Learning Art Essay, Research Paper

I am working on the structure of the human anatomy. Our teacher wants us to feel

the structure through gestures and get the proportions correct. We have just

finished working on the Human skull, have worked with the whole figure, and now

we are moving on towards the hands and feet. The fine detail, of course, can not

be captured exactly as is, but the objective of our assignment is to make the

figure appear as human like as possible. I have a technique that has made me

improve my work. I draw as if I have never seen what I am drawing and I have to

present the work I do before a queen or someone of a high rank. It also helps to

get total determination before you start your assignment to think you will do

well. Be clam and relaxed to a point where you are comfy yet still alert for

your work. Your drawings should have a guesture that is almost equivalent to the

movement of your subject that you are drawing. I found out the easiest materials

to work with are the most simple. Instead of newsprint paper, which is more

soft, and harder to work with, I use sketch paper. The sketch paper is more

rugged. I use a pencil instead of charcoal. The pencil gives you the advantage

to get a more fine point as well to make your lines lighter if necessary. It is

also easier to erase. In class, we usually either have a model to draw, or work

with each other?s figure. I feel it is better to work with our classmates

rather than the model because we have gotten use to each others appearance?s

which makes it easier to draw. For our homework this week, we are assigned to

draw the foot three or four times on the same sheet of paper, life size. I feel

that my class and myself has an easier time doing the hands and feet than the

human skull because if you slightly are incorrect on your drawing it doesn?t

make the drawing unrecognizable. With the face, you can be off in the slightest

of ways and everything else will be thrown out of proportion. It is a well

concentrated assignment. Before I came to Montserrat I had no experience

whatsoever in drawing, so when I started in on this, it was a real challenge. I

felt that I have been able to keep up and have learned more quicker than I

thought I would. I adapted fast to what she was teaching to our class, and I

must say I am proud of myself for that. The only experience I have had was art

class in junior high, and even then it wasn?t drawing the human figure, it was

more like painting and ceramics. The previous summer, my grandfather who is an

artist, brushed me up on some work that he knew I would be doing that has also

helped. I have still a lot to learn, but I am patient about it.