Life Drawing - Week Seven

iPads:

We started life drawing week seven day by using iPads! It was really strange using this tiny screen as a piece of paper and your finger as a pencil. I felt like a lot of the time I couldn't get the right shape or enough detail into what I was drawing. I didn't really like having to use the zoom either because that meant you couldn't see the rest of your drawing. I found using the iPad very frustrating to begin with.

This was my first attempt - I really struggled to start this off because the screen so so small, I felt like I wouldn't be able to get the image small enough to fit on the whole page (even with the zoom). I found it really hard to work of the proportions and I kept having to undo lots of my work so I didn't manage to get much done! Grrr.  

With the second image I found out about the layers tool and this was really useful. I started off with a thick basic line and built up with layers from there. I managed to get much more of the figure and I feel that it's starting to work quite nicely. 

I found that as I went on, I got used the different way of working. I started to use different layers to build the image up. I started off with a thick opaque line to get a very basic outline. Once I was pleased with that I would start a new layer with a thinner, blacker line to refine the form. Once I was pleased with this line I rubbed out the first layer. Then on a third layer (if I had time), I began to build up opaque colour and tone into my work. I'm not exactly sure if I'm pleased with the results because I feel like they are cartoon-like at the moment because we didn't have much time to work on each image but I feel like for a first go, they aren't too bad. It was really good to try something completely new and although I didn't enjoy it as much as actual drawing, it showing an up-and-coming way of drawing.   

I think my third drawing is coming on really well. I got most of the form in pretty quickly with the thick outline and so managed to refine it quickly as well. I even got on to adding colour and tone. Obviously it's still a bit blocky but I feel the  basic form is there - more detail just needs adding. 

With this image I was trying a different technique; I thought Id try to block in the body with colour first and then refine it with line after. I think it's started off OK. Might have become a bit trickier with the legs and feet. I would have liked to work on this one a bit longer to see how this technique would have worked out.

Graphite:

After lunch we swapped our fingers and iPads for paper and graphite sticks. I'm not the biggest fan of graphite sticks because I think it's similar to charcoal but that charcoal is much better - more expressive, looser and bolder. But I was pleased to use it because the technique we were using with the graphite stick was like the one we used for charcoal; not using much line, picking up the shadows and creating an image that way. I really like this way of working but I don't don't use it very often so I really love having the chance to draw this way. 

I like how I have gone darker with the shadow in this piece. I would have liked to worked into this even more but I ran out of time. 

Overall, I'm not too pleased with these images; I feel like I lost my way a bit in terms of proportions and shape, particularly with the last piece. I quite like the first two because I think they are quite expressive but I feel that they just don't work as well as my charcoal drawings earlier on in life drawing. Still it's always good to make yourself work with media you don't like as much because you may discover something you didn't know.