Toolkit 2: Life Drawing

This part if Toolkit 2 required me to create a collection of paper life drawing studies that develop my drawing and observational skills. Due to Covid, I had a single drawing session in October 2020, and the rest through a week in May 2021. I can see a drastic improvement in my skills as the images progress and I took these life drawing sessions as an opportunity to develop on my weaknesses, mostly head and face studies. 

October 2020

Created back in October 2020, this task required me to draw one of my peers. I used a mechanical pencil for this seated pose. Looking back, I can see major proportion imperfections most likely caused by religious linework rather than focusing on tonality:

"A 35 minute pose capturing form and limited shading. Working with a larger scale image resulted in proportion issues, evident in this scanned copy image (above). This is the main downfall of this image. The face depicted in this outcome is unrealistic, but a good representation of the subjects features. Despite holding exaggerated and cartoon qualities, the face is recognisable."

"A short exercise that alternated between two poses. The subject changes between the two positions every thirty seconds. This exercise was done twice, resulting in four outcomes. I'd describe these sketches as loose, dynamic and everchanging. I struggled to document shading and texture; these outcomes are limited to outlines." 

May 2021

"I used a jumbo HB pencil, helping to relax lines and encourage shading. I prefer a jumbo pencil over a mechanical pencil, because a larger graphite surface area helps make decisions for you; a mechanical is too accurate. "

"A strong body study, but the face is unsatisfactory and inaccurate. I did, however, discover a bone structure relationship between the ribcage and the collarbone. These discoveries are important; decent anatomy knowledge can help make studies more accurate. "

"Created with a blue crayon; a forgiving medium and good for value work. Proportions are good, and shading is more refined compared to previous studies; I started gaining confidence." 

"I was very happy with the face/ head in this study. I used a new technique; instead of sketching the face with lines, I blocked-out the area with shading, changing the angle of the pencil depending on the heads natural angles. Once an accurate shape was established, I rendered with a darker 8B pencil. All head studies after this image were created using the same method. "

"Quick poses that focus on different areas of the body. I isolating body parts like this was out of my comfort zone. These were created with a jumbo HB pencil. "

"Created with a jumbo HB and 8B pencil. This was the first successful face or head that I captured. I used a new method, which involved shading instead of linework to block-out the head. The angle of my pencil changed based on the natural angles of the head." 

"These thumbnails, created with a jumbo HB pencil, show my growing confidence and experimentation with composition and isolation."

"The very first life drawing task, kick-starting May 2021. My linework is sharp and abstract, It's evident here I was out of practice. "

"This was the first long study I created at the beginning of life drawing. Drawn on a standing easel, this study shows my uncertainty of skull structure which is evident in the drawings' profile. All my head studies after this outcome gradually become better as I gain more confidence with head anatomy. "

"Created with a jumbo HB pencil, these thumbnails show confidence with my observation of the subjects' upper-body. "

"A strong drawing, but too stylised. At this stage, I was still relying on personal mark making decisions rather than observing the subject in front of me. "

"Using contrasting colours of purple and yellow through crayons, I used this study to focus on the upper-body. I enjoy the freedom of crayon, as it makes the initial blocking-out stage very casual and the large surface area of the medium makes decisions for you. At this stage, I was learning the importance of tonality over religious line work." 

"Created with two different green crayons, I focused on the skull or head structure rather than the subject's facial features. This piece could be benefit with working past the sketches' outline; improvements can make themselves known when you add a few scribbles over a sketch."

"I decided to isolate an area of the subjects' body  for this study. I found that proportions were tricky to capture when you can't compare or reference the rest of the body. 15 minutes wasn't long enough to render any interesting detail. "

"Strong facial features, but a weak jawline drags this study down. After this piece, I began gaining a better awareness for chin and neck bone structure. This piece was created with a jumbo HB and 8B pencil. "

"Turning my attention to the subject's body, I created this study with a jumbo HB and 8B pencil. I continued to use a rubber, carving our formations amongst graphite. I became more familiar with the subject's anatomy. "

