Art Quest Update 9-1-24

The quest continues, Fellow Creatures!

Coming at you for this latest round of updates with officially starting unit #2 of the solo artist curriculum as created by Radio Runner.  And with Unit #2 comes the start of something I’ve been wanting to improve for a long, long time.

Drawing the head and face.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawing the same faces. They all look a little small and flat, with eyes way too big, and mouths that are nothing more than a single line. Not terrible, but certainly not of the quality like Karl Kopinski or Sam Hogg (two of my art idols!).

I’ve long longed (that’s fun to write) to make expressive and full characters like them, but never understood how.

But thanks to Marco Bucci’s Understanding and Drawing the Head I feel like I’m on my way.  A great, in-depth series of videos that show you how to construct the head like Andrew Loomis, I’m just about through part 1.  

See below for some small snippets of the things I’ve learned and have been practicing on. 

 

 

Still a ways to go and many many more hours of practice and line quality development, but I am happy that my noses are looking nose-ier and my mouths, mouth-ier.  I also feel relatively confident that if I saw a portrait I could get it to the point that someone would be able to pick the reference from a crowd of real-life people.

Perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself.

Yet still, I’m so far happy that this unit has not disappointed, and there’s still plenty more to go. There’s Proko’s class on the Loomis method and Sinix’s lectures on anatomy that I am hopefully will solidify my understanding of drawing (and painting, eventually) the head and face. 

Then, it’s onto the Ahmed Aldoori’s 100 head challenge, where, you guessed it, I’m tasked with drawing 100 portraits across a variety of genders, ethnicities, and ages that should put these skills to the test.

I’m excited to share the results with you.

Other than that, I’m trying to practice what I’ve learned in other chapters. Figure drawing remains a centerpiece of my warm-up practice.  I’ve even tried my hand at some simple compositions.

All-in-all, as I’ve said before in previous Art Quest updates, there’s always more to be doing and more time I wish I could spend with trying to improve. 

Over August, as I’ve been concentrating on the less-intensive writing project of getting feedback on UAGMM and editing it, I’ve found more time in the evening to work on drawing.

It’s been fun, especially diving head-first (pun intended) into this unit.  I’m excited that I still have a long way to go with it too. The face is a fascinating piece of architecture and there are so many layers and complexities to it that I’d really like to get it to stick. 

If you want to follow along more closely, check out my Instagram as I’m posting Art Quest updates more regularly, otherwise, tune in sometime next month for a look at how far I’ve come in unit #2.  

Maybe by then, there’ll be completed faces staring back at you. 

 

Until next time,

 

Stay savory,

 

-Jeff