Memory drawing and quicks in charcoal

Finally, PROOF that I don't know what I'm doing.
I love to rise to a challenge. It brings out my contrary nature. My first day back at PAFA brought me just the sort of test I like. One of my all-time favorite instructors at PAFA, Scott Noel, asked us to prove just how much we really knew about the human figure. SO, without presenting us with a model to study or any other preamble..he asked us to draw a figure from memory...just like that. On the first day of class!...just "GO"! I thought that this was a profoundly useful diagnostic and just the sort of thing I need to start doing all the time. I like the idea of confronting my weakest areas and looking at the ugly deficiencies in my skills. That's why I like quicks or croquis, because there is not enough time to hide your errors. Anyway, here's that drawing.

Interestingly, he said that these drawings also showed evidence of what we thought was important in a drawing...I'll have to give that more thought.

Today in one of my other classes, taught by Renee Foulks (another phenomenal instructor and painter), I had to do some 5 minute quicks. They're ugly too.


So, when I got home today,I decided to do a memory drawing of that seated pose. Here's that dwg.


No pain, No gain right? My tentative plan is to combine anatomy studies with quicks and memory drawings until I feel more confident. I have no doubt that I will see major improvements by the end of the semester.