Part 2 Project 5 Exercise 1 Animal line study

I actually started the preliminary studies for this exercise in late July while I was staying with family. As we do not have pets and any other available animal subjects where we live in Cotonou, Benin, I thought it would be wise to do these sketches while I had live subjects to work with.

It is amazing how active a sleeping animal is. For my studies of the Labradors, the German Shepherd and the cat, I picked moments when they were less mobile. To my astonishment, this did not mean that they would remain in one position for any length of time. They would move position every three or four minutes, meaning that my sketches had to remain gestural in nature. Occasionally they would return to a pose similar to a previous pose, but usually at a different angle, meaning that from my viewpoint, anyway, it was a different pose.

I did, however, really enjoy trying to get to gist of the poses and body forms represented. It was a restful and contemplative few hours of sketching.

This is one of my favorite sketches. Unfortunately, the ink from the following page seeped through leaving blotches. I particularly liked the little pattern of hairs towards the end of the sweep of the curled back.
 

I enjoyed studying the detail of the muzzle and claws.

Sadie sleeping.

Prone Labrador

Perspective of head rather awkward.

 

Great Dane mutt with a spongy nose.



Alsatian pressed against the couch.

Ginger cat

The Labradors, in particular, had a sense of bulk and their skin seemed to sag down at their sides. I tried to indicate this with the indication of skin folds. Their heads were also the most interesting areas as the rest of their bodies curled about with very little detail. I did enjoy studying their claws and their closed eyes. The Great Dane mutt was comical to draw, as his head is such a weird combination of forms. His nose is like putty when scrunched up against the floor or a nearby couch. The German shepherd stayed still the longest allowing me the luxury of drawing him for an extended period. The angle of the pose called for foreshortening which was a bit of a challenge.

The ginger cat proved to be a frenetic sleeper. He would just drop off to sleep and then shift position entirely, scratch, and then collapse in yet another pose. So I did not have much success drawing him.

Whilst trying to gear up for my final sketches, I looked at the work of fellow student Martin. I absolutely love his sketches of the rhinoceros iguanas. His attention to pattern and gestural strokes is superb.

I completed some preliminary sketches of my parents Jack Russell. I found that my sensitivity of line improved with each sketch, allowing for a clearer depiction of the dozy, restful pose of Zoey.

 

Napping Jack Russell

Drowsy Jack Russell

Aborted Fine Sharpie Sketch

Where I really struggled was to create a drawing with a similar sense of sensitivity on a large-scale A2 drawing. My first attempt with a Sharpie fine marker really did not go well. I then changed to a water color crayon. I though this was going okay until the very end. Once the body was sketched in, the Jack Russell was horribly deformed with a disproportionate head. I felt thoroughly discouraged, but decided to try one more attempt.

This final sketch is better proportioned, but still lacks the spontaneity that I so wanted to get into my sketch. As I am way behind schedule, I will need to push on, but I do feel that this whole exercise could do with some further work as I am still not free enough in my gestural rendition of these animals. I think that my Alsatian is probably about the best sketch I managed to execute. It does not look tired or overworked and the lines are loose and gestural.




Disproportioned Sketch

Final Sketch
 

Somehow, the smaller version of this drawing has far more feeling and the lines are more expressive. I don't know if the fact that I am working on a large scale on a tabletop has anything to do with my lack of being able to get expressive lines out of my final sketch.