It’s Sunday! I’ve completely given up on any plans of getting weekend chores done, and instead I decided to spend my time drawing an extra photo today.
The first photo I did was:
And this is what I made:
It isn’t perfect, but after a week of being absolutely frustrated at getting things so wrong, I’ve finally made a drawing where I’m more pleased with what I’ve got right than upset at what I got wrong.
Looking at it now, I do seem to have made her body larger than the head demands, but not appallingly so. I tried to get the feathers defined – I don’t think I’ve done it perfectly, and I think there’s a technique to it that I haven’t figured out yet – but I’m still pleased with what I did manage.
The poor eagle seems to have an eyebrow rather than an eye ridge – that’s what I’m most unhappy about. On the other hand, that might make this work as a comic rather than as a reproduction.
Next up, I tried a still life:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/benny57/50147195456/in/faves-51921757@N00/
And… I think my skills went back to the poor level that had me so unhappy all this week:
Everything’s off in proportions and placement, the tomatoes aren’t recognisable as tomatoes, and the only thing I’m happy with in the whole drawing is the effort I put into showing the layers in the garlic and the onions.
On a personal level, I’m glad I spent time on drawing this morning, though, instead of just sketching as quickly as I could before starting chores or the work day. And maybe having a day where I do one drawing that comes out well and one drawing that comes out badly is the right balance between keeping my confidence up but also keeping me practicing things that are beyond my comfort level.