Reflections on BodyWorld at the MOA

I have to say that I was a little freaked out by all the remains of dead people in the Body World Exhibit. I think it was very cool how the bodies were preserved and turned into plastic, especially the central nervous system and the baby embryos. However, I personally had a little moral dilemma with the exhibit because I felt the bodies were a little too objectified. It was very hard for me to look at them all dissected and on display because I knew that they were once living and breathing human beings with souls. I was just going to write that I thought perhaps it would have been easier for me to look at the exhibit had I known a little bit about the background of the people's remains that were displayed, but now after saying it, I still don't think my mind would be totally at ease. For me, I completely understand why people would donate their bodies to science to help train medical students to become successful doctors help others, and I definitely do agree that these exhibits and the complexity of the human body is truly amazing and worth learning about. However, I just couldn't quite get over the fact that the bodies were on public display and were a little too objectified for me personally - maybe i could even say that since there was no mention of the names of the people who died or their histories, it seemed a little lacking in respect for who they were at one time (people, not objects).
Anyways, my aim here is not to get on a soap box about the value of life, but to just share my gut reactions to the show.
I did have an awesome time and really did learn quite alot about the muscles in the body and the immense complexity of our bodies! So all in all it was a great trip for me!

I will also say that I was truly amazed at the human embryos - it was so neat to see the progression of their development in the womb, yet so sad to hear how some of them died (but i'm glad to have known, because it recognizes their life and death).

Anyways, my next post will be on the how my drawings have been coming along. Until then,
Au Revoir!

More Feet and another long pose

This is my long pose drawing from yesterday's class.  I switched to pencil instead of my usual conte or charcoal and mapped out the form as quickly as possible.  I then came back in with some charcoal to accent certain parts of the drawing.  I think it could use some more refinement as to the darker marks with charcoal in order to give it more drama and visual appeal.  I look forward to seeing the "Body" exhibit on tuesday! 

Lots of feet!!!!

This week has been alot of fun for me since we've been focusing on the feet.  I really enjoy the "bony-ness" (if that's a word) of feet and it seems to be fun for me to draw.  It's definitely been a challenge for me to get the toes right (and the right amount), so as you can see in some of my drawings, i've ran out of time to complete the toes - or i just omitted them.  I also feel that I'm learning quite a bit about blocking out the general form of the foot and then coming back in with the contours.   I look forward to moving forward and learning about the hands.  

Link

Here's the link to my flickr photostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44090358@N04/with/4051187895/

Where I'm At- Mid-term check-up

So far this semester, I would say that I have learned the most about the skeletal structure of the spinal column, ribs, pelvic bones, and limbs. Secondly it's been very interesting for me to learn about the various muscles in our limbs and in hip area. I would say that learning about the ratios of the lungs to pelvic bones has been very helpful to me in learning to get my proportions right as I draw from our models. I would also say that learning to look for the spinal muscles and curvature has been huge in getting the essential gesture of the models in my drawings.
I would say that my weaknesses right now is my tendency to jump into drawing without looking hard first at my model and using too many heavy lines without hierarchy. I would like to improve on my linework throughout the semester and really be sensitive in the marks I put down and establish hierarchy and visual interest with my linework.
I would also like to improve my knowledge of the muscles of the body with the maniken and be able to translate that into my drawing. When I first shot the pictures for this maniken, I didn't do a very delicate job of putting on the muscles. So since then, I've come to realize that I can do much better and have subsequently changed alot of the quads and hamstrings. I will add pictures of those as soon as I have them done!
I think that's all I have for right now!

Maniken photos

Here is the latest pics of my maniken!

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!