"Created with two different blue crayons. I used this study to practice the basic face structure by focusing on broader shapes like the cheeks, nose and eye sockets, rather than details. The tones around the lips are very characterful and I think this is a decent portrait base. "

"Created with a jumbo 2B pencil and a rubber. At this stage, I began to learn a fundamental balance between mark making and erasing, and that they're both as important. Mistakes can be manoeuvred into recycled, new uses with a rubber. A rubber can also smudge graphite and identify new perspectives that elevate a study.  That being said, I can see proportion imperfections when looking at this piece from a distance e.g the forehead's position compared to the chin. "

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For this 'interval task', the model alternates between two poses every 60 seconds. When one of the two poses is revisited, I continue the same drawing but with a different colour. The result is an abstract study with many small alterations, as the pose will never be identical to the one before. 

Being the first attempt at this task, my outcomes are self-conscious and hesitant. Despite being the longest pose-hold duration, I think these sketches hold the least amount of detail and accuracy. I definitely found more success from doing this exercise with colour:

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For this 'interval task', the model alternates between two poses every 30 seconds. When one of the two poses is revisited, I continue the same drawing but with a different colour. The result is an abstract study with many small alterations, as the pose will never be identical to the one before. 

This pose was held for double the time compared to exercise #3. This time was used for accurate shading rather than detailing:

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Using colours helped me notice my drawing priorities; the blue was the first colour I used and focuses on the shoulders and ribcage. The pink was the last colour I used, and is mostly used for shading and the less dominant areas of the pose:

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"I really like the colour scheme created with blue and red crayons. The contrasting colours work very well as a duo to suggest shadows and highlights, and can be build-up from subtle to strong tones. I also noticed how easy crayons can be erased, and I tried to establish some highlights on the nose and cheekbone with a firm rubber. " 

"I used a 4B jumbo pencil and a firm rubber to chisel and refine this sketch. I enjoyed this method, in which, no mark is permanent as it can be erased and re-attempted, similar to acrylic paint or charcoal. I enjoyed this new-found approach to using graphite. "

"This pencil sketch was created with a single line that never leaved the page. I tired to capture tones instead of outlining the subject, and this helped discourage inaccurate proportions, because shading keeps a pencil in the same space for a period of time, long enough to think about the correct way to progress a study."

"created using red and blue crayon alongside a blue pencil for intricacies. I rendered this study by focusing on values, rather than linework. I was surprised how well this method worked. Areas like the hands, feet and face are records of how light interacted with the subjects body."

"I thoroughly enjoyed working with crayon. This study specifically has an interesting colour combination to distinguish shadows from highlights. My tonal work is honest; I fixed mistakes when I noticed them instead of ignoring them."

"A very strong and successful upper-body study using a Jumbo HB and 8B pencil. I learnt to question all my marks, and to expect success in risk-taking. I should peruse mark-making that's honest to the subject in front of me." 




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An exercise to help develop my observational skills. This task involves only drawing the subjects skin. Clothing therefore covers most of the torso, and you're left with 'islands' of visible skin. This task is challenging, as you can't use surrounding information as reference to your sketch. Instead, Its trial and error. 

Proportions are challenging to record when isolating the body in this way. It takes many mistakes to identify correct 'islanding'. I found myself getting distracted with clothing, especially on the legs, but I slowly learnt how to focus on the subjects skin rather than their surroundings. 

I created a 5 minute sketch using pencil, and then went bolder with coloured biro. The pen helped identify re-attempts, and is also a challenge with the existing marks on the paper:

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"Focusing on the upper body, I was able to create digestible and readable sketches that suggest the subjects gestures. "

"A combination of blue and red crayon. I used the blue as a base, then rendered ear, eye and nose values with the red. "

"Probably my strongest face study, created using a Jumbo HB and 8B pencil. I can see my knowledge of face structure getting stronger, and I've also identified an 'S' shape that is consistently seen from the tear duct, swooping around the cheek and past the lip corners. This has better helped me render the cheek areas of my face studies. Using a rubber to emphasise highlights has also elevated this study. " 

"I used red and blue biro's to complete this abstract study. I gradually moved away from cross-hatching, and used my very limited knowledge of face muscle structure to achieve the final outcome. "