Sunday, November 8, 2015

sketch a day, men and women

I am still drawing. Maybe not each day but I am still drawing often. This day I wanted to try
1. drawing men
2. drawing from photos, (I usually draw from life or imagination)
I looked through some magazines and fell in like with the gesture here...
I have drawn many female faces but not men so I really had to look to see what made someone look masculine. I didn't get it just right but did capture the feel. I would change the eyebrow to curve more, and lengthen the neck shadow under the chin. Still. I like the shading I did. Learning, always learning...
An ad for disney cruises led me to this. I wanted a loving gesture with the woman's head on the man's shoulder so I made that happen, then tried to erase the erasable pen mark on her face and it smeared.
Grrrr
(throw those pens away)
He came out kind of Ken-doll with the flat top but still, not bad on the shirt shading. Sketching with pen adds a degree of danger lol. (her shirt is skewed) I'm trying to learn shadows, and what makes someone look male, remember?
Entertainment Weekly led me to Bradley Cooper, and this attempt.
Unfortunately I was cursed again with the smearing ink, so he has unintentional shadows on his forehead and an "Eddie Munster" hair do. Still I captured the idea of him being male, and the shirt came out really good, in person if not the photo.

I wonder how people capture the essence of a person? So they look like them, not a generic person.
I tried to take a drawing class once but it was taught in the art room of a college and the chemicals gave me a raging migraine.

I will learn as I go. I really want to teach myself, know what I mean?

Plus, now I am doing an ongoing project with Carol at (quiltedfabricart.) to draw something most days (from Craftsy prompts) and share the pics with each other. I like what I've done, and what she's doing and think this will be a really good collaboration.
Virtual Play-dates
Learning each day by doing. It's a good thing.


9 comments:

Maria said...

Wonderful drawings! You were for sure able to grab the gestures from these individuals... So impressive!

gayle said...

One of my art teachers once told me the best way to learn to draw is to draw. And draw. And draw.
So, you're clearly flying along on the right track. You're capturing feelings and gestures and moments in time, which is what drawing is really about.

Val's Quilting Studio said...

Oh man LeeAnna your post sooo reminds me of how much I use to LOVE my middle school art classes!!!!! I STILL have my portfolio from those days!!!

Joanne said...

Hi LeeAnna,
You have captured their eyes really well!
And the rest too!
Take care,
Joanne

easyweimaraner said...

your drawings look more "real" than the photos... the became people we maybe will meet on the street and in our neighborhood, well done :o)

Susan at TheBoredZombie.com said...

Gary Faigin is a master of expression and likeness. He has two self paced Craftsy classes that I highly recommend. I also love his book, The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expressions. I believe he has a third "mini class" that is free. Nice job sticking with it - practice is the only way to get better and better. :)

quiltedfabricart said...

I have one if those Carl Dagon classes . The one on drawing facial features - he goes into what is different about the male and female faces. Although for the life of me I cannot remember it. Now that I'm back into drawing again I should look at the class again I guess .

Kaja said...

Keep on drawing - even with the smears these all have character and the same sort of quirky individuality as your textiles.

Stephie said...

People and faces can be one of thee hardest things to draw, to capture a moment, to capture life. I really like your unintentional smudges, they add that life for me. Keep on it.