Drawing People

So I'm a bit out of practice drawing people. A dear friend asked me to draw some images for her. I tried and had a hard time. My publisher and friend recommended "How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs" by Lee Hammond. It is an excellent book and helped a great deal in the techniques and tools needed to do what I was struggling with.

I had a book, the tools, and a fear in my gut that I wouldn't do well I couldn't get rid of. Through the year I have had many distractions some life made some self made. Yet the fear remained. I couldn't pin point it or even find it. I just knew every time I tried to draw the images something would go wrong and it would come out looking more like Frankenstein than the wonderful adorable children it was supposed to look like.

Yesterday my determination kicked in. I can do this, I know I can do this, I've done it before successfully - so what is the issue. Come hell or high water I decided I was going to tackle this project and figure out what the issue was and then successfully create it to the best of my ability.

I found the issue, I realized what was throwing me off finally - it was their smiles and the teeth. I was afraid of drawing teeth wrong. I kept making the mouths too small or the wrong angle. It was a puzzle that kicked in my own vanity. Funny the things that really kick off a series of fears and that ca stop a project dead in the water if you let it.

I am glad I figured it out - I now have two images looking at me with great smiles and bright eyes. I still have alot of work to do - but it was sooo worth doing and succeeding.

I can't wait to post it with the original pictures :)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

June

The house is quiet. It is strange still not having my kids full time. I thought I would find myself endlessly creating with wild abandon. That hasn't been the case. In fact most of the time I spend the time reflecting on what makes me tick. I have told my therapist I am my own best subject - I honestly mean it. I have turned my life inside out and backwards in my mind in the attempt to seek a healthy mentality. My life isn't that different from most people - we all have our trials and our tribulations. We all face challenges in a myriad of ways and live the life we've been given in the ways we see fit. What I'm finding as the days pass and I get used to being on my own is that creativity still runs through my veins as strongly as ever. It is presenting itself in different ways though. I write alot more, I've reinvented my wardrobe, My arrangements are getting better and quicker. My jewelry is taking on a whole new flavor, and I have a collection of sh...
Read more
The quest for monies took all my minutes and brain powers this last week.  January quest was stopped at drawing #9. Quest complete - but not completed. Now on to the next quest!  (can't stop the momentum - just need to keep showing up to the canvas) February is a sketchbook diary - something I have wanted to try for awhile now. I am three days into February and just starting - so behind but not behind.  Just need to get my journal set up for three pictures at least and keep going.  I will post pictures here as well as my Instagram account which can be found here:  https://www.instagram.com/tina.nordloh/ The day is almost half over - time to get my journal going :D
Read more

New Life

So much has changed since my last post, and yet in a way nothing has changed. I am still seeking balance within myself. I am still trying to figure out what life and living is. The one answer I have found to be true is that I wasn't being true to myself. Due to that real failing towards myself I couldn't be much for anyone else around me. The past couple of months I have made tough decisions for the betterment of all. Some have called those decisions selfish - but if they had walked in my shoes and saw and felt what I felt they may or may not have made the same decisions. I don't posses any mind other than my own - and therefore cannot make any decisions beyond those I feel are the best for myself and my children at the time the decision is made. As a result of those decisions I sit in my own place, an apartment I now call home filled with light and color. There has been a series of emotional battles fought upon these floors - all within my own mind and heart. At f...
Read more