any tips on life drawing?

[ZippZopp]

i just started a life drawing class tonight with a model and it went pretty well. we started with a bunch of quick 5 min poses and moved on to some longer ones. i have a couple quick questions.

i'm finding that i'm not making smooth contours, i have a very small and sketchy stroke. are there any exercises i can do to try and rid myself of this problem? i'm basically going back and forth over the same area until i get it too look right, anything i can do for this?

also, i've found that i am consistently drawing too large. i've found that no matter what size paper i use, i always draw too large and don't fit the figure onto the page, has anyone else had this problem before?

any tips would be really helpful! i got 6 more classes left now and i gotta make the most of them!

[I.was.ink]

yes. try drawing on newspaper 18 x 24". they have drawing horses don't they? or easels will do. anways buy yourself some conter pencils. Be extremely careful, because if they fall on a hard floor, they break from within, so that when u sharpen them they just break into smaller pieces. Sharpen it to a very sharp point. first take off about an inch of the wood, with an exacto knife. No cheezy sharpeners! And when u draw, don't hold the pencil the way u would hold a pen. hold it like u would hold a tooth brush!. and draw with your knuckles touching the paper, or still holding it the same way, let the top of your nails touch the paper. this will help with your problem of drawing over the same time again and again. The advantage of holding the pencil this way, is because you use your arm to draw and are not confined to the action of your wrist. When u get the pencils. at least try getting two, make sure they say paris 1710 3b or 2b on them. If it does not say 1710, then they will not work the same. And draw loosely at first with light strokes and not a lot of pressure. remember, you can draw with a light line and still achieve the same thing u would with a really hard line. Do not use an eraser. learn from your mistakes. Draw what u see, not what u think u see and interpret. in about 3-5 seconds draw a quick s like shape tht starts from the top of the models head and goes down to the feet. this will determine the basic shape of the pose and size. Capture the essencs of the pose. not the exact details. forget details!!!

i hope this helps. besides, if ur teacher is good, he should have said everything i just did!:)

[benzo]

the best thing to do is draw from life as much as possible. i agree w/iawsink. you should try to hold the pencil differently, not like you are writing, and draw on large newsprint. this will loosen you up and get you drawing from you shoulder, not your wrist. I think in the beginning the best poses to do are gestures five minutes or less because this gets you accustomed to correct proportions and sets a good drawing pace for longer poses. see if you can do some 30 second poses

[cucaracha]

er.. should you really hold your pencil like a toothbrush? uhm, i mean, my toothbrush is in my fist and a pencil wants to be handled with care ;)

(i'm off now to test the toothbrush version :D )

edit: oh it really works ok... :) here are a few studies i made with that method

http://www.epm-clan.org/cv/handstudies.jpg