I used three different mediums and three different models for this exercise.
The first one above was the same model that I've mentioned before, and my in sketchbook - the woman who can't stay still very easily. There was something that wasn't particularly the relaxed about her pose, although she was lying down. From my perspective, it looked as though her arm was in an awkward position, bent out at a right angle to her body. Her right leg dangled over her bent left leg - and this I think was the only part of her pose that had a relaxed but lively quality. The proportions were a bit tricky - lots of foreshortening especially with her top half and the dangling leg.
Another model and medium - I'm not very well practiced with charcoal (there's something about it that I don't feel fits my drawing style - too fluid and unpredicatable perhaps) - however it was a nice medium to use for attempting to focus on the structure of her body under her skin. Again quite a lot of foreshortening with the right arm and leg in particular, which I don't think I dealt with too badly except the arm looks sat a slightly unnatural angle.
The proportions aren't too bad apart from her head, which seems too small. The model was leaning on her other hand on the stool, which you can't see - but it is easy to see that her body is leaning slightly. I think I lost focus/got distracted while doing this drawing so I'd like to have another go - I don't think I made the most of what the brief asking me to do at the time.
Research Point: Anatomical drawing
My anatomy book of choice was Anatomy for the Artist by Jeno Barcsay, and apart from it being a bit of a disappointing read (unless you're a biologist or surgeon or something!), it does have some great anatomical drawings in it. Also it has a really good example of drawing a central axis line through the body to establish how the body mass is weighted and angled.
It was something I had pointed out in an earlier project - not really being able to see how it was a useful exercise to draw this line, but looking through this book has effectively shown me that it is a useful exercise to imagine this line as the invisible framework of the body - and it really helps if you want the balance of the figure to look natural.
I tried to draw my own version (right) of the book's anatomical drawings of hands, focusing on the muscles beneath my skin and using light and dark to indicate the various shapes. I have quite pudgy hands and stubby fingers so it was really hard for me to imagine the skeleton underneath, but the mass of tissue and the way it squashes against other parts helped to me imagine the muscular structure.
And here I was able to notice a similarity with a drawing I did in life drawing class. The perspective and huge amount of foreshortening really forced me to focus on the structure of her body and why it looks the way the way it does - the way her pelvis protrudes in such a way and why her breast hangs to one side.
Again with this drawing I focused on the way the body was working underneath the models outer layer, the way it twists and tenses in places, and lays flacid and relaxed in others.
Here I tried to imagine the muscles under her skin working to keep her standing upright - her weight sits predominantly on the left leg so the muscle would be more pronounced than that of the right, and the muscles around her right shoulder stretching to allow her arm to wrap around her front. It's a bit of strange drawing but it putting emphasis on the structure of the body has really helped my life drawings.
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