Essential elements

6 different poses lasting 10 minutes each. 

1. sitting charcoal pencil

My model was not very relaxed which made me uncomfortable. He was tense which showed in his body and I found it very hard to draw him.The first attempt was in charcoal pencil with him perched on the edge of the bed. The balance I caught quite well but due to the speed of the drawing, I could not get the proportions right on the legs and arms.

2. sitting pencil

The second try in pencil did not work at all the proportions are all wrong the near leg is too short and his hand is in mid air with his head resting on nothing.

3. kneeling pencil

The third pencil drawing gave a three dimensional shape with the shading but still the proportions are incorrect the torso is central and the limbs seem to be attached wrongly.

4. laying pen

The pen drawings have a different quality to them but still the proportions were all wrong. The speed drawing did not give me time to correct the drawing.

5. sitting pen

The shoulders were too wide and the elbow too pointed. Another disappointing piece.

6. laying charcoal

Lastly, the charcoal half body laying down. The marks of charcoal on the paper give an impression of shade which in turn adds a quality to the overall drawing. Shading rather than outer lines pleased me in this quick piece.

Exercise: Essential Shapes

Drawing 1.  

The requirement for this exercise was to arrange a model in a chair at a slight angle in a chair and consider the axis that runs through the seated figure.

My first hurdle, my model has a bad back and could not twist the way I wanted him to, the second was not liking the charcoal and charcoal pencil I used, although I grew to like it a little better after a few attempts of using it. 

Charcoal has never been my first chose of media. All drawing were on A3 cartridge paper.

I was unsure of how this exercise was to be drawn. Was it of the shapes only or as a figure concentrating on the shapes of indevidual parts of the body, looking more like a sketch as the example in the course work.  

Drawing 1.
Tried this with basic shapes then attempted to connect them to make a figure. I didn't like this attempt and the shapes seem all wrong. The drawing shapes did not work for me. I can see the shapes as I'm looking but I cant seem to draw these basic forms and having them look or resemble anything like a person. Further attempts seem much better to me only considering the form of triangles, squares, circles, triangle, sheres and cones. 

Drawing 2.

Drawing 2. 

Still using the above principle but more rounded this drawing is much better giving some shape. The face and head is not right and needs work.

Drawing 3. 

Drawing 3.
The shading worked well here and leaving the face and hands blank allowed me to concentrate on  the torso and limbs. My favourite of all the sketches, although in reflection I need to concentrate on the whole as it looks like I missed the left side of the chair in which he was sitting.

Drawing 4.

Drawing 4.

The shape and form seems to be good but I'm not happy with the overall outcome of this drawing. The legs don't seem to bend in the right place and the shoulders are too high. All seemed to be working well at the time it's only on reflection it's not so good as the rest.

Drawing 5.

I really like this. It worked well with all the shapes and foreshortening.

The shading works for me with hatching rather than smudging the charcoal. 

No head gave me more scope to draw the figure in more detail, although this sketch

was the quickest of all. I like the speed in which it came together, the fast hatching

and the looking at the body as a whole. Instead of jeopardising the quality with speed I think it enhanced it.  

Drawing 6. 

Drawing 6.

Face in Shapes. The last drawing on this page is of a face made from these shapes in a large A2 size of white plain paper in charcoal. I like the outcome of this piece. All the shapes worked well together and the sketch as a whole looks as it should.