some more faces construction studies. These were actually completed a couple days ago, and since then I've been lazy.. :/

6 min faces. Making an effort to think of Loomis' principles while doing these. The results aren't as accomplished as my previous 6 min faces. I'm hoping that's only because this method of thinking about the face is still somewhat foreign to me. Instead of just guessing at proportions (as I have in the past), the Loomis' method is a more scientific approach. In the long run I hope this is worth it. These last few nights have been frustrating more than anything.

Read more Loomis' drawing of the human head. This time I sketched construction lines over photos. Still a lot of incorrect assumptions on my part, but I'm starting to gain more of an understand. Otherwise, it was a lackluster art night. More tomorrow

fail...at least that's the first word that comes to mind. Read and studied Loomis' drawing the human head. Concepts made plenty of sense, but the step by step instructions are loose...at best. Something in my brain just doesn't process drawing the human head in this manner. The idea is to help with proportion and to be able to draw the head sans reference. Maybe I need to read the whole book, and I probably haven't given it enough time, and maybe maybe maybe...but jesus christ this was frustrating. I can only sketch too many bad drawings and/or notice I'm failing so many times before 0 fucks are given. That's why a good portion of the heads are very sloppy, and are suffering from some head trauma or another. This image post will henceforth be known as "Page of Rage -- The FuckFace Chronicles" 

Another in depth face study. This one proved more difficult due to the angle of the face and the different lighting conditions. Still good practice, but the abundance of strokes makes it look amateur...like a piece that's been overworked, but still not finished. It shows that I had some trouble getting the values, or that perhaps I was painting with too small a brush. Either way, it gives the impression that the painter (me) is uncertain. Regardless, I'm content with the way it turned out. I wanted to do something more challenging...mission accomplished.

more 6 min faces. Used a "real hard conte" brush. I like the subtleness of the opacity on this particular brush. It allows me to do some basic values without choosing a separate value on the color wheel. Also, although these sketches look less complete than previous one, the accuracy of the various facial features is definitely improved. Not perfect by any stretch, but better for sure. Might benefit me to do a quick post mortem...

another prolonged face study based on what I considered to be one of the more successful 6 min face sketches. It could still be pushed a lot further/harder, but overall I'm satisfied with the general shapes. The nose is without a doubt the most difficult as there aren't many hard lines...it's all subtle value shifts. Eyes, and lips I'm happy with. I think I capture the overall shape and lighting in a proficient manner.

More 6 min faces. Didn't save the first two images...oops. Thinking about line weight and how it can be used to form a more effective sketch. The lit side of a surface could have a more slender and/or less opaque line while the darker side would have more thick and/or more opaque lines. This is of course, assuming that I'm sketching a darker value on a lighter background, which typically I do. Currently, I struggle enough just getting the forms correct, and even then, under such a limited time frame, they are only somewhat accurate representations of the original source material. Regardless, moving forward as I become more proficient, it is something I can start integrating into my sketches to make the lighting more comprehensible without any sort of real value structure.

Put in another 40 mins or so on this initial 6 min sketch. Numerous inconsistencies with the source material, but the my main goal was to work on values and also refine the main features of the face. 6 min studies don't allow me adequate time to do this, so I think incorporating a longer study with the short ones is good practice.

more 6 min studies. forgot to save the first bunch of images for the reference board. Played aroudn with some different brushes and also attempted to add some rough values on some of the sketches. I'd say it was semi successful. Maybe just doing simple line work is the way to go, but I'm always trying to find a quicker way to do things. Perhaps that's something I should work on after I become more proficient and consistent with my sketches.

more 6 min faces. Getting better with the lips, and learning that what is NOT drawn is just as important as what IS drawn. Briefly tried adding the highlight to the top lip, but without any other highlights it looks strange, so I canned that idea and started making subtle marks that only gave the impression of lips, which is actually more readable than outlining the lips as I had done before.

more 6 minute face studies. This time I numbered them in the order in which they were drawn. Some observations:

 #3 drew the eyes last on this one, and made a conscious decision to make them larger when I realized I would have too much empty space if the eyes had been drawn to scale. I wouldn't say it saved the sketch, but I do think it was an appropriate, quick adaptation given the time limit.

#4 the only male of the group...I don't think quickposes has many male faces :/

#6 I expected this one to be easier than usual given only half the face is viewable; surprisingly it was the other way around. Spent a lot of time on the lips..still can't get them right.

 #9 Finally was able to convey the lips properly. I think part of the ease with this was the exaggerated line of action for the lips. Also realized that, when sketching, the areas with the greatest amount of value contrast are often the easiest to see, and thus, to draw. The eyes have white cornea + black pupil, and are often already outlined (as with makeup). In addition, the edges are very sharp as with the iris and the cornea. The lips however, really only have a hard line + hard contrast where the upper and lower lip meet. It's true that often times the there is a semi darker value on the lower portion of the lower lip; especially with he cast shadow on the chin, but the value isn't necessarily hard enough to warrant a black line on grey or white paper. Thus, the sketch comes off as...forced. Same with the top of the upper lip. In fact, it might even be better to sketch with a somewhat lighter color than the background, because I think a line on the upper lip with a slightly lighter value/color will convey a more genuine sketch than a black line on the upper lip, which I'd say doesn't even look forced....it just looks wrong...ugh wordy, there was probably a more effective way of saying all that

more 6 min studies + the corresponding references. Still working with a 2B pencil in Corel. Working with a bit larger brush size helped speed up the sketching process. I then used a slightly smaller brush size (~50-70% of the original size) once I was satisfied with the intial sketch. 3/4 poses still giving me trouble. Also could hurt to do some lip studies as I think that's the feature that's giving me the most resistance. Facial hair is proving difficult as well.

After last nights portrait study failure, and the advice of some friends, I did some short--6 min--studies of faces. Just sketchy stuff, but definite progress. this is the way to go until I feel more confident. profile and straight on shots are better than 3/4 and other more complex views. 

*Sigh* if I'm going to attempt to successfully capture the human form, I really NEED NEED NEED to make time and focus on the fundamentals of the form until I can do it without thinking. Also, I'm stuggling with the digital medium. Initially, I painted the image with all hard brushes (Corel painter) with the intention of blending. This isn't typically how I work (I like soft brushes with gradation), but numerous artists have recommended it to me because my forms are often much too soft. Anyways, the result was not exactly "pathetic" but that's the word that comes to mind. I then resketched parts of the painting, and attempted again using more soft brushes + blending. Result was roughly the same. Got frustrated and quit, but I wanted to post anyway, because maybe someone, somewhere will get something useful out of this, or maybe just a good laugh...also I need to post more regardless of what I'm posting...if nothing else but to make this a habit.

Bugs. These came out better. Used a wet accrylic brush with a softer edge (this brush also blends naturally). Also used a pencil/graphite brush more the dusty/grainy look. Maybe I should just paint bugs instead... :/