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Adam DS
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1mo
added comment inProject - Simplify from Observation
Asked for help
So, this is my first drawing in 4 years. I'm going to take a crack at a self-critique and would love it if anyone could spot anything I've missed.
For starters, some context. I did this drawing PRIOR to watching the demo and the critiques, but am writing this AFTER having watched those.
The whole piece was done using only a plain ol' #2 pencil, which I feel like might have increased the difficulty of this exercise unnecessarily (I've since picked up a set of drawing pencils). It's also the reason why I didn't do the hair, and focused solely on the skin (I didn't want to lay in that much of a dark value using just my #2).
Onto the self-critique:
- First, I now understand what Stan was talking about when he mentioned using fuzzy mashed potato lines to hide mistakes, and realized through this project that I do that a LOT. I found it surprisingly difficult to simplify curves into hard lines and shapes, which I would have thought would be easier.
- Also, I clearly cheated on the contour of the jaw by putting down a hard line to cover the fact that my transitions between values could have been sharper.
- While I think I did okay figuring out the separation between light and shadow, I found myself struggling to see the different dark and light halftones.
- After watching the demo, I see a major difference between what I did and what Stan did. I "drew" the features of the face, and then just added values on top of them, whereas Stan "built" the features out of basic shapes.
- Also, after watching the critiques I now see two more major flaws with my project:
1. I definitely didn't simplify NEARLY enough.
2. I used the side of the pencil liberally, which contributed to the fuzziness of my values and edges (ironically, this last habit of using the side of the pencil is something I picked up from the last drawing course I took that made drawing with the tip of a pencil sound evil...)
So, what else did I miss?