Piece #5: Hair We Go Again

I drew my last piece relatively quickly and the results show it. While I was pleased that what I did was recognizable as a face, especially after my awful attempts at a quick-and-dirty profile head, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed that my first head wasn't as good as my first few pieces. Yes I know that's irrational. I felt it anyway.

For this piece, I wanted to try the same head, but slow down and take my time. Make careful measurements. Observe and understand the reference instead of just copying. And, hopefully, make some inroads toward defeating my First Nemesis: hair.

To begin to learn how to draw hair, I watched this video on YouTube by KirstyPartridgeArt. And here is the result (with reference photo again):

Much better! I like this one! I think if you saw my sketch on a police procedural TV show you could pick the model out of the lineup.

I can still spot places where my drawing is different enough from the reference that it's obviously a bit off. I think this is due to my tendency to not observe the reference closely enough or for long enough. I've been getting better at that. But given my current skill level (or maybe just because) I think I need to do this more.

Here's what I learned from drawing this piece:

• Patience is even more of a virtue when it comes to drawing hair. Slow and steady wins the race. Be the tortoise, not the hair (ok I'm done with the hair puns for now).

• A better approach would have closer observation and comparison as the drawing progresses. Perhaps draw a little, observe a bit, note differences, make corrections if possible. That way I don't get to the end and say, "Wow, look how different this is from the reference."