Life Drawing

First thing's first, if you are looking to get into Animation at Sheridan than you need to look at the requirements. Sheridan has very specific drawings that you need to complete in order to be considered. Here is the link:

Sheridan Portfolio Requirements

*Also, keep in mind that all of this work is my property, so please do not copy or reproduce this work in any way** 

This post is about figure/life drawing, which is the first, and arguably the most important component of the portfolio. If you want to apply for this program and have not drawn any nude figures before, you should probably start now. If you are uncomfortable with nudes than I think bathing suits are alright. However, in the program you will be drawing nude figures so I would recommend getting used to it as soon as you can.

Figure drawing is something that you only get good at if you do it a lot. Where I live there was no studios that offered figure drawing locally, so I had to drive for an hour to get to one that did. I didn't get to go as often as I would have liked (it's really fun!!) so I don't think that my figure drawing is my strong suit.

If you don't have any access to a live model, there are plenty of online resources that you can use that have high resolution photos. This is what I use to practise anatomy between sessions. However, I would use this as a last resort because your drawings tend to be stiff when you use photos. This is my favourite website:

http://www.artmodeltips.com/poses/

All of the drawings that I submitted for my portfolio are done in conte and newsprint, which are the most commonly used mediums for figure drawing. This is what I would recommend using because you can get a variation of thick and thin lines with the "chisel tip" of the conte. Plus, I think it is what you have to use when you are in the program.

When it comes to actually drawing live models, try not to get caught up with the anatomy and shading. What I mean is, your drawings should look anatomically correct, but don't fuss over a specific area too much. Try to get the feeling of the pose as a whole. Loose, gestural "unfinished" looking drawings are completely acceptable. In fact, gestures that take only a couple of minutes are what professors are looking for! Make a point in trying to draw the Hands and feet of every pose! They are incredibly hard, and the only way that you will get better is to draw them a million times!

There are plenty of other tutorials you can look at online to give you an idea of how you should be drawing. Here are a few that I looked at when I was doing my portfolio:

https://www.youtube.com/user/KarlGnassStudios/videos
http://sheridanportfoliotips.blogspot.ca/p/life-drawing.html
**look at this one, it has tons of great Sheridan specific information!**
https://www.youtube.com/user/Cre8tivemark

Keep trying and don't give up! I hope that this was helpful. More to come!