26.2.12

Toronto Zoo 2012!!!

Dan, Annie and I went to the zoo today to check out the animals. I am pretty sure I saw the hyenas AWAKE for the very first time. We spent some time drawing them... SOOOO COOOOOL!

Below is my pencil drawing and a rendered version.




I have more zoo drawings, but nothing worth showing.... 

Not that anyone follows my blog... but I have a question...

How does everyone feel about drawing from life versus a photograph? I always draw from life (when I am not at work) and I find it to be a lot more challenging, but I also notice I learn a lot more about structure and form....

Any thoughts?



5 comments:

  1. I paint portraits from photographs but have been taking a life drawing course the past couple of months and I feel like I am learning a ton from it. It kind of teaches you a new way of looking at things. I feel like the things I learn in class are definitely beneficial to my painting as well.

    I want to try figure drawing in a wax museum. Think thats allowed?

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  2. Hey Nic, I loved this. I don't know which is more challenging. I can imagine having animals/people/things moving constantly would be annoying and perhaps more challenging than using a photograph but I would think getting really skilled at painting or drawing from a non-moving still would only benefit the life art??? :) I lvoe hyenas....did you know they are the only mammals that have pseudo penises ???? - ie: the females have a fake penis - so creepy

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  3. Thanks for the replies! I think that drawing/painting from pictures has it's good points... you know what you are going to get most of the time.. and it gives you room to experiment with different rendering styles. I think I stopped because I always feel like I am cheating somehow... like it isn't really "mine".

    I think that both approaches have pros and cons... I think drawing from photos really help with the nitty gritty details, whereas drawing from life adds a different level of understanding to an art piece. Neither is right or wrong, they are just different.

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    Replies
    1. I agree with you on photo vs. life reference. The hyena looks great!

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  4. Hi Nic!!!
    It's been a while since I show up here!!! So sorry!!! ;) I'm always running lately, but from time to time I take a few minutes to take a look at your things! Your drawings are really awesome! I always love them!
    Are you, by any chance, asking this question because of the task Vicky gave Danny??? rsrsrsrs =D By the way, you did a great job with that too. The tricky thing is to be able to give life to a picture.In my humble opinion it's far more dificult to draw from a picture and still make it credible. Do you know what I mean?? Please forgive my english!! Sometimes words just don't fit in what I'm thinking!!! ;) Anyway, you're doing a deally great job!!!
    HI ALISON!!!

    LOVE U!!!
    MISS U!!!!

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