SamuraiSingh - Art School Journey

[SamuraiSingh]

Are these better than my regular portraits, I tried something different not sure if it made a noticeable improvement

My eyes and line quality are still bad I realise

[JimSt]

These look like they have more form/structure defined and so their proportions are better. So I think these are an improvement! Nice!

[SamuraiSingh]

@JimSt Thank you that is good to know
I feel like when you try new things in art its hard to know if its a placebo or not

[SamuraiSingh]

28.7.25

I still struggle with portraits but I think I am actually seeing some improvements now.
I might actually be struggling in the right direction

[SamuraiSingh]

30.7.25

[SamuraiSingh]

31.7.25

[SamuraiSingh]

1/8/25

I really struggle with the 5 minute gesture, Its about2-3 minutes drawing then 2-3 minutes erasing and redrawing

[JimSt]

In my opinion, anything over 1 minute is not a gesture drawing, but a figure drawing. Those figure drawings start with a quick gesture drawing, but then you add as many of the full details or suggestion of detail as you can within the time limit. I don't know if that's how you are supposed to do it, but it makes sense to me. I see this as an opportunity/quiz to flex pretty much everything learned in the Art School course having to do with drawing (and probably a ton of stuff not covered here (i'm assuming AS does not cover traditional comic inking techniques)). Then later (preferably, the next drawing session) when I spot my mistakes, that's a growth opportunity or even a chance for me to say, "hey I really didn't fully understand forearm muscle groups." To me that's what makes the most sense, if the goal is to learn this stuff as deeply and fully as possible.

[SamuraiSingh]

I get what you mean by its a quiz. I always felt like longer drawings are the real test that makes you go "so what are you gonna get right?"

[SamuraiSingh]

4.8.25

[SamuraiSingh]

5.8.25

[SamuraiSingh]

When I draw I find it hard to spot mistakes, Is it worth me going back to older drawings to spot and fix mistakes instead of something I just drew.
My hope is that by improving my ability to find and fix mistakes in previous work that it will help me going forward.

[SamuraiSingh]

6.8.25

[SamuraiSingh]

I draw both portraits
Then went back to fix mistakes that I spotted
Still symbol drawing parts I struggle with

Also I forgot to do some blind contour, that was really helping me the past few days

[SamuraiSingh]

7.8.25
Gonna progress through the grid method to improve my observation
each week reduce the amount of squares in the grid
starting at 4x4
When I was younger I once used a 2x6 grid, So I think I am more comfortable with the bigger squares, smaller squares and I think I would struggle to see the reference

[SamuraiSingh]

no clue how to draw the hair and that ear keeps telling me its wrong

[SamuraiSingh]

Really could not get the eyes right, should I aim to be more accurate than this

[SamuraiSingh]

8.8.25
I think I have actually got myself on track for improving my observation skills but I need a second opinion

Tried adding construction into the process that was difficult

[JimSt]

I find it very helpful to review the results for the last drawing session before I start the next one and critique that work. If I am doing portrait work, I move the layer over top of the reference so it is easy to see what's wrong. Most of the time, my portrait mistakes are from not paying attention to the underlying forms, so spending more time doing the full Loomis construction (and then overlaying that to check before moving on) is worthwhile for me.

I think you've made good progress with copying accuracy. What I'm seeing is that your facial features tend to be a bit smaller than your reference - most frequently the eyes. I draw my eyes too big, so I can relate to the struggle.

[SamuraiSingh]

Sounds like a good idea to go over yesterdays work. Thanks for the tip about the features being too small. Its funny because I always think they are too big and end up shrinking them.

In terms of my accuracy I had been trying to fit blind contour in to my routine. The past few days I have noticed the biggest difference by first doing a blind contour of the reference then drawing it. Really boosts how much I am paying attention to the reference