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    • Jan 28, 2022
    • 2 min read

Art School Day #3

Hey All!


It's day 3 of the curriculum, for me at least.


This class focused on the two ovals that make up the torso, or 'the bean' .


Proko's assignment for the class was to look at some poses and focus only on the bean. He suggested we use his source on the Proko website. However, since I have a gallery of poses with my Croquis Cafe subscription, I used those photos instead.



The assignment was to look for the tilting, leaning, twisting, and foreshortening of the pose as well as identifying the centerline within 30 seconds.


As you can imagine, this exercise was a little easier than doing the timed gesture sessions for the entire body.


The tilting and leaning turned out pretty much the same. Twisting was fun to play with as well. I struggled quite a bit with foreshortening which was not surprising to me since I'm not good at it on a normal day lol. So, for practice, I will be focusing on that the most.


The next video was just examples, so I followed along with Proko's drawings.




This part of the class actually helped me get an idea of what I should be doing. Though I kind of threw that out the window with the timed session. T_T


For the two timed sessions from Croquis Cafe, I focused on the shape of the torso and I didn't bother too much with the rest of the body for most of the drawings, except the last 5-minute poses.


Week 495 - Model: Astrid


For Astrid's poses, I think I did alright. But I rounded off her body too much. I also feel like I didn't exaggerate enough, If that makes sense.


Week 494 - Model: Connor


I really struggled to draw Connor's poses here, especially in the first half. I did try to incorporate more of the body, like his head, and sort of panicked the rest of the way through. I definitely failed again with foreshortening here as well. I did like the laying down pose, maybe because it was simple. I enjoyed the last 5-minute pose too lol.


Don't ask me what's going on in the bottom left pose because I have no idea what I did to poor Connor in that one.


I felt pretty good about today's class. I found a few things I enjoyed in the lessons and quite a bit I need to work on!


And with that, we've wrapped up the week!


Here‘s everything I used in this class:

Croquis Cafe - Weekly Videos - timed gesture sessions


And here is a list of recommended resources I did NOT need to use this time around:

"Figure drawing for all it's worth" - Andrew Loomis


Feel free to critique my session in the comments! (please be civil)


Now let's talk about you:


Did you know about 'the bean'?


What positions do you struggle with? Tilting, leaning, twisting, or foreshortening? Which poses do you enjoy the most?


Where do you start when tackling a timed gesture drawing session? the head? torso? Center-line?


Tell us all about it!


If you're on this journey with me, use #thehikahees on Instagram, so I can see your drawings too!


See you next week!

- Hika


 


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    • Jan 27, 2022
    • 2 min read

Art School Day #2

Updated: Jan 28, 2022

Hiya!


It's Day 2 and school is in session!! (Man, that was corny lmao)


I hope you guys are having a great week so far!


Today I spent about an hour on the class. I watched videos 3 and 4 on the Proko Figure Drawing Fundamentals. There wasn't much of a 'lesson' in this class, more like examples and critiquing.


Since the first video was a drawing session example, I just followed along:


Note: the last pose is the 5 min pose from the next gesture session (I ran out of room T_T)


The next video was a 35min critique session with Marshall Vandruff. While I listened to that video I completed the two Croquis Cafe drawing sessions.


Week 497 - Model: Bella Donna


I was not feeling this session at all. I expected to feel more confident since the first class but I was more anxious than before. I tried to stay away from scratchy strokes this time but I did it most of the time anyway lol. Habits are hard to break I guess.


Week 496 - Model: Madison


For the first half of the second session, I found myself thinking a little too much and running out of time. I struggled with Madison's sitting poses and I totally butchered the 5-minute pose at the end.


I don't know about you guys, but I've struggled with what I should work on first during timed sessions. This was talked about in the second video of Proko's course but I'm still having trouble forcing myself to work this way.


Another issue I'm having is with 5-minute sessions. I do whatever I think I need to in the first 3 minutes and find myself sitting around and adding meaningless lines. Kind of, aimlessly working and waiting for the time to run out.


That being said, I'm still having fun with the class and am excited for Friday.


Here‘s everything I used in this class:

Croquis Cafe - Weekly Videos - timed gesture sessions


And here is a list of recommended resources I did NOT need to use this time around:

"Figure drawing for all it's worth" - Andrew Loomis


If you have any suggestions for me, please let me know in the comments! (please be civil)


Now let's talk about you:


Have you tried time gesture drawing? Will you consider it?


