My favorite subject to draw: portraits! It was like a breath of fresh air to get to this lesson in ‘Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain‘. Quite a few statements, thoughts and quotes stood out to me in this article…
“…the more clearly the artist sees the sitter, the more clearly the viewer can see through the likeness to perceive the artist.”
I’ve heard a statement like this before, that what makes artwork unique to the artist, is that the portraits portray a likeness or similar appearance/features to the artist him/herself.
There was so much instruction and detail to basic portrait drawing rules, such as the facial features, namely the eyes falling on a horizontal line in the middle of the skull, eyes, chin, ears equal distance in shape of triangle. My mind is spinning with so much information in this chapter lesson that when I finally reached the assignment I was relieved to finally give my brain a rest and draw. Or I should say, give my left brain a break and let my right brain take over. 😉
First up was to draw artist John Singer Sargents, Mme. Pierre Gautreau, 1883.
Original:
My Sketch:
The second assignment was to go into more detail, including shading and lots of patience. They picked a good example – my weak spot in portrait drawing has always been hair. It felt good to read that Vincent van Gogh, being an artist only 10 years, the later part of his life, struggled many of those years in mastering proportions. I don’t know how many other artists out there feel this same way as I do, this unrealistic expectation that you ‘must be perfect right out of the box’, but its always refreshing to hear other well respected artists endured the same/similar struggles.
The second assignment was to draw Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys, Proud Maisie’s. Her hair was something else to draw – but an enjoyable challenge. 🙂
Original:
My Sketch:
I’m 3/4 of the way through the ‘Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain‘ book. I’m feeling great, and have learned so much. A few additional thoughts from this chapter really hit me – and have inspired the way I plan to move forward with my daily exercises in drawing…
“…copying is coming back into favor as an effective means of training the eye. It is, after all, the method by which the old masters themselves, as apprentices, learned to draw and paint.”
“I can practically guarantee that carefully copying any masterwork of drawing will forever imprint the image in your memory. Therefore, because copied drawings become an almost permanent file of memorized images, I recommend that you copy only the work of major and minor masters of drawing.”
I felt the truth of those statements, and I plan to put together a collection of sketchwork from artists whom I admire and would like to mimic in my own work, and do my best to copy a masters sketch daily, like a 365day art challenge. I am so excited! I can’t wait to observe my work and talent continue to strengthen! The next lesson is ‘Perceiving Lights, Shadows, and the Gestalt’…
