Unprogramming my brain
It's breaking all the conventions I normally keep for this blog but a bit over a week ago I was finally convinced get back to doing face/body studies, and since then I made agreements with at least three friends to practice with their faces. I find people like the idea of getting a portrait done for free and I like the idea of getting to practice drawing faces of people I feel I know so intimately, yet have never really looked at carefully til I have to try to render them on paper!
We look at things but don't really see them. Apparently the human brain works more efficiently by ignoring details it doesn't need to help its host survive until it suddenly becomes critical to do so, but to draw something you have to really see it and kind of 'unprogram' your brain!
So I started again today. I did my first pencil portait in over four years and I blog about it since I want to publicly compare it with old drawings from 1999 (oldest scan I could find since I don't have the actual drawings from back then with me) and from 2002 (the most recent one I could find before today). I choose drawings of similar themes, done in the same medium and quick half-hour bursts, for the sake of comparison: three great women!
This drawing from December 1999 is of my sister.
From August 2002, a mate I was skiing with at the time (if I remember right we were too tired to take to the slopes that morning and drawing this was a kind of hangover cure!)
From today, one of my housemates.
Said housemate informed me she thinks the 1999 drawing is best, but I prefer the later ones since they are more emotionally accurate even though the drawing style is rougher.
More than anything though I am just so happy I can still have fun trying to capture images of people on paper!
Categorised as: nature
Technorati Tags: pencil, portait, face study, female, drawing
We look at things but don't really see them. Apparently the human brain works more efficiently by ignoring details it doesn't need to help its host survive until it suddenly becomes critical to do so, but to draw something you have to really see it and kind of 'unprogram' your brain!
So I started again today. I did my first pencil portait in over four years and I blog about it since I want to publicly compare it with old drawings from 1999 (oldest scan I could find since I don't have the actual drawings from back then with me) and from 2002 (the most recent one I could find before today). I choose drawings of similar themes, done in the same medium and quick half-hour bursts, for the sake of comparison: three great women!
This drawing from December 1999 is of my sister.
From August 2002, a mate I was skiing with at the time (if I remember right we were too tired to take to the slopes that morning and drawing this was a kind of hangover cure!)
From today, one of my housemates.
Said housemate informed me she thinks the 1999 drawing is best, but I prefer the later ones since they are more emotionally accurate even though the drawing style is rougher.More than anything though I am just so happy I can still have fun trying to capture images of people on paper!
Categorised as: nature
Technorati Tags: pencil, portait, face study, female, drawing
posted by Lisa at 2:14 pm
3 Comments:
Ha ha! This historical account of your portrait drawing is apparently wrong! Early Sept 2004, in Busan, you drew a pencil portrait of an unlucky almost-bearded guy to revenge to what he was doing with the faces of your other friends... remember?!
i still keep one of those "what he was doing with the faces of your friends" and think it even traveled with me overseas :)
Terrific. I was previously unaware of your artistic talent. You really must keep it up. I'm very, very envious.
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