Figure Drawing Challenge Week 3

So have been playing catch up again for week 3, been focused on painting and my figure drawing fell to some neglect, something I'm going to have to work harder on.

This week in the challenge was about building up anatomy,  The first steps were learning a number of techniques to start with, such as the lightning bolt, the coil, and the arc.  We then learnt about the major muscle groups.

What I have learnt through this week primarily is that without consistent practice the quality starts to drop, after working through the last week, I think I will need to go back and re-practice each stage.

Mini-Adventure #002 Three Galleries

This morning I set out to visit three art galleries: The National Portrait Gallery, The National Gallery of Australia, and the Canberra Museum and Gallery.  Apologies for the lack of Photos as I was going into galleries I left my camera at home.

Getting off at the Albert hall stop, I had a nice little walk down past Questicon and old parliament house, I decided to head first into the National Portrait Gallery, which has the "In the Flesh" Exhibition on at the moment, which I was pretty keen to see.  Entering the Exhibit, you encounter several sculptures by Sam Jinks which are absolutely stunning, and their placement around the exhibit really emphasises the themes throughout the exhibit.

All the work displayed in the exhibit is fantastic and worth viewing but to me its really Sam Jinks work that brings the exhibit to life.  If you're in Canberra I'd highly recommend checking it out, its not a very expensive exhibit and well worth the admission price.

I wandered around the rest of the gallery, and then popped into the cafe for a coffee, and reflected on the experience.  Before heading over to the National Gallery,  where I checked out the entrance to the current paid exhibit James Turrell which looks really good, but a bit too pricey for what I had on me, so it will be for another time.  I then entered through the Impressionism section and worked my way through the upper floor galleries, ending up at the Impressions of Paris exhibition.

Impressions of Paris is a collection of works by Honore-Victorin Daumier, Edgar Degas and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and if you're in town definately drop in to check it out before it closes 15 March.

Daumier's work dominates the exhibit taking up the whole of the downstairs area, and gives you the chance to really get absorbed in his fantastic figures and caricatures, then head upstairs to check out the work by Degas and Toulouse-Latrecs.  Fantastic free exhibit.

Finally I decided to walk back to Civic along Lake Burley Griffin.

I hummed and sang as I walked along what was a little longer walk than I expected, but made it back into civic to head into the Canberra Museum and Gallery to check out their pulse exhibit.  

After the exhibit I took a quick stroll through a few of the other galleries there.  After grabbing a quick bite to eat, I ended up at Gus's cafe for a really nicely made Mocha, which I drank while doing a few sketches in my notebook.  All in all a fantastic day.

Figure Drawing Challenge Week 2

I've been continuing to work away at the Figure drawing challenge each day (strangely there doesn't seem to be an assignment for day 14...) 

Day 8 the focus was on drawing simplified Heads

Day 9 I worded on the simplifying the torso 

 and on Day 10 Hands and feet

 Day 11 was putting them all together and doing some timed gestures.

Day 12 we worked on negative space, something that I struggled with, but enjoyed.

 And on Day 13 we focused on practicing those areas.

Figure drawing has been something I've struggled with for a while, and though I'm still struggling, I feel I'm improving in it, and it is getting quicker and easier for me each time I practice.

If you'd like to keep up with my progress, and to see other artwork I am working on please like my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Art.Chris.Beacock

To see my current portfolio, please go to my website www.balen13.com

In other news if you've been following this blog for a while you might remember that last July I took part in the RAW Artists showcase, for those who didn't see it this was my review of the showcase, and due to this I am eligible for the RAW Australia Awards, which will start in February 1st 2015, I will post details on that date on how to vote, please consider doing so, as it may mean a step up in my artistic career.

Mini-Adventure #001 - Mount Rogers

Lately I have been reflecting on what I want more of in my life, so that I can set about bringing that in for something more fulfilling.  2015 I feel for me is going to be a very action orientated year, its time to get things done, and get myself out there into the world.  Which brings me to this mini-adventure, I decided I want more adventure in my life, not in the extreme, like sky diving, but just exploring the world around me, and taking photos of what catches my eye.  and so hence the mini-adventures were born!

So for the first one this morning, I decided to make the trek up Mount Rogers.  Mount Rogers is not a very high mountain (704m according to wikipedia) nor is the trek very strenuous but it does have some good views and is close.  As for most of my life I have been close to this mountain, it has always been a sort of getaway for me when times got tough.  There is something about a mountain I find that puts your problems into perspective, as large as they seem, they are dwarfed while you are elevated.

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