Hello everyone!

This class has been quite a journey - I started it about a month ago. I hope this description doesn't turn into a novel. :)

I started with this guy jumping over a trampoline: Maria's Odd Bodies - image 1 - student project

However, I wasn't satisfied with the result, so I chose this climber: Maria's Odd Bodies - image 2 - student project

This is the first sketch with the iterations (I hope they are visible enough):

Maria's Odd Bodies - image 3 - student project

Now that I look at the two iterations, I can't find any difference. Maybe the line is a bit more confident.

This one is from memory (I guess some useless details dropped out. And the figure is a little funnier):

Maria's Odd Bodies - image 4 - student project

For the second exercise I chose skateboarding poses:

Maria's Odd Bodies - image 5 - student project

Then I finally started getting the idea of creatively simplifying. I came back to exercise one and I simplified some more: Maria's Odd Bodies - image 6 - student project

I was happy that I started getting the idea. This was very important for the next exercise.

And when I started doing the people in the shapes, I got nicely surprised by the results:

Maria's Odd Bodies - image 7 - student project

Maybe I got too far by rotating the left leg in the right picture in the opposite direction, but it fit so well!

And then came the paper people:

Maria's Odd Bodies - image 8 - student project

And with the exaggerations I got really inspired:

Maria's Odd Bodies - image 9 - student project

I chose the upper right one for the bonus project.

Then, along the way, I did one more shape:

Maria's Odd Bodies - image 10 - student project

And, finally, the bonus project (I am not sure if the thing she's holding is understandable enough - it's underwear):

Maria's Odd Bodies - image 11 - student project

The timeline is a little complicated, but hopefully not too much.

Before this project, I was always scared when trying to be creative at drawing people, and I didn't think I could figure out a pose myself. But this class showed me the things I am capable of, that I already had in me - it showed me they are there, and how to express them more freely and creatively, without fearing the result.

I learned so much from all these exercises, and this is the best way of learning - by doing!

Thank you Tom, for the best class ever, and for the interesting, original, challenging, creative and inspiring exercises that gave me so many future ideas to work with!

Maria Koralova

Visual Artist

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