Piece #6: Face It—We’re Doing This Again

With my last piece, I learned that if I slow down enough, I can draw a decent face. Especially if I follow a tutorial. For this piece, I wanted to see if I could put everything together that I've learned about shading and faces. And while the last model was definitely a handsome dude, I find feminine beauty a little more alluring. So this time I wanted to test my skills with a woman's face.

But instead of going back to my Mikaila Dimova project, I decided to choose a frontal view portrait. For this piece, I chose this photo of the stunning Chloe Rose. Here is my attempt next to the reference:

Ok, ok, not bad. I think the overall shape of the head is ok. The drawing definitely looks feminine, which I think is in the eyes and eyebrows more than anything else.

I think I made her face a little wider than it is in reality. They eyes are spaced a little far apart. The nose and mouth are wider as well. I still need to work on placement, size, and orientation of features. That will come with time. The hair is a little extra... squiggly. I have not yet defeated my First Nemesis. Sigh...

The shading isn't horrible, but it lacks depth. Looking at the drawing now, I think a little more contrast would help it look not so flat. At first I thought the drawing looked better than its photo because I remember it looking better when I finished. But no, that's just me. This is a fair representation. I think, when drawing, I get so focused on in the minute changes in shading and don't think to take a break, step away, and look again with fresh eyes. I'll have to watch out for that going forward.

I do like the shading of the right side of her blouse. I especially like the frilly, lacy bit. I think that turned out nice.

Overall: pretty good for a second face. Well third if you count the hair beret fiasco.

Here's what I learned drawing this piece:

• I definitely need to walk away and come back later before proceeding to the next phase of the drawing. That way I can check for mistakes in the sketch, inconsistencies in shading, etc. I did this a little bit just because I can't finish an entire piece in one sitting yet, and I caught some stuff. But some stuff I didn't notice until typing this post.

• I need to practice hair more. Ugh...

• I need to practice more everything else while I'm at it.