LIFE DRAWING
sketchbook assignments
Golden
Fall 2011
Complete these very general assignments in your sketchbooks. Use them as jumping off
points if they lead you to even better ideas that make your sketchbook more personal.
Experiment with materials and scale.
1. (by Sept 6) 5 and 10 minute extended gesture and continuous line drawings. You
might start with a lighter value and darken the lines every few minutes as you get to
black. Take another minute and erase. Do 5 or 6 pages.
2. (by Sept 13) Complete a drawings of people showing horizontal and vertical
measuring lines. They might be sitting, studying, sleeping, frozen on TV. Use a different
color for the vertical and horizontals, but make sure the lines pass through at least 2
points. Include at least 3 or 4 pages.
3. (by Sept 20) Find a photograph of at least two, or several people and complete a
drawing using only the negative shapes. Create an interesting figure/ground
relationship. Use the whole page, or draw a rectangle or square and work within that
frame. Try tracing one to get the hang of it.
4. (by Sept 27) Fill a page in your sketchbook with graphite –a medium value – and use
the eraser tool to create a self-portrait. Now do one of someone from memory. Can
you do a piece of fabric with folds?
5. (by Oct 4) Find a contemporary (meaning alive and working!) artist’s website who
works with the human figure and print and paste 2 or 3 of their images in your
sketchbook. Pick someone you like. You could also cut up a magazine. Now complete a
life drawing in the sketchbook in the manner of the artist you chose.
6. (by Oct 11) Find an image of a study of a body part or head by one of the Master’s,
(daVinci, Michaelangelo, Rembrandt, Ingres, Lucien Frued, etc) and copy an arm, a leg, a
torso, or an ear. There are great books in the HCC Library, and many images on line.
7. (by Oct 18) Complete a study of your feet. Take off your shoes and pose your toes
and use at least some crosshatch to create value or contour.
8. (by Oct 25) Draw some self fantasy self portraits….1/2 you and half animal, selfportrait at 90, self-portrait as someone from history, self-portrait as the opposite
gender, self-portrait as a super-hero, self portrait or make up your own…
9. (by Nov 1) Write a paragraph or 3 about the visit to the Museum of Fine Arts Works
on Paper Study Center. You might pick a certain work and how it gave you an insight
into your own work. You might write about the difference between seeing artworks in
books versus in their actual size in person. You might write about a new favorite artist.
Complete sketches of at least 4 of the works on view.
10. (by Nov 8) Complete a figure drawing using expressive mark-making
11. (by Nov 15) Create a drawing of a nude in an impossible pose, but one that at fist
glance looks realistic. Include value. For example, arms might be in a knot, or a portrait
might have three eyes, or might be bent over backwards.
12. (by Nov 22) Complete a drawing of an animal, complete with value and a
background. Work from life, so if you don’t have a dog or cat or snake, go to the zoo or
Petsmart or Wabash Feed Supply or the Arboretum. If all else fails, there is the deer
head in FAC 204.
13. (by Dec 6) I know it’s almost finals week and you’re busy, so spend your time
getting your final portfolio together…your sketchbook should have at least 40-50 pages
filled by this time.