Week 10 - FIELDTRIP!!!

This week we took a tip to Minneapolis to see the "Bodies" exhibit in the Mall of America, and to go to the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The Bodies exhibit was nothing like I expected. It was so interesting to see all of the open muscles and parts of the systems. I think the most surprising thing I discovered was that when I draw a pelvis, I completely rob it of depth. I was so interested in how deep the bone space actually was. It was also really neat to see all of the nerves and what happens to the different organs under certain circumstances. (ex: cancer). You couldn't think about what you were looking at for too long though... it gets a little unnerving to think about the fact that you were staring at flayed, preserved people.

The institute of art was interesting too. Being about the 3 or 4th time I've been there I was more curious about the limited edition exhibits. The one room that I thought was amazing was full of large scale (10 to 15 foot) wall scrolls and some calendar paintings of flowers. I couldn't imagine painting anything that large.

This week in class, we learned on how to draw skulls. I thought it was amazing to actually see the structure of a scull unfold on a piece of paper. I learned how to draw faces in high school, but this just brought it to an entirely different level. it was hard to figure out how to make the structure of the scull cohesive. Cross-contour drawing seemed difficult because of all of the different angles and spaces in the skull. The size of the cranium was also a challenge because it was difficult to try and proportion even when you are trying to draw what you see. I have a tendency to make the back too large and narrow, or make it short and tall. I also have a hard time seeing where the skull would connect to the neck and how to place it on the body. The head is the one thing I tend to avoid when doing things like gesture drawings.

(the second picture was drawn 4 weeks later)