I had an excellent night at figure drawing last night. It was one of those evenings where the first sketches I did went smoothly, got into a real groove early on, and was able to stay out of my own head enough to keep the flow going. I made an effort to block out areas of light and dark, and then transferred that to brush and ink, staying with a total of three values as a maximum.

Scanned Image

I think my efforts over the last few sessions were getting too fussy and additive, where much of my skill in draftsmanship tends to be subtractive (choosing what not to include vs. adding every little thing), so going back to washes of a medium value highlighted with black details really works well.

IMG_1736

One of the things I’ve been struggling with for years has been accurate drafting of facial features. I tend to use my mental library of what a face should look like, based on familiar shapes and lines I’ve used for years, vs. what I actually see in front of me (hence, getting out of my own head). I made an effort to slow down and pay attention to what I was seeing, and let that come through to the page. I had mixed results, but a few drawings were promising, and that’s my next hurdle.

IMG_1737

I’m toying with the idea of bringing color next time. Which makes me nervous.

Date posted: November 16, 2011 | Filed under art/design, drawing | Leave a Comment »

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