Head

**ATP** · June 28th, 2012, 07:50 AM

Well, it's my first time getting back into art after exams. I'd like to get a more fine-art, representational finish to my work, a lot of which comes from practice but also from technical knowledge, something I don't have at the moment. Up until this point I've just been working off of anatomy books and other miscellany, not really having a directed or mentored education as such.

So, I'm kind of wondering if it's possible to do that solo, or if I should shack up with a teacher or art school or something like that.

TL;DR - first serious thing in a long while, how to improve and eventually kick ass?

**Pandasftuw** · June 28th, 2012, 08:39 AM

It is absolutely possible to do it solo. How old are you? If your in the summer holidays like me you have more than enough time to get a good grasp on anatomy. As for the picture, it looks like you didn't use a photographic reference or if you trying to go for a cartoonish style you over complicated things and need to work on the stylization also.

You need to stick to this order for your finished drawings when using references (which you should be relying a lot on a your level):

1)Gesture (shape of head)
2) Get the rough proportions correct, look at the measurements and the space in between the features. Use a ruler if necessary.
MAKE SURE EVERYTHING LOOKS RIGHT BEFORE SHADING
3) look at the shape and size of the shadows.
4) shade in midtones carefully
5) add highlights
6) ready to color if you want to

=]

**powerful.pineapple** · June 28th, 2012, 08:42 PM

You're abbreviating the hair. The nose is very three dimensional and nice, but you seem to be abbreviating other parts. A very good book for you would be Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain by Betty Edwards. See if you can find a digital edition, or get it from the library. It teaches you to avoid abbreviating parts of portraits/real life drawings with learned symbols and draw what is really there.

But I'm a noob what do I know?

**ATP** · June 29th, 2012, 11:30 AM

To Panda: Thanks for the advice, especially the step-by step! I'll make sure to spend more time on it the next opportunity I take to do a study, and yes it was from a photo. As for cartoonishness, well, I tend to draw the eyes a little larger than they actually appear. I have no idea WHY i do that but it's the way it is and I'm dealing with that as I go along.

Thanks all the same, and I'll get to colour once I get to a better grade of proficiency at shading.

To Pineapple: Thanks for the recommendtation. I'm going through Bert Dodson's Key to Drawing right now, and I'll add Edwards' book to the reading list. If you're interested, I think there's a big collection of art books floating around the internet if you're interested. It's a torrent though, so it'd probably not the most recommendable option.

And trust me, it's okay to be new. You may be new, but you can still give

HELPFUL ADVICE

**Stryno** · June 29th, 2012, 03:18 PM

Atp It would be easy to ignore Pinapple, I know you said you will check it out, but I want you to know,... I think you need to Do it, and as soon as possable. I have a vast library on art books, but I am just now to the point they are of any use to me. I would get so frustrated trying to do anything! One piece would be good, the next utter junk. I was told to read Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain, by one of my professors n collage, but I assumed it was just a bunch of theoretical nonsince on how right and left brain effects artsy fartsy crap... 10 years later I found the book at my library and thought what the heck, I have bought my own copy now and profess it changed my life. I wish I would have read it 10 years ago.
I am not saying it is the only book you need, but for me it changed my whole approch, and made me more consistant at my studies that I do with my other books, it gave me the confadince I needed to start each project with a drive to get better and an understanding that I could do it, nothing was any more or less hard then what I had already done, all I lack is doing it. My oberservational drawings are finaly at a point that I feal I need to move on to the imagination, and the study of forms, but for me the inability to draw from observation was a handicap that held me from anything I attemted imaginary. Now, haveing said that, to some people that have read it at an early stage, I doubt there praise would be as high as mine, since they would find it a truth they have known throughout their life. Some people would say the book only reinforced what they knew and helped them little, but judgeing from what I see it could help you out, so dont discredit it, or prejudge its contents.