Yes she's having me map out the face, create "shadow shapes", and start filling stuff in, gradually increasing the values. She also taught me the mirror technique. I'm coming along gradually. It's very apt in this discussion though, because at first I would do a drawing and think "Oh, that's good", and as I start working more on it I realize that what I thought was good had a long way to go still, I just didn't have the eyes to realize yet. Same when I page back to earlier drawings in the sketchbook. It feels like the earlier drawings are literally morphing over time, getting worse and worse when I'm not looking. Of course I'm just becoming more able to discern details that are wrong than I was able to at the time. Plus I hadn't been staring at it for hours. Anyway, what took me a month last spring takes me a week now.crumpart wrote: ↑Sat Nov 23, 2019 8:39 amWith your faces, I assume you're laying out a map of where everything goes before you start to add in any detail? Like a song, you need the basic structure there before you get too involved with all those little details. What I'd say is to look for all the big shapes, see how they relate to and interact with each other, and that's your structure. My other tip would be to photograph or scan your drawings then flip them so that they're mirrored. If they look super weird when you do that, something is wrong with the structure, because the picture should look balanced both ways. If they look good when you flip them, you've got the drawing right. Also, draw dogs when your daughter is not looking, because nobody should be denied the joy of drawing dogs. (Also, drawing dogs from life is one of the best things you can do, as it forces you to look, make decisions and draw quickly. The rule of life is that even if a dog has been lying still for hours, the minute you start to draw them they WILL move.)
Funny, the other day I was thinking I could use my art practice to concoct Song Fight album covers! That would give me a deadline and get me to practice. I guess that's what people who are relatively new to songwriting come here for... Hmmmm.... whereas for me songwriting isn't so much practice as it is using skills I've long ago learned justfor te sake of doing it. Which I suddenly realize is another reason I'm not submitting stuff. OK, gotta think about this album cover notion, especially since an entreaty was just posted about those.