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.
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
ReplyDeleteBoth 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!
ReplyDeleteNot hard on myself toooo much.
ReplyDeleteMostly 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 )
ReplyDeleteI think you are well on your way. Just remember to give yourself permission to play!
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteAWESOME! I want you to know that as a quilter I love sketching new ideas for my quilts. Your work is awesome and keep going!
ReplyDeleteHappy Quilting!
Sherise
Chicago, Illinois