Advice

Some quick thoughts for improving your drawing based on yesterdays poll:

If you chose your preferred method of drawing is “No method - I just freehand it”

This is probably the way I most often draw. But just because no method is used doesn’t mean no mental measuring and comparing is being done. You draw one accurate shape then another based on the first and keep adding shapes until you’re done.

But even if you’re 99% accurate, each additional shape becomes even more inaccurate. The solution is to find an anchor point that you always measure from. That way your inaccuracies don’t compound.

A good anchor point is usually a big clearly defined shape. Figure drawing this is commonly the head, then the head becomes a unit of measurement for the rest of the drawing as well as the anchor point to determine weight distribution, angles, ect…

But for for head profile studies I’ll commonly start with where the nose meets the lip. This point in relation to the ears tells a lot about the head angle and character.

There’s a hundreds of anchors you can use effectively, but I advise that you know what your measuring anchor point is and don’t move it, or at least move it as little as possible.

If you chose your preferred method of drawing is “The Loomis Method”

I don’t use this method much when copying from references but it’s indispensable when drawing characters for imagination, especially if your going after unique perspectives.

This method also makes it easy to know what to practice - circles! In your spare time practice making perfect circles as its the foundation for everything else.

But keep in mind this method tends to make people all look the same. Once you start to recognize that sameness, then you need to start breaking the rules a little depending on your subject. This person has a big chin, that one has a big nose, his face is long, her face is round. You’ve seen how caricature artists exaggerate these features and still get a likeness.

You don’t need to exaggerate much, just by careful observation know where your subject differs from a generic Loomis method portrait.

If you chose your preferred method of drawing is “The Grid Method”

This is a classic method, and very effective when your going after a true likeness or when resizing your drawing from your reference.

But it has some disadvantages, you can’t use it drawing from life. Well mostly not. I’ve seen some of Antonio Mancini’s paintings (Mesdag Collection - Hague) where he painted over a string grid then pulled the grid off the wet painting. Apparently he had his model sit behind a corresponding string grid.

Never the less, to keep the grid method from being a crutch you may give some thought to using it in a more selective manner.

For example you might take two pieces of cellophane and draw a grid on those instead. Put one over your reference, and use the other to periodically check the accuracy of your drawing. This way the grid is only used to correct your drawing and not to develop it.

Doing this you’ll rapidly improve your drawing skills because your getting good consistent feedback on how accurate your drawing is and not just becoming really good at drawing in a 2 inch square.