So last night my daughter was sitting there being her beautiful self and she agreed to let me draw her. We were both tired.
I got frustrated. I know I shouldn't - it's just learning process and I know I have a long way to go. I should go and reread the first chapter of my own book eh? "Don't compare yourself... permission to be imperfect ... time to learn... " yada yada yada.
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| Left: last night, from life. Right: this morning, from a photo. |
So I know I'm going to get there eventually but I wanted to make on good drawing NOW. Well - bedtime and then draw in the morning. She let me take a picture. I photoshopped it to up the contrast and turned it black and white. Then I traced the back of the picture a bit, placed it on the paper and traced the outlines again to transfer the pencil to the paper. If I wasn't doing it in my sketchbook I would have just used a light table. Yes I consider all these things crutches. Cheating - sort of. I want to be able to draw what I'm seeing without them. But for this morning - who cares? I got the outlines in the right place and filled in the shadows from there. I gotta say. It's satisfying to see the results.
7 comments:
I think it is so much easier to draw from a photo than from real life--I don't know if it is cheating or not? Who makes those rules?--is it like the quilt police? LOL
Both pictures are beautiful!!!! The act of tracing the outline of the image is teaching your mind/hand connection a few things. I learn by feel, and this sort of "cheating" helps me a lot. Don't be so hard on yourself!
Not hard on myself toooo much.
Mostly I'm having a lot of fun with this.
But I REALLY want to, at some point, be able to just look at something and draw it - no in-between steps. I WILL get there. It's only one month into this year.
When I was teaching Junior High Level Art we often used Photographs as reference for faces, and I allowed tracing in the way you described for "correcting and adjusting proportions" I don't think you cheated at all. Many great realist painters used photographs extensively, there is an exhibit up now on Norman Rockwell and the photos he took for refernce, I think it is at his museum. ( some of the subjects of his paintings actually work there- much older now of course )
I think you are well on your way. Just remember to give yourself permission to play!
I think your work is brilliant. Thanks for putting up the images you aren't satisfied with -- not just the "good" stuff. You truly are an authentic artist.
AWESOME! I want you to know that as a quilter I love sketching new ideas for my quilts. Your work is awesome and keep going!
Happy Quilting!
Sherise
Chicago, Illinois
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