home › Forums › Challenges & Activities › 100 Day Art Challenge › Composite’s 100 Days of Figure Drawing
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November 15, 2021 at 3:39 am #1931953
Day 38. Hello again! I’m back. It’s been a bit over a week since I last did any drawing because various things came up, but I’m keen to keep my commitment to the 100 day challenge and I’m picking up where I left off.
I drew more slowly and carefully, and with a finer-tip pen this time. I actually like the results much more than my previous day of the challenge (37)! Maybe having a bit of a break let me reset a bit. I think the main difference is just drawing more carefully and deliberately.
Coming back now again reminds me of how much I love the idea of dedicating myself to this until I reach a masterful level with it. I’m very keen to improve my fundamentals, my accuracy, and my ability to represent form in 3D space.
I love drawing and I can’t wait to reach that 100 days!
November 16, 2021 at 3:42 am #1936124November 17, 2021 at 4:30 am #1940889Day 39. Here’s my second attempt at this day since I was too tired last night.
I spent most of my time trying to draw a still life, the final task from Sheldon Borenstein’s Stress-Free Sketching. I want to improve my fundamentals, and I know I still have a long way to go.
I then went halfway through Jean’s session from Daily Life Drawing before I started to get too late to continue. Maybe I can finish the session tomorrow. I think I might learn more if I focus on fundamental skills rather than just figure drawing alone.
However, if I keep drawing the figure, I might gradually be able to apply what I’m learning as I go and that might show in my work.
I already feel like the quick figures I’ve drawn tonight are an improvement over what I was drawing a month ago.
November 18, 2021 at 4:02 am #1942233Day 40. I began by spending an hour on still life drawings, then I did my figure drawings for today.
I was a bit unhappy with the first two figure drawing pages, then I switched to pen because I think I get better results with it.
I think I will begin each drawing session with basic shapes or still life so I can improve my fundamentals. I feel I still can’t represent form as well as I’d like.
November 19, 2021 at 2:25 am #1943374Day 41. I’m not that happy with these. There’s just *so* much I have yet to learn. So many details of the body I’m yet to be able to describe, and I my figures don’t quote come together that we’ll.
I’m not quite sure how to tackle all these problems other than “draw more, lol”. I know improvement is not exactly guaranteed if I just keep drawing while making the same mistakes.
I’ll also try and practise more still life so I can improve my fundamentals. I kind of don’t want to because it’s a bit boring, but I absolutely want to improve as I have a very long way to go.
November 22, 2021 at 6:11 am #1950548Day 42. After asking for advice on what would be most valuable to focus on, I was told “structure”. So I rewatched a Steve Huston lesson and made an attempt with one of the Daily Figure Drawing models (Barry). My main focus was the lightly-drawn figure on the right.
I think I got more out of this than doing just another 35-minute figure drawing session, because it made me think far more carefully.
I hope to improve what I’ve done here by drawing with better proportions and more accurate lines, but the key for me right now is to learn to apply simple but characteristic shapes to forms. I’d like to get better at doing this!
November 23, 2021 at 4:38 am #1954883Day 43. I feel like I will get much more out of focusing on just one figure drawing at this point, at least if my time is limited.
This way, I can take my time to draw as best I can without time pressure.
I also visited the museum today with a friend, as she suggested we go there and draw the taxidermied animals (specifically birds, as I am most interested in drawing them).
I also picked up a book on bird anatomy for artists by Dr Natalia Balo, which is high-level and specific.
I absolutely loved drawing at the museum, and I’m finding a lot of joy in being able to begin to represent form in a way that’s approaching “readable”! I feel like I’m making progress and that’s making me really happy!
November 28, 2021 at 5:25 am #1968292Day 44. I’m feeling frustrated with how these forms are turning out, but I guess it’s just more bad drawings out of the way. I will practice my fundamentals a bit more.
I have also been haphazard with my drawing and I want to draw every day. Life gets in the way all the time, but I could keep my commitment better.
I also smudged the third page by accident while holding my book on that side to take the photo of page 2. 🙁
November 28, 2021 at 6:15 am #1968335Also day 44: I decided to give it another go this evening, this time starting with a paper stump to put down large forms to start with, following up with pen. I’m happier with the result!
It’s also the end of this sketchbook, so that’s good! I’m really happy I’ve put enough hours in to finish that one.
November 30, 2021 at 4:57 am #1976066Day 45. I had a pretty frustrating time this evening. I wanted to simplify a bird into basic shapes, but I couldn’t figure it out despite spending about an hour thinking as hard as I could about what shapes to use.
I then decided I’d try to draw boxes to practise basics, but I’m finding my lines don’t work together. They tend to go in different directions, not presenting a unified shape, and that’s why they don’t look good. I find it hard to produce parallel lines. The synergy I want is not there, and that’s a problem for figure drawing too. I need to improve on that aspect.
I think my frustration comes through with my figure drawings too, because they ended up a lot more careless than usual. I also had water coming inside my house from the amount of rain we’ve had today, which didn’t help my mood.
Maybe I’ll do better tomorrow.
December 5, 2021 at 3:52 am #1988123Day 46. I’m drawing in a larger sketchbook now. I began with more basic and fundamentals (I think I’ll continue starting my sessions like this), then a 25-minute figure drawing session.
I feel I’m making progress compared to a month ago! I can start depicting the twist of a form and it actually reads. I have such a long way to go, but it’s all one small step at a time.
December 6, 2021 at 3:48 am #1990535Day 47. I’ve been trying to focus on getting more accurate, consistent lines to get a more professional, less amateurish look.
I feel like I just ended up spending about 5 times as long on drawings that looked proportionally nowhere near as good as the extra time I spent.
I think the most important part for most aspects is the initial lay-in, as it has the most influence over the whole drawing. So I might get more out of more, smaller drawings.
December 7, 2021 at 3:32 am #1994361Day 48. I’m unhappy with these, they didn’t come together today. There’s so many things wrong that I don’t know what to focus on first. I can’t find those rhythms.
I’m tired, so maybe I will be able to do better tomorrow.
December 7, 2021 at 9:54 am #1995875Gesture is a lot harder than the masters make it look. I think these are very much in line with what most people are making at your experience level. Just keep at it!
December 8, 2021 at 3:01 am #1998347Thank you, William! Yes, I watch Glenn Vilppu draw gesture lines and they are just so *characteristic* of the form. They have all the subtlety and nuance needed to describe the form really succinctly, and I’d love to be able to do that too! I 100% intend to keep gaining experience and trying my absolute best to improve. I want to put the hours in, but I want to spend them wisely, rather than just drawing aimlessly. That way, hopefully, I’ll improve faster.
It might sound a bit corny to say this, but I have a burning desire to master drawing. If it takes ten years, so be it. I want to master this above any other skill! I want to put 10,000 hours into this. I’m saying this mostly to keep motivating myself. Anyway, that’s how much I want to do it! I have such a stupidly long way to go, but I want to get there. Thanks for looking at my 100 day challenge progress so far!
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