Peter's Sketchbook

[Peter]

yea you got that side of the pencil thing right on the 40 minute lay in. Theres one thing Jeff talks about that after getting my Masters of Anatomy book and that's idealization. You want your drawing to be a better representation of the subject matter, you gotta push and pull things to your liking to go above and beyond. 

I remember that drawing i freaking love how Jeff cuts the torso WAAAY in, you have the workbook right? I'd reccomend copying his drawing directly and get the feel for how he stylizes, that's what ive been doing at least. Its helped me figure out the whole idealization concept which is very deep and fascinating. I probably would have learned slower if i were just copying the photos only. 

Your loomis heads are looking good, i think the stuff that'd help you the most is focusing on stylization and making things look attractive. I mean proportion is a part of that and your proportions are in the ballpark, its just you know making an eye look like a nice eye. Getting those "dancer feet" I remember in jeffs drawing of that layin you did he had the legs waaay longer with the heels up.

I will give you a pat on the back Peter you're doing some tough shit and youre growing fast even if it doesnt feel like it. I think your lay in is on the right track just note, those legs could be longer, that stomach could be sexier, that torso could be longer, those feet could be higher, that arm could be less bulky, the face is not bad but its a poor likeness, looks like a completely different even older woman. 

Now here's the kicker, for this portrait the head lay in, I want you to after you do the study and photograph the pic, take the reference and overlay it in photoshop and see how different yours is from the other. For instance, the head has more of a tilt up, the mouth indents into the face, the neck is wider, the nose overlaps the cheek, you know the contours should line up with the reference like 90%, there is room for stylization. If Jeff issues a sketch of something, copy that first, then do from the photo. Good Stuff peter keep truckin

As usual thanks for the crit man! :) You make some really good points, espeically about focusing on stylization my plan this week was to actually study and copy his drawings and get a sense of how he tweaks the ref and make it look x100 better.

I think overlaying my drawings is a really good idea, as you said it will help me where i'm going wrong rather than me agonizing over it afterwards and moving on without analyzing where I went wrong. I'll start doing that on the weekends when I have more time.

.........Likeness.........yh I'm really, really realllllly bad at getting a likeness, it's been annoying me for ages! I'm not sure if there is something specific I can do to help me improve, maybe do a portrait from the ref, compare it to Jeff's, copy Jeff's drawing, and then do the drawing again looking at the ref and seeing what I can remember from Jeff's study?

It's really hard to see your own improvement since your looking at your work constantly but if you can see improvement I'll take your word for it. :)