!

Happy Holidays! I'm leaving for India in 11 days!!

Until next time,
Ali