Piece #4: How to Get Ahead

I've started a trend: All my post titles may now contain awesome, Dad-joke-level puns. You know you like it.

Anyway, my next plan was to continue with the studies of my chosen Mikaila Dimova reference photo and draw her head. There was just one problem. I have no idea how to draw a head. I figured out something that worked for her right hand. Could I quickly find a promising path forward for her head?

Short answer: yeah not so much.

I filled a couple pages with quick sketches of the side of the head using whatever tidbits I've gleaned from watching other artists draw in the past few weeks. The results were hilariously bad. Here are a couple of my favorite (aka the worst) examples.

My favorite has got to be "stonks!," though "herpa-derp, derp!" sums up my opinion nicely. It's apt, succinct, concise. I have a way with words.

I needed some guidance, so I turned once again to Mr. Sam Yang of SamDoesArts fame. I found this tutorial on Sam's Patreon (it's also on YouTube apparently) and tried to follow along with minimal pausing. For the record, "minimal" does not equal "zero." Whoever invented the pause button deserves a National Holiday.

The tutorial covers three heads in various orientations. I just did the first one for now. I'll do the others later. This is the reference photo for the first head (no clue who this guy is or who took the photo) and my version next to it:

It's... about what I expected my first face to looks like. Honestly, it's what I expected my first anything to look like at best. I'm surprised my earlier pieces turned out as well as they did.

For this guy, I gave him a more square jaw and chin, fuller lips, misshapen eyes pointing in two different directions with slanty eyebrows, a smaller nose, I don't know what is going on with his ears, and a beret instead of hair. A hair beret. A hairet?

But there is some good news! It is a theoretically plausible face! Good job!

Here's what I learned by doing this piece:

• I learned a little about how heads and faces are structured.

• I learned (again) that patience is the driver of better results. I did this one relatively quickly. I think it took me about 30-45 minutes. I imagine I'll get faster as my skills improve, and I should probably push this a little here and there.

• Sam's Patreon tutorials are really good! Not only is the video very instructive, but Patreon members get a lot of other reference photos for further practice. If you're looking to learn how to draw and digitally paint, I recommend SamDoesArts.