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I took a friend of mine out of a painting I was doing and replaced her with someone else as the other person seemed to fit better (I'll post photos of the painting as soon as I can get it scanned because I can't seem to get a good photo of it). So my friend wouldn't feel so bad about me taking her out of the painting I went ahead and used her in my final homework drawing for my life drawing class instead.

This was done for the class I mentioned in this thread: Some students want B's for effort, survey says I knew I would have to leave no doubt in ANYONE's mind that I deserve better than a B- in my class with this final project because I suspect I will have to fight my final grade (the issue I'm having is mentioned in the thread). Well, I think I probably did it because the only comment I could get out of my instructor was "wow" during open critiques......we shall see.

Anyway, this is done from life in three separate sittings (one to get the background blocked in, one to get her and the goats blocked in and one to block in the values). Then I spent many hours on it refining at home. There are of course some issues I'm noticing and I believe I've overworked it in areas, but it's done and I'm sure she'll be pleased. It's 18" x 24" and done in vine and regular charcoal.

Note: Because it is a photo it turned out a little washed out on the right side:

I think "Wow" is a pretty good place for me to start. That's fantastic!

Wow is right! That is amazing!

Your drawings are so lovely!

I just went and read your post about your grades and your instructor. Welcome to art school! Back in the day, all my life from kindergarten up until college, I loved to draw, if I'd kept it up I might have been nearly as good as you (but not quite!), but I was on my way, I enjoyed it and I'd spend hours and hours on it. All it took to stop me from drawing forever were two very unqualified drawing professors teaching Drawing 1 and Drawing 2, when I was an art major at redneck university in Tennessee. They were HORRIBLE teachers, and the work they forced us to do was lifeless and ugly. None of us was allowed to express our own styles, we had to do it their way, none of us was allowed to draw subjects we wanted to, we had to draw what they told us to (mostly rocks). They also didn't seem to want to teach us much of anything in terms of technique or tools. I learned absolutely nothing from either of them.

No matter how hard anyone worked in their classes, no matter how much effort or time put in, no matter if we followed the syllabus to the letter and did everything asked, these two instructors gave EVERYONE a C grade no matter what. If they liked your work, you may have gotten a C+. It ruined our GPAs at the school, until I took those two classes I was on the Dean's List. At the time, those two guys were the ONLY drawing teachers there that I was allowed to take. There was only one other drawing teacher, but I wasn't allowed to have him because he only taught the non-art majors, he taught art minors and the other students who wanted an elective drawing class for fun. His students' work was really interesting, they were drawing really interesting subjects, and he was actually TEACHING them. Once I was working at night in one of the art rooms on an assignment (it was probably graphic design), when one of his (the good drawing teacher) students came in to the same room to work on something else. She had something in her art box I'd never seen before and I asked her about it. She was shocked I didn't know what it was, it was a blending stump, used to make soft shading when drawing with graphite or charcoal, she learned about it and how to use it from the good drawing professor. No, my two worthless drawing professors never showed us this tool. Never. None of us would have been allowed to use it anyway, they didn't want us to use much in the way of shading. Those two professors absolutely ruined drawing for me, I've never drawn anything since then.

Now that I look back, almost all the art instructors gave nothing but C grades to everyone, no matter what. It was terribly frustrating. There was the good drawing instructor I mentioned above, he apparently gave grades based on merit and work, but I didn't have his class. Then, after I'd been there a couple of years, they got a new professor who was really excellent, he taught Drawing, Painting, Graphic Design, and Photography. He actually gave grades based on merit, too. I had him for a few classes, but he arrived too late to save me completely from the incompetent. Every other professor was guaranteed to give you a C no matter how hard you worked, even if you did exactly what they wanted you to do to the absolute best of your abilities. It was devastating for someone like me who came into college having been an honor student with nearly straight As. I made very good grades in all my non-art major classes, but to get mostly C and C- grades in art classes was terrible.

I think that all of your work is absolutely fabulous....
It is some of the nicest work I have ever seen!

Very good! You are very talented.

Anastasia, I had a similar experience in college. I quit drawing cold turkey once that class was over. It completely killed my artistic side.

Sorry to hear that Scorpio........it's unfortunate that one poor teacher can ruin it so badly for people.

Wow, that's awesome! I love the realistic detail and shading.

I'm an artist, too...but only went to junior college. I had one of those 'C' teachers as well, dropped her class and took the same thing with another teacher who gave me the 'A' I deserved. NO ONE gives JULIE a C in ART! HAH! But I didn't want all the pressure of 'art school' and 'art career' to ruin the fun of it. Actually, I've been trying to get into freelance illustration and have worked with some shitty people who have screwed me, so I'm not feeling too inspired lately, myself. But seeing that gorgeous work makes me wanna go home and pull out the ol' sketchbook again.

Much luck to you!

Do it! You won't regret it!

ForMyACDs I of course love your art work.
I think the Pix above deerves an A. But I am not your teacher, lol
Better luck next time I guess.
And please don't feel discouraged. You do great work!!

Well, I had my meeting with my instructor yesterday for this class. I told him exactly what I thought of the class and that I felt he was not interested in being there. He didn't seem surprised, but after we were done with our "discussion" he did give me an idea of my final grade........an A. It sounds like I was not the only one to say something to him.