"Window Light"

I've finished my latest drawing, and I'm not as happy with it as I could be. I'm a bit frustrated with the texture of the paper. I don't like the background or the one arm very much. I think the face still needs work, but I like the hair. Anyway I've decided I'm done working with it, because I'm just getting more and more frustrated and it just feels like I'm going around in circles. I think it could be better but it's not horrible. For my next drawing I'm just going to cut off a piece of that white paper from the huge roll I have. I want to work a little larger but it's not going to be much more than 18" x 24" because I'm limited by the size of my drawing board. I think I have a good idea of which reference photo to use (I was trying to decide to between two).

Been Sick

I have been sick lately so my original deadline of Christmas has been blown past, again I'm only a day or two from finishing it's just a matter of staying up late enough to finish it. I'm going to try to just finish the drawing in the next few days. I really want to finish before New Years. For next year I'd like to have about a drawing each month or so. Because if I finish this one I'll have completed ten drawings this year, so next year I'd like to have at least 11.

Getting there

I'm almost done with the face and the hair needs a little more work, but other than that I'm happy with it. I'm having to sit in awkward position in the chair to keep the reference on the monitor, so my foot went painfully numb. Or else I probably would have at least finished that sleeve. I think I lightened the face a little too much when I was trying to smooth it out. I'll just go in and fix that tomorrow, then I'll fix that little piece of hair that bothers me and I think I'll at least try to finish the sleeves and arms if not the whole thing.

Update

I no longer feel that the face is too wide, though right now I'm not too happy with the texture that I have in all the space where I have new work done. I think I just need to spend more time layering white over black because I absolutely hate those blending stumps. So many people swear by them, but I just swear at them. It doesn't work for me. Though right now my usual method is not working. Also right now that chair is looking too dark though I do think the bottom of the face needs more shadow. I think I succeed in making the face not so wide and I tried to take a little off the chin. I think it still needs some work. I'm pretty happy with the hair and I like the contrast with the wall, though I do think it could use a little more white. Maybe I could also emphasize the wood grain more. I mapped out the borders, and it looks like it will be another 8" x 10." I don't think that's so bad. My next drawing is definitely going to be a bit larger though. I have mixed feeling about this paper though. On one hand it doesn't seem to wear out as fast as my sketch book paper, but the texture is causing me a little bit of problems in the face. I figure I'll be able to fix it with a few more layers but it is a pain.

**Looking at it now maybe the angle on the chin is too severe and that's why it looks off.

Another Update

I got a little more work done tonight and also decided how to crop it. I haven't actually drawn out the lines this is just my test from photo shop. It's also helped me compare a little more. The angle on the eye is off, the face is too long overall, that curl needs to come in a bit more because right now the face is too wide, and the hair in front needs to puff out a little more. I think the nose could use some more work. I think if I could pull it off it needs to come back into the face a little more and I need to fix the shading on the cheek some of that highlight is a little too right. I think that's why the nose looks off to me, because it's too far out. If I pull it in more then the angle won't be so severe. And that eye, the top of it is just off. That top lid. It's being such a pain. I'm rather liking the hair though.

Update

There are quite a few things I feel need to fixed, but I am a bit happier with it. I think maybe I'm making the head a little too wide but that is an easy fix. I also need to define the dimensions soon. I seem to have some how drawn the face straighter than it is in the photo, so now I have do decide if I want to crop at an angle. I think the angle makes the photo more interesting but I'm not sure if I want that for the drawing. I'll have to see. I think few parts of the face need to be a bit darker.
Also this is only work from tonight. I fell asleep early last night and didn't get any work done.

New Drawing

I've started a new drawing, obviously another black and white. I'm working on a huge piece of paper, but I'm going to cut it down. I'm using gray paper this time. I didn't want this drawing to be huge, just another small piece but I wanted to work on tinted background. So far I'm pretty happy with the eye I think a few of the angles could be adjusted, and the mouth is looking odd because only half of it is finish. Taking a photo of this was also a pain but the color her is pretty true to life. I'm going to be taking a few reference photos soon based on the ideas I was working on earlier. I was just eager to get back into another drawing so I went ahead and started this. It will be good to work on while I work through a couple of ideas.