FA 111, BEGINNING FIGURE DRAWING SPRING ’02 – MEDINA

ASSIGNMENT #1

Materials

• 2 yards of brown butcher paper (available at the bookstore for 40 ¢ a yard)
• 1 black conte crayon
• 1 white conte crayon
• 1 red conte crayon
• An 18" stick to use for measuring. A long ruler is fine, or you can go to a lumber supply store and ask for broken lathe. You might find a piece of scrap in the wood shop that works too.
   

Why are we doing this?

The study of anatomy will make life drawing easier for you because you will have a much better idea of what you are looking at as you begin to draw from life. Through completing this project you will:

• have a better understanding of proportion in the human figure.
• be able to identify physical landmarks on the human body which will assist you in life drawing.
• understand the substructure on the human form.
• realize that muscle and bone create the forms we see on the body.
   

Process

1. Choose a partner
2. Roll your paper on the floor and lay down on it in the position you wish to draw your skeleton. Have your partner trace your outline. Remember that this is a situation where it's possible that you might have some physical contact with your partner. Please be respectful of one another.
3. Construct a contour drawing of the skeleton based on the handouts you are given in class or that you download here.
   NOTE: Remember that the outline you are working in represents your dimensions with clothes on. Your skeleton will not fill up that entire space. Make some accommodations so that the proportions of your final drawing are accurate.
4. Use your measuring stick to make the drawing proportionate to your own skeleton by focusing on physical landmarks.
5. Leave half of your drawing as a contour line drawing and shade value into the other half. Pay attention to value because that is what will give your drawing a sense of three dimensional form. It will also give you a better understanding of the complete form of each bone (not just its two-dimensional shape).
6. Draw the muscles over the top of the contour, or "raw" side of your work. You will receive a handout to help you with this or you can download one here. Focus on the large muscle groups, but you can add more if you like.