Reflections on Manikens and getting back into the swing of drawing

This week I found drawing to be quite a challenge. Last class period I had alot going on in my mind and I think it totally showed in the way I was drawing. Instead of having strong and confident lines, I kept drawing line after line trying to get the right one and ended up with a bunch of unwanted and chaotic lines that weren't unified. I also think I was kind of rusty with life drawing as it had been about 2 weeks since we last drew from our models. Anyways, I think the Manikens have been kind of interesting to do. I haven't quite figured out the best technique for putting the clay on the maniken, whether i should create the basic shape of the muscle before i put it on the maniken or if i should just build up the muscle on the maniken a little at a time. i'm not quite sure yet, but i'll have to try building it up this time as i had been mainly making the muscles first and then putting them on.
i hope that i will be able to really learn the different muscles of the body and be able to easily recognize them on our models so i can better represent the actually contours and forms. i've also found the bone structure lessons quite interesting- i especially found it interesting to learn that we build bones by actually putting strain on them from using our muscles and that allows the bones to grow and take in calcium. Very interesting! anyways, I will post some pictures of my drawings as soon as i get back to the art building! cheers!