This is a spectacular lesson packed with a lot of stuff. I ended up taking a couple of weeks off to before finishing the lesson to let things sink in. I got a bit overwhelmed. I felt that my lack of anatomy knowledge was dragging me down. So I got The Anatomy of Style books (1 and 2) and copied those study sheets for a couple of weeks. Those books are worth their weight in gold! I came back to the lesson and, although it’s far from perfect and I feel mentally exhausted from the wealth of knowledge Patrick poured into this, I felt more confident drawing along to finish the piece. Thank you @Patrick Jones I’m so glad I discovered you.

I enjoyed and loved every moment of the creation of this drawing, even though I am totally dissatisfied with the result - it turned out even worse than the previous exercises, it lacks balance, subtlety, harmony and magic. So at one point I decided to leave it as it is. Nevertheless, dealing with all the hurdles and missteps, and more so with the philosophical background and the wisdom of creating art so wonderfully conveyed by Patrick takes me a small step further every time. Many thanks for that!

It was really fun doing this one for so many reasons, slowly I think I am understanding more and more, though I do think more practise is needed. I am currently also studying with books from Bridgman, Loomis and others and am amazed at how little I know, which drives me to learn more. Maybe one of the best advices I am thankful for is when you encourage us to think while drawing, to understand how the form works by understanding anatomy, structure, etc. Thank you so much @Patrick Jones

So far my favorite of the three long poses. I think something is starting to click in my head. Feeling some Leyendecker influences in those eraser marks, or maybe it's just something I see in my drawing, but the direction of applying them is a very cool way to make it look more alive. Also more happy with my values this time, the darks vs the highlights, last time it felt a bit too mid-tone. Thank you @Patrick Jones! Mine is still digital, and the close-up looks atrocious compared to the charcoal and pencil. I do want to stay in the digital realm for now, so will need to come up with an idea of how to make digital look less digital, or more interesting in some other way.

I attempted something similar but with a different pose. Applied, or tried to, what Patrick suggests throughout his drawing. Anatomy is still a learning point for me and having better control over the values as well.

The third long pose complete, really happy with the finish on this one, my best yet so far I believe of the long pose series. The pattern I've come to notice, is that the beginning/construction of the drawing is what I'm finding to be the hardest and slowest points of my drawing process as compared to the render. I feel that my artistic insecurities and/or incompetence is most revealed in the beginning stages, the start always feels like a gamble for me and one where the odds aren't stacked in my favor. Once again the fear of failure is prevalent throughout these lessons and even more so outside of them in my own works. I hope that with mileage this will lessen and I'll be able to go into artworks with less fear, less worry and more joy. I'm trying to love all stages of the drawing as you suggest we do, a task that is easier said than done for me hahaha, construction is a great weakness of mine always has been. The end result of these lessons have showed me what I could achieve in my own works once I no longer have to battle so hard with the initial stages of a drawing. This is the great thing about these lessons, even in our losses/struggles we can gain a victory in the sense that it indicates our own artistic weaknesses, and reveal to us what needs working on, cheers!