first figure drawing

Today was my last class of drawing. For the rest of the semester starting next week my drawing class will be replaced with watercolor. Oh boy! 

This drawing class has been wonderful.  I have been exposed to a variety of things, especially new drawing media. For example, I was introduced to charcoal and pen holder with ink.  

Last class we had to draw a portrait of a classmate, so today we focused on figure drawing.

Figure drawing is drawing/studying the human body and typically you draw a naked model.  Today was my first figure drawing experience.

We had a great model to study. She is 71 years old and has been a model for figure drawing for 30 years. 

Once I began drawing, I forgot that I was drawing a naked woman. I began to see the beauty of the body's proportions, the values created, along with the shapes and gentle curves of the human figure.

My classmates and I were required to use ink with a big "toothpick."  The bottom of it was flat (when held one way) so it drew thicker lines, but if you twisted it 90 degrees it had a smaller width and could create thinner lines.

Our model changed poses every 15/20 minutes. 

 Below is my first drawing. The paper was around 11x17 inches. I drew small. I was afraid to start. This drawing isn't perfect by any means, it's actually wrong in terms of foreshortening (meaning it's not drawn to look like her legs are closer to me than her upper body) and proportions/relationships were incorrect. 

While I was drawing the one above, my professor came over and gave suggestions on how to improve for next time, then told me to try it again. The one below is my second attempt at the first pose.

Much better. There's such a difference. My professor was right, in terms of drawing angles of the body first before making darker strokes.  It was interesting dipping the toothpick into the bottle of ink, and then wiping off most of the ink on the bottle's edge so i could draw lightly with it. Then I would wipe it less as I wanted my marks to be bolder.

The second pose was of her holding an apple.  

Then it was time for the last pose. My professor gave out a piece of large paper (I can't remember the actual size, but probably 2 feet by 3 feet) and told us to draw our best (man, talk about pressure!).

I love the drawing below. The other drawings/studies helped me draw this one better. 

I have heard that if you can draw the human figure, you can draw anything. I definitely agree with that. I'd love to keep practicing drawing the human figure. 

I enjoyed today's class. I will miss my professor and the class overall, but I am looking forward to watercolor!