I’m trying to improve my portrait drawing skills in order to draw better drawings for Catober. Since cats resemble young children somewhat, it makes sense (to me) to focus on those. As my models I use photos from Reddit Gets Drawn. Of course, I’ll give back as soon as I feel comfortable sharing full drawings, not just quick sketches.
I can see many technical problems with the sketch. The overall shape, the relative sizes of parts of the person, the shading, and much more. It all seems to me still a bit of trial and error, which explains its “amateurish” look and feel. There’s no clear sign of intent, no authoritative look, showing that I’ve done my homework by doing a lot of practice. It could also be that I’m prone to the art student’s dilemma, which is that in order to draw better, one has to see better, which includes any flaws in the drawing. This is why art from years ago looks so stiff and uninspired (read: bad). Of course, this is all irrelevant if the student doesn’t correct the flaws, and keeps repeating them.
I’m already a day behind on Catober, but since I’m not drawing in competition, I can proceed however I want. Being able to draw with intent is more important to me than completing a challenge. The challenge is more of an excuse/motivation to draw every day.
To be continued, no doubt.