If you have done timed gesture drawing, what did you struggle with? Did you ever run out of time? What do you think your strengths were?


If you're starting this journey with me, use #thehikahees on Instagram, so I can see it too!


Until next time!

- Hika


 







31 views0 comments
    • Jan 27, 2022
    • 4 min read

Art School Day #1

Updated: Apr 23, 2022

Heya!


Let’s talk about the Radiorunner Curriculum for the Solo artist! I started following this course on Monday, January 24, 2022. I’m committing every MWF to study.


If you’ve seen the course you‘ll see a link or name to the recommended materials. You can go

all in and purchase everything per term and use the free resources, go with all free options or a combination.


I chose a combination of free and paid resources. I will list the resources I personally used, along with links to get them yourself if you are interested. I will also talk about the things that helped me and the ones that I didn’t really end up using.


What this section of the course is about:


Term One focuses on figure drawing. (Please read until the end for links to materials used and ones I did not use.)


For this section of the course, the main assignment/challenge was 30 days of Croquis Cafe gesture drawing sessions. It was suggested to complete the assignment and course at the same time rather than afterward. So I did two videos of the course along with two drawing sessions.


Though the course links to Vimeo I chose to go directly to Croquis Cafe Mainly because it was cheaper and I didn't want a full Vimeo subscription to view a limited number of Croquis Cafe videos. This way I have access to all their video sessions.


Please note: Croquis Cafe does require you to be 18 or older.


Alternatively, you could just as easily google 'timed figure drawing sessions' and find many free resources. Or look for images of models in various poses and time your drawing sessions yourself.


This section doesn't specify whether or not models should be nude, but the resources are nude and there are lessons further down the line that specify clothed models. So I assume you are looking for nude models.


For people, who are uncomfortable working off nude models or those of you who are still minors, I would look for models that are wearing clothes that don't obstruct the figure such as this.


These kinds of sessions can easily be found on Youtube or Pinterest as well.


Personally, I paid the annual $35 to Croquis Cafe instead, because it was inexpensive and I found that they have a variety of models of all shapes and sizes. You will often see a similar body type on YT or anywhere else but I wanted different options.


Next, I purchased the textbook "Figure drawing for all it's worth" - Andrew Loomis. Though I did not use it for the lesson. I am using it as additional reading material, however, but I don't know yet if it's necessary.


As for the actual course, I opted for the Free version of the Proko Figure Drawing Fundamentals playlist, on Youtube.


You’ll notice the Love for Drawing YouTube channel linked on the term as well, but as of Day 1, I haven’t needed to use it.


What I did:


I listened to the first two videos on the Proko Fundamentals playlist about 3 times each (as recommended in video 2) and worked on 2 Croquis Cafe, timed gesture drawing sessions. I chose Week 498-499 For the following sessions.


Week 499 - Model: Kay


In the Proko introductory video, Stan Prokopenko suggests that you complete a timed figure drawing session prior to watching the full video. That is the session you are seeing above.


You’ll see a lot of scratchy lines and I did run out of time for a lot of elements. I did focus on a lot of unnecessary shapes.


Then, I listened to the first two Proko videos in the playlist before my second attempt.


Week 498 - Model: Jhene


My lines are still scratchy, I did try to make the figures more fluid and use longer lines. I felt a little more comfortable this round even if it doesn’t show on paper lol.


Overall, I was happy with the sessions and it took about an hour and a half of my day.


I worked on a few character sketches later in the day and I did think about Proko’s video at that time and tried to implement his lesson in my sketches. (my lines are still scratchy as you can see)



I chose to do this course traditionally; with a sketchbook and pencil (I have a purple pencil because it’s my favorite color and I wanna) but you can also do it digitally if you want to.


Here‘s everything I used in this class:

Croquis Cafe - Weekly Videos - timed gesture sessions


And here is a list of recommended resources I did NOT need to use this time around:

"Figure drawing for all it's worth" - Andrew Loomis


Feel free to offer critiques on any of my sessions, I'd love to learn any new tips. (please be civil)


If you're starting this journey with me, use #thehikahees on Instagram, so I can see it too!


Now let’s talk about you!


Are you enrolled in an art class? Self-teaching? Have you taken this course? Have you taken art courses in a school setting?


What was your experience like? Any tips for beginners?


Tell me all about it!



- Hika


 




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