I suppose going into details when the basic structure of the head isn’t in place is a fool’s errant. I seem to stick to old habits. Drew this on Saturday, edited it today, to only see it went nowhere.

One of many Pythagoras' theorem proofs.

I had forgotten to charge the iPad overnight, so I had to draw analog, and I chose colored pen, to check how accurate I am at proportions. It turned out, there’s room for improvement. Once charged (a bit), I could scan, then resume charging the iPad Pro.

I can now see what my weaknesses are, and what I need to focus on. I try to copy what I see, instead of drawing what I know, informed by what I see. IOW, simplify and then elaborate by adding details, big to small. So how will things improve?

Apparently, in 2024 out of the 70,000 inhabitants of my hometown, only 56 people (8 in 10,000) started in the Marathon Rotterdam. Nationwide that’s 17,000 marathon runners out of 18,000,000 people (9 in 10,000). While running is on the rise since COVID19, the marathon is still a niche distance.

I know I’m drawing photo’s of heads instead of heads, but it’s a start. This time I drew the woman upside down, as to get less confused by my brain seeing meaning instead of shapes. Shapes I can draw, their meaning not so much.

Guessing proportions by eye seems still elusive. I guess drawing simpler objects would help here.

I suppose there’s no good replacement for solid practice and going through bad drawings before anything worthwhile appears. Also, that hour went by quicker than I thought. Now if I only had a lighter tough…

Even the first ten steps of a forty-steps process proved to be too complicated and requires more practice with each step, separate from drawing faces. This is going to take a long time to get good at, let alone master it.

I’m trying to draw somewhat realistic portraits from photos. I found a 40-step tutorial, with each step requiring measuring and, frankly, a study on its own. I always had problems measuring angles and comparing distances, due to my glasses. A straight line turns into a curved line, and so on.

If you admire someone’s work, are awed by it, be very, very careful. You might be taken advantage of. Always try to find flaws, and if you can’t, you might have fallen into the trap of stupidity, as described by Dietrich Bonhoeffer observing the rise of Naziism. Once stupid, you’re hopelessly lost 😱

Without the tyranny of reality it gets much easier for me to draw people, though the stylized version is less convincing than a realistic art style. I need to find a middle ground, and then nudge it into more realistic.

Apparently, a digitally zoomed in photo isn’t a good reference, and can lead to “imaginative” rendering by the artist. I did a lot of pre-drawing exercises to get rid of too much anxiety to finish quickly. Still, it’s rushed, not very deliberate. The more I try to calm down the more anxious I get.

After a little practice with lines and drawing contours from observation I can already see improvement in my drawing from a photo. I see the underlying structure and draw that, instead of the photo itself.

I’ve gone back to the Udemy course The Ultimate Drawing Course. Drawing fundamentals are essential and to be studied regularly.

I can see I need more practice.

Drawing from direct observation is hard, especially on an iPad. It feels all clumsy and unnatural. While having the object in front of me, I’m mostly looking at the iPad screen, drawing wobbly lines. Those latter I should fix first, I guess.

I guess one can take drawing from photos only so far. At some point real life observations are needed to improve artistically. Much like practicing in front of a mirror requires an audience at some point to become convincing.

Quick sketch from a photo I took in 2017.

I suppose doing these daily line drawings brings me closer to my goal of a realistic drawing. I should get looser, though.

It’s clear to me that I need to slow down, considerably. It takes time to observe and interpret what your eyes take in. 28 minutes is just too short, but it’s progress.