open sketch class drawing

When I get stuck on longer poses and projects, it’s very easy to forget how helpful a sketch session can be. This was a nice pose, and it was great practice in trying to track anatomical landmarks as her pelvis mimicked the weight of a pendulum throwing her contrapposto to and fro…it was actually more funny than frustrating. This taught me that sometimes it’s futile; you just have to let go and give up on the pose corrections. Accept it as a challenge for one session. Like a wise friend once said, “After all, it’s life drawing. They’re going to move!”

Today one of the doctors, in answering our questions as he covered the muscle groups and functions of the lower limb, mentioned that it was very interesting for him to look at things from a different perspective/perspective of an artist interested in realistic rendering of the human figure. Many of our questions were ones that have never come up before in his many years of teaching medical students, nor were they thoughts that crossed his mind in his practice. Yet he found them to be quite relevant, interesting and practical. We don’t do any actual dissection, but we work “alongside” the medical students on a weekly basis as they cut through various parts of the cadaver and reveal the muscle groups for us to study and understand. I like to think that the entire partnership is a collaboration in itself where both the artists and the med school students/faculty learn from each other’s point of views and experience.

Our drawings are also up in the dissection lab and though I’m not sure if they are at all useful as a diagram or illustration to the med students during the week, I’d like to imagine that they are. In return, their work in the dissection lab help reveal to us a better understanding of the amazing construction of the human figure.

Anatomical Study of the Upper Leg

I find that there are many ways to approach a drawing in the lab. I found the lower limb a bit complex, so I decided to draw the upper leg as I saw it (dissected/cut, somewhat incomplete as the skin was completely peeled away and the subcutaneous fat and fascia have been cleaned off in some parts while remnants could be seen in other sections), with a slant toward something more diagrammatic in order to better familiarize myself with the muscles and their function in different states of rest and contraction. This will help me better understand any pose the model takes whether it’s from direct observation or something I create from imagination. I didn’t have much time, and I didn’t get a chance to completely draw the muscles that were already cut so I’m sure I could improve the accuracy of some details in my quick study. Nonetheless, the experience of observing and translating the dissected upper leg of the cadaver into a drawing really helped me gain a great understanding of the surface anatomy in this part of the body. I can’t wait until next week and only wish I could stay longer to draw from the cadavers a little more.

final drawing copy of Menzel's Head of Bearded Man

Here is the result after day 2. Now after an entire day away from the drawing, the values of the entire form of the cheek from the nose/corner of the eye to the beard is quite off. I didn’t notice this during the session. This is a good lesson in taking breaks!

I hope to run into more of Adolf Menzel’s drawings – graphite, pen and ink, anything. Menzel was self-taught and did not attend an academy. He has excellent knowledge of perspective, linework and anatomy as well as a wonderful sense of form. He, too, was a painter and illustrator like Mucha. Both did etchings and woodcuts — excellent draughtsmen.

Sketch of a small terracotta sculpture

Here’s a sketch from my latest visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Museums – such as the MET – provide an abundant amount of  interesting and beautiful things to sketch, from 2D & 3D artwork to museum visitors and guards. On a rainy day, it’s the perfect place! However, what caught my attention this visit were the terracotta sculptures nearby in the European Sculptures section of the museum. This sketch is from a very small bust by Jules Dalon, a French sculptor from the 19th Century.  It is most likely a study for a larger piece. Yes, that’s right, a sketch of a sketch!