Manikin March Sketching Continues.
Well I’m back with my next update on my #31daysmanikinmarch sketching challenge to myself. I’m falling a bit behind as I have had some sick children of late and some unexpected health issues with my own father thrown in the mix, however, I find retreating to the sketchbook as a way to focus my attention on something else and hey this manikin doll doesn’t talk back, cry, shout, demand things but he also doesn’t laugh, tell jokes, help with the dishes, or bring me flowers.
If this is the first time you are checking in on my challenge, I will give a bit of background. My dear friend gave me this Manikin for my birthday because I had said I have such trouble trying to draw the human figure. I have been trying to progress beyond my stickman days. Not an easy task when I have not been trained to view details. I’m more of I see the whole forest and not each individual tree. I want to see each individual tree. The coarse, rough texture of its bark or the soft, velvety leaves. My biggest obstacle is drawing what I see and not what I think I see. And I have to throw away the eraser as I get bogged down in erasing to make it look better. I’m trying to make these sketching be very quick as I don’t have a lot of time, but when I have the eraser I think I spend more time erasing then anything else.
I also stumbling across a Doodle Man named Adam at my local Chapters/Indigo Store (not a sponsored post) just telling you in case you are looking for one for yourself as well. He is made out of wires and can bend into positions the wooden manikin man can’t. I started with him on day 11. I will post at the end which I preferred and pros and cons I discovered about each. Stay tuned. Now on to the updates.
Days 8 -13
My husband said this guy looks like he is getting ready to block a soccer ball shot and I thought he was holding himself because he had to go to the bathroom. Note: none of this was thought of when I am putting the Manikin man in a position.
This is probably one of the sketches that I like the most so far as he actually looks like he is running and it is a side view which I find difficult.
I had wanted him to bend and touch his toes but alas he can’t reach.
And here he is Doodle Adam in all his metal glory.
My mind was just not in it for today’s sketch. I had wanted to give this new guy a try but this is the same day my daughter was sick so I really couldn’t focus. I realize now I made him with a very large chest. He has bulked up considerably. His upper body doesn’t match his skinny lower half. Oops!
Here is an example of how Doodle Adam can bend in ways that the wooden manikin can not. I did, however, have to prop him up because he couldn’t hold the pose.
I tried to ignore all the wire more this time. I thought perhaps staring at all the detail was not helping get the proportions correct. So I am going to spend less time on the wire detail. For those of you who are seasoned pros I bet you doodle adam’s with the wire detail looks awesome. I would love to see one if anyone did one.
Well there we have my latest update. Remember you can follow my progress using the #31daysmanikinmarch on Instagram.
Cheers and happy sketching,
Bonnie
Here are the first two posts in the series:
