Irish Elk Non-Human Observations #2

This was a quick study of a Irish Elk skeleton done in pencil which took about 12 minutes to complete.
This sketch although not complete does portray a good amount of perspective in the skull and antlers which appear to be the primary focus of the observation. The lines of the drawing have been added to and made more prevalent in the parts of the skull which are facing most directly at the observer, whereas all other lines are comparatively lighter and less defined, which helps to draw your eyes to certain parts of the drawing such as the snout of the skull and the left antler. The inclusion of the developmental lines and "mistakes" allow you to follow the path that the artist took whilst developing the work and shows where the artist made mistakes and corrected them, these appear to be mainly perspective based.

The only part of the drawing that diminishes from the overall piece is the scapula. Here the artist appears to have changed their mind about shading after finishing that fairly big portion of the skeleton. Just like how the artist added more detailed and darker lines in the parts of the skull that were focus of the piece to attract the view of the observer, the shaded scapula also does this but in the negative respect, as it attracts you to what is essentially a background/secondary image.

Non-Human Anatomy Graphite Snow Leopard #1

This is a study of a Preserved Snow Leopard drawn in graphite pencil and taking about 15 minutes in total.

This piece provides a good example of perspective in the front paws and head, as well as shading and tonal value on the belly, under the hind legs and at the base of the tail. and the strokes of the graphite on the tail effectively portray the look of fur and the bushy tail of the leopard. The perspective and foreshortening in the head and face are carried out well allowing you to get a good sense of the direction the leopard is looking and is the most detailed and proportioned part of the study.

The distance between the head and the hind legs look like they have suffered on the foreshortening department which makes the leopard appear weird and out of proportion. Also the fact the tail, back and underside of the drawing are shaded but the front and the head are not, despite the head being the most detailed part of this study makes the piece look in complete.

Charcoal Anatomy of Movement #3

This is a repeat of the previous sequence of movement study from a different angle again in charcoal and taking about 5 minutes to complete.

The use of a different angle allowed for better focus on foreshortening in the limbs, especially the legs which are now facing away from the observer which gives a better feeling of depth. Again the drawing flows with the feeling of movement due to the continuous & layered nature of the sketch. From this top view angle the gesture shown by the hands is easily noticed which further adds to the piece.

The use of gestural lines to portray the direction of the movement could have been left out by the artist which are noticeable and distract from the main piece.

Charcoal Anatomy of Movement #2

This was again a drawing of a model portraying stages movement this time in charcoal and took around 5 minutes to complete.

In this piece the model laid on the floor and in 3 stages conveyed the movement of rolling from one position on the floor into another facing in the opposite direction. This was a quicker sketch than the graphite drawing but because of the charcoals inherent proclivity to smudge allowed for more detail to be added during and after the drawing had been completed by allowing shade, tone and dimensionality to be added. The position of the model and angle of the artist allowed for several examples of foreshortening to be observed, especially around the limbs and the head

This piece better helps to convey the feeling of movement because of the overlapping nature of the drawing and allows for each of the stages to appear to flow into the next it also provides for a more complete and focused drawing.

Graphite Anatomy of Movement #1

This is a graphite sketch of a model demonstrating sequence of movement by moving slowly from position to position and took about 10 minutes in total.

The model was conveying movement and so would move into a new position and would hold for a brief time before moving onto the next position of the movement. Pausing long enough to quickly draw the model out. Very little shading or tone was added as this was not the primary focus of the drawing. All the focus was put into the gestures of the limbs and body language as well as into body proportions and foreshortening. The use of limited shading on the left and left-centre sketches has helped to add some depth and dimensionality to the sketches.

The piece does help to convey movement, more so in the sketches on the right which overlap each over and continue on from where the other ended. This helps to provide some illusion of movement, if the sketches on the left were also done in this way it would have helped to complete the feeling of movement in the piece instead of making it look like 2 separate pieces.