No matter how good or experienced we are in our profession or expertise. We all have our own weaknesses. Just like a singer that can not rock all genres, a dancer that can not break all types of dance, and me as an artist, there are things in drawing that I can not do well. But let's not turn our backs on it, we can face it on the help of God who gave it to us, and our ownselves who handle our talents. And I'm here to share what happened and what strategies I made to surpass them.
My Problem
I wanna start with my problem. When doing portrait, I use grid. This is not actually is, but because of grid, I tend to be a printer. I always forget to use my imagination. What I do is like what computer does like basing all with the coordinates. I spend a lot of time and energy with this style and it's not the best thing to do. I thought it would be perfect but the result is not so pleasant and not so accurate.
My Weakness
The next thing that I will connect is my weakness. It's really hard for me to draw a face by just using black pencils. I thought my eyes would never be satisfied without using colors. It is because my strength is mixing up paints to produce a colorful art. But I know that this method is a fundamental of portraiting. So what I did is I tried and I seek advice from others.
So What I Did Is...
- First I watched videos about anatomy. There I witnessed face features that I don't even have an idea. I studied first the skull which gives our head shape. Then I started analyzing the smaller details about eyes, lips, nose and even neck. I tried a quick sketch and it doesn't look too good.
- I had not been satisfied with just one try. So I tried it one more time with spending more time. I tried to apply what the author said but again, it's not the best that I have done.
- I'm a little bit tired of repeating. And this time, I want to give my very best. I bought 2 more graphite pencils and kneadable eraser. I used grid with smaller boxes. I made sure that every stroke I made is my best. I'd never allowed myself to loose my focus even though my eyes want to close. All of this paid out after I saw an improvement after 20 hours.
Even it's hard, I'll never be totally tired of drawing because I know that Someone knows what I can do with it than me. I know that someday, all what improved in myself will payout 'cause I already saw proofs.
Just keep practicing what your skills. One day, your skill, your hobby will be your profession.
I'm very open for comments, tip, suggestions and any feedback! :)