Saturday, February 18, 2006

body worlds sketching...

Yesterday we spent the evening at the Ontario Science Centre where BODY WORLDS 2: 'The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies' is showing just until February 26th. It was Friday night, we got there at 8:30 and stayed till closing time, midnight. The place was fairly crowded but the crowds were rapt and somewhat quiet. We found a few places to draw and really just got warmed up when it was time to go. I wish that we'd gone once a week for the last month. With more practice I might discover a way of exploring the flayed figures and exposed structures of these bodies. The top three sketches are by Arna and the bottom three sketches are by John:

Body Worlds related posts:

NEW! February 24th, 06: Smook sketches!
Drazen Kozjan at Hypnotic Eye
Matt Jones








22 comments:

Jack Ruttan said...

Were there a lot of people sketching at the show? Interesting idea, though you'd have to accept the poses the exhibitors give you.

I'm easily grossed out. Had the opportunity as a video assistant at a university to videotape dissections, but I wimped out. Even though my artist side was telling me it would be good for my drawing.

Still, I took a course in anatomy, and at least know the names of most of the bones.

MikeS said...

I really had hoped that I could get to this exhibition. Drazen peaked my interests with his post a few months ago. Maybe I could squeeze in some time this week and Kim and I could go, though I am sure it's not her thing.

Very lovely sketches guys! Lively line you both have.

Adrian Thatcher. said...

very nice stuff. I am particularly impressed by the drawings of the black women a little further down. very nice! and thanks for the visit to my blog. Your welcomed to link me up and I'll be sure to do the same.

Adrian.

Clive said...

Beautiful sketches John and Arna. What a great show to sketch at, and no grave robbing for reference like the old days.

KP said...

I took my kids to both shows when they toured through Los Angeles and had a wonderful time. With the second show we actually went twice because the first time it was too crowded to enjoy it. Death by Obesity was an eye opening profile of the damage weight can have on the human anatomy. There was a touch cart there and my oldest daughter got to hold a cross section of a thigh and a spleen. Very cool. I was really curious to see how my five year old would react, but there was no fear and tons of curiousity. Biggest problem was trying to keep her off of the displays. She wanted to touch everything (Maybe I should worry about that?). I'm glad it made its way up to Toronto.
Great sketches of the show.
Cheers.

kevin micallef said...

What a fantastic experience! Great studies!

Martin Wittig said...

Very nice! It's nice to still see figure studies. Also, Thank you for the nice comments on my blog.Again, excellent stuff!

the doodlers said...

Jack, one other person was sketching with pen. There were plenty of poses to chose from. The biggest issue was finding a clear place to sketch where people were not always going to walk in front of you. It was very crowded right up to midnight.

Smook, Thanks! Get tickets on the phone if you go. Otherwise it's a long lineup to get in. If we had time I would suggest we all make a sketch day out of it! dangit.

Adrian, Thanks. Welcome to blogging. We'll visit yer blog again soon!

Clive, Thanks. Someone passed us at the show and said: "Still lifes?" we replied "Still deads" Aaah, black humour...

Walleye, Too bad there was no touch cart at the show we were at! Some of the adult visitors couldn't keep from "almost" touching the bodies.. they'd stick their brochures right into a cavity and talk to their friends while they pointed something out. Annoying and strangely disrespectful.

Kevin, Thanks! We wish we could go back. Anatomy clas can't hold a candle to this.

Unknown said...

I went to see that exhibition while it was in LA. It's very educational and mind blowing. These are very nice drawings!! Love the free expressive lines!!

John S. said...

All very nice. Inspiring. Somewhat Bridgeman-esque but clearer.

Matthew Cruickshank said...

You can't beat all this anatomical stuff! I love it

Sean Hayden said...

I saw this exhibition in London, what an eye-opener! Great sketches, did they have the horse and rider? That one stuck with me.

paublo said...

these are fantastic! i wish i was back in t-dot!

Max said...

nice studies!
that show is facinating, still havent seen it, saw a bit of the tv doc that was made about the making of the exhibits, that gave me the hebi-jibeies a bit to watch. still would like to see this stuff from a artist pov, but it's also really crawly feelin makin' too!

Matt Jones said...

Vibrant sketches - particularly like the 3rd one down. Looks like there are new exhibits, we didn't have the YOGA pose that Smook drew.
What we DO have here in the UK is Gunther von haagens doing LIVE autopsies on TV! It's fascinating but very hard to stomach. He treads a fine line between education & sensationalism. BODYWORLDS has taken MILLIONS of dollars around the world but von Haagens maintains it's all ploughed back into the work. Every now & again in the British press a story will emerge of exactly HOW & WHERE he finds his bodies - allegations that he acquires them in the former Eastern bloc through less than 'official' means.

Jenny Lerew said...

Beautiful drawings...I just love the line work and gesture.

the doodlers said...

Martin, Alina, Thanks very much for the kind comments!

Robotaekwon-z, we checked out Bridgeman- can see some similarity. Again, one visit to this show was really nor enough to get into the drawing. There was one seated guy there who would have been great to do as a portrait.

Alessandro, thanks for visiting, and for your thoughts.

Matt, cheers, It's hard to think of them as cadavres- they almost seem like models of people rather than the real people that they are.

Sean, no horse and rider. But there was a mother camel with a baby camel. Not exactly cute, but we did learn about the ruminant's many stomachs. Von Haagens sure seems like an 'original'.

Paublo, Always somethin' goin' on here. But it sounds like Vancouver is jumping too!

Max, Thanks! It was a bit creepy, true. For me, that feeling went away fast. Some of the visitors were almost more creepy than the 'exhibits'.

Jenny, Thanks! Thanks for linking to us too. We've really enjoyed visiting your blog!

the doodlers said...

Matt J., We're pleased that you liked them. Your post on the subject was much more focused on the graphic impression the exhibits made. Love your cool almost cartoony paintings! Oh my gawd, live autopsies on TV!!! Bet the ratings are high for those...

onemanpunkband said...

Nice blog doodlers! and thanks for your comment on mine. hah your photos rock.

Jez Hall said...

Woo! Great Drawings...great boards on your other site too.

the doodlers said...

OneMan, Jez, Thanks guys! Love the work you're putting up as well. Thanks too, Jez for the note about my boards. Your stuff is beautiful, so that's a great compliment.

Ryan Bullard said...

These are really great.