This is a drawing of the vixxen and KI legend B. Orchid. I used a reference to study the pose I wanted and began with a gesture, CSI, and build the form to this final rendition. I added some shadow mapping with the goal of adding value. material: paper 11x14, 4B pencil, Kneaded eraser. Any feedback appreciated.

Finally — the last piece of the facial puzzle: the ear! 🥂 After months of studying portrait structure, it feels good to reach this little milestone. Breaking down the ear’s forms gave me a fresh appreciation for it. During portrait sessions, its area is small compared to the whole head, so honestly, I’ve often overlooked it. Next, I’m planning to explore the muscles and bones of the lower body — a way to spark some new curiosity in myself. For me, the joy of drawing comes from this ongoing sense of exploration.

Added some diagrams of different mouth structures. After these past few weeks of practice, I’d say the mouth is probably the “final boss” among the facial features for me. I’ll also add notes on how fat shapes the form later on. Side note: a few of these sketches reminded me of Pinocchio from Pinocchio. When I saw his mouth as a kid, I always felt there was a strange, unsettling shadow to it — maybe my first early taste of the uncanny valley 🫨

Continuing from my recent studies of the eye area, the more I draw, the more I realize — each person’s features are shaped by the subtle interplay of bone structure, fat, and muscle beneath the surface. What we usually see is just the outer layer. Those small details that are so easy to miss during life drawing actually hold a lot of clues. By breaking down the structure, it feels like I’m gradually clearing away the fog.

Dug a bit deeper into the hidden structures of the nose — and wow, this “ordinary” feature is packed with details I never noticed before. I tried looking at it from different angles and also played around with showing the forms and structural points. It honestly cleared up some of that “grayscale fog” I’ve been stuck in.

Time ranges from 30sec to 25 min

Sharing a few portrait sketches from different angles—small pieces, but I ended up quite liking them. This time, I intentionally left the hatching visible, following the rise and fall of the facial muscles while controlling the length and spacing of the lines—a lot more brain-burning than I expected 🌋

I will say, yes. this is not for "kids" And its only for me. I have no intention of posting this when its done, might not even finish it if i cant get the results i want. ((yes i am sadly a perfectionist. That cant even draw correctly)) xD i Just want some simple pointers. first. No i did not use a ref. Which is why the poses might be a bit ???. two. Why didnt i use a ref? Mostly because it was a "heat of the moment" drawing with barly any preping. ((will be honest, most of the time i just jump straight in to a drawing idea without doing any thumbnails)). Thats on me and i know its stupid. Need to work on that. sry if this message is a bit long / rude If it is rude. Sry Just would like some pointers. Thx. ^^ Original idea was, Coming out of the shower with towels on. But i hade no idea how to get the "packages" look correct so i said i will just put them in dresses. If i want to change it i can just take a piece of paper and trace the anatomy and redo it. Again. Thx for any feedback ^^ ((purple pencil original // Blue and gold new one))

Portrait sketch from a live session. This time I had the chance to meet a friend from Romania — honestly, I’m most impressed by their rolled “R”s. How can someone say a whole string of words like that without getting a tongue cramp? 😄

Following my previous post on facial expression studies, this time I focused on the area below the eyes—exploring how different expressions affect the muscles and fat pads in the lower half of the face. One thing I've realized through this process is: understanding the bones and muscles alone isn't enough. The subtle shifts in facial fat can add so much depth and life to an expression. In regular life drawing, it's often sufficient to grasp static structure. But I hope to gradually incorporate more emotional nuance into my work.

This time, during the half-body model sketching session, it was my first time dealing with the variations of the abdominal muscles and the side lines of the torso. The starting points of the muscles on the body are very subtle, and I plan to add the muscle structure details later. While researching, I discovered that what we see as the surface of the skin is actually the result of several layers of structures stacked together.

While drawing this study, I tried to map facial muscles to emotional expressions, and realized just how many subtle changes lie beneath every emotion. When I watched Joaquin Phoenix's performance as the Joker, I was deeply drawn to his almost maniacal smile—an exaggerated expression masking the unraveling of broken human connections. Actors who can tell a story with just their expressions are truly remarkable. Just imagining the hours spent in front of a mirror practicing each movement fills me with admiration.

This is a set of simplified skull structure studies—some angles almost look like they're wearing sunglasses When sketching portraits, I’ve found that facial value shifts are strongly tied to the underlying skull. Understanding the structure helps me better locate where shadows begin, end, and transition—making observation more grounded and confident.

Recently, I finally got around to studying the arm muscles I had been curious about for a while. I spent some time cross-referencing the origin and insertion points of each muscle. Next, I plan to analyze the muscle structure around the palm.

Extending from upper-body life drawing, I’ve gained a deeper understanding of the bones beneath our skin — silently supporting our everyday movements. But for now… I wouldn’t mind not seeing any more meat with bones in it . It reminds me of that episode from Love, Death & Robots, The Drowned Giant, where the giant’s body slowly decomposes back into nature after being submerged in seawater, leaving only the lonely bones standing on the beach — like a dark version of Gulliver’s Travels.

Also what videos should I focus on to improve as well be helpful

I'd like to know what I’m missing here