History

Every acquired skill requires practice to keep. To take that skill to the level of an art form means a particular focused attention to detail and maintaining a high level of consciousness. To produce something from scratch with your own hands and mind, is the most satisfying thing you can do with your life. To have other people accept, revere and desire that work is the highest compliment. Keep up the practice and you will have a skill that is more than a party favor. This advice applies to any human endeavor that requires skill. Portraiture is no exception.

Drawing Hints :

I do not believe in talent. I believe in desire. Desire will drive you to acquire the skills you need. Talent, at best, is a set of "inherited genetic tendencies" that make it easy for us to learn or to use tools. Talent will give you momentary acclaim, but without desire, you will not succeed. There are far too many child-prodigies who never realized the promise of their great potential. Conversely there are all too many stories of success, where the subject overcame great adversity through desire and perseverance. Don't give up what you want because you believe you don't have talent, most likely neither did the people who have the success you want. If you don't take anything else away from this class, you should have seen what perserverence and desire can do for people with few skills and little talent - and this was a single class. Imagine the possibilities.

Notes from the last few days: We have achieved a moderate level of accurate portrait rendering. They all look like the subject. Some of us have wandered into the neighborhood of flattery. Sometimes that is a good thing, if it doesn't interfere with the portrait, or the quality of the finished drawing. However, there is a danger in getting into the habit of flattery. Remember the adage "Telling the truth is easier than lying, you don't have to remember what you said. (and make it consistent with other lies and prevarications.) Tell the truth in portrait drawing and the subject may not like the unflattering portrait, but will never blame you for inaccuracy.

Process

Notes from the last few days: We have gone from painfully simple self portraits to sophisticated renderings that would compare favorably with any set of portrait drawings. What you do with these new skills is up to you. Thank you for being a serious and dedicated class. You make me look good.

In-Class work: Draw 1 - long drawing of the model - fully developed drawings - Try to be conscious of the entire pose and the composition of the drawing as a whole. Think about expressive means before you begin.

Homework Assignment Go forth and fill up sketchbooks.