99 Drawings:100 Days

I bought the Structure of Man dvds quite a while back and I thought it was time that I talked about them a little on my blog.  This is an anatomy drawing course developed by Riven Phoenix of AlienThink based in Texas.  The total running time of the 5 dvds is 43 hours.  Each video lesson has a duration of about 10-20 minutes.  I’m still working on disc 1.  In fact I’m still on the first few lessons.  A lot of the instructions is based on formulas of human proportions which are hundreds of years old, but they are very useful.  I suppose once you learn how the draw the different body parts using the formulas, you can gradually start integrating you own style into the drawings.  So far the lessons are helping me with proportions so I don’t draw too big for the page.  From what I’ve watched of the dvd series, I like it very much.  I have read on some forums that people think the videos are quite dull and boring, but I really enjoy them much better that just drawing figures from a book.  I usually draw along with the videos.  Then the next day I’ll try to draw everything again but without watching the videos.  After that I move on to the next lesson.  The entire set is only $45 dollars.  That’s a great deal when you consider you are getting 43 hours worth of videos.

This is Bargue Drawing Plate 6.  Overall I felt good about this drawing.  One thing that I do need to improve is blending.  I don’t know if it’s my technique or the quality of paper that I use, but achieving a seamless blending has proven difficult.  I just draw these in regular sketchbooks, so perhaps I am pressing too hard when drawing and breaking the little tooth that the paper has.  This would make sense why it would be hard to blend.  I am going to experiment and try to correct this.

KJ