My employer, Firstborn, organized a company trip to the BODIES exhibition at the South Street Seaport in NYC. I'd been before, about two years ago, so I knew what to expect and came with sketchbook and drawing materials in hand. Or, well, I *thought* I knew what to expect. I forgot or didn't realize that there were no seats anywhere near interesting views of the exhibits, so I had to prop my large, heavy sketchbook up on my left arm. Eventually my arm cramped, and that was the end of my drawing session. Oh, well. Thought I'd share some drawings, invite some crit. Click on images for full-size. I like drawing in pen. Even though it's "dangerous" in that every mark is effectively permanent, I find it freeing. I've drawn with pens since I was a child, so over the years I've learned to work mistakes back into the drawing, which has freed me from fear of making mistakes. I got really sketchy on the hand in the foreground, which is funny because it ends up being the focal point of the drawing. My left arm locked up while I was drawing the torso here. I pushed through it to draw the arms and hands and the ball, but the pain became unbearable when I tried to move to the legs. Disappointing. This is actually the final exhibit, placed adjacent to the table and chairs for filling and signing the Guest Book. I took a chair and sat down to draw, but I was out of the zone... there are proportion flaws that I just didn't feel invested enough to correct, so I quit without even attempting to draw the head.

Third time's a charm. *I hate it when my browser eats my posts*


I can really see that practice has given your figures a sense of form and structure. keep it up.


The last one is definitely the weakest. The left shoulder is too big and the whole form seems too serpentine. It lacks structure and just seems flat.

The top one really caught my attention with the pose and strong lines. As your mentioned, the hand really is a focal point so a lot more detail would have really given it a wow-factor. You can also see some fudging around the feet and legs (I tend to do that too). My favorite part is the rib cage where the shadowing really lends to a strong form.

My favorite of the three is the middle one. The shape-welding of the shadows really lends to three-dimensionality and shows that your were really paying attention when you drew it. The details on the right elbow and ribs are the best part. I also like the muscles under the neck. Perhaps you could have extended this same technique to the basketball and made it share some share some shadows with the hands. Making the shadows work their way into the grooves of the ball would have been neat too.

On an offhand note, do you frame your drawings before you start? The middle one looks like it may have been but the other two don't look as planned. It's a technique I picked up in school last semester and I've found it really helps me determine a layout and pose.

Keep it up dude!