Faceless Figures

Hi Mom.

No classes today (woo) to make up for MLK JR Day. So with my afternoon (since I spent all morning organizing my passport hard drive and digging up a couple of old computer's worth of files) I decided to draw (shocker).

At one point I received an email from madeby Gallery (the little store/gallery on the first floor of my dorm/Student Center) asking students to submit some pieces to possibly sell. They wrote, "Often, customers come in with the interest of the nude human body, done in a soft and sensual way. The artwork that sells the most however, is the pieces with no identity or face. So, that is exactly what madeby gallery is looking for: nudes with “no faces”, with SOFT and SENSUAL theme."

Sounds right up my alley, whether or not the drawings I start actually end up anywhere. Beware, these got a little morbid. So rather than just leave the faces blank, I decided to go with a cloth/veil sort of theme because nothing says soft and sensual like some flowy fabric! (maybe that's just me...)

All of these are 9x12 btw, done in my sketchbook.

First one started off very simple. My go to website for free figure models posing is Figure & Gesture Drawing. It's pretty sweet cause it's got a ton of variety and you can also set it to a timer, which is a good habit especially when you're doing figure drawing homework and you have to have 10 five minute gestures. For this though, I just hit pause and took my time while trying not to be too meticulous to the point of it being stiff.

 Second one is where it got a little morbid seeing as I had the fabric wrap around her head. So she is essentially hanging herself. It was at this point that I realized my bitter feelings towards the ideology of women's body's mattering more than their personalities or thoughts had subconsciously slipped into my drawings. GO WITH IT, I decide. Because art, especially Illustration, is about sending a message, so why not.  This one is probably my second favorite of the bunch.

 #3 is probably my favorite because of a couple things. I've never been very good at sitting positions. Let alone ones where the hips twist and multiple parts are foreshortened. So this turning out how I actually PLANNED felt like a huge stepping stone. I'm in love with the curve of the hip and waist. Ignore crappy scanning (with the next drawing slightly bleeding through)

 #4 Another sitting not too bad. The hand closest is a little large, but I intend to fix it if I go any further with it digitally.

 #5 I was determined on. This one defintely took me longer than the rest just because of that arch and keeping everything in relation to it in proportion. Super happy with it and the hand (we're focusing on those in Figure Drawing class right now so I actually sort of know what to do for a change instead of just hoping it'll look right).

 #6 I like because you can start to see the jaw in relation to the fabric being pulled over it. Plus another successful sitting pose. I really am liking my teacher this semester. He ACTUALLY TEACHES ME *gasp*

 #7 I really liked this one prior to adding the cloth. Meh. The original reference was a gorgeous photo from what looked like the 20s or 30s. Probably my least favorite of tonight by execution though.

#8 The head feels a little small after scanning it and really looking at it. Kind of a middle-low runner. Considering it was about 11 when I finished, I was starting to run out of steam.