I can’t stop thinking about rendering the figure - portrait painting, figure painting, figure drawing, portrait drawing. It plays in my mind on a loop. I even bought an anatomy book for artists which reads like gibberish to me.
For example, I’ve learned that “the ear canal is an important reference point for the construction of the skull…it is the meeting point between the lower jaw and the beginning of the zygomatic bone, which runs along the skin under the cheekbone.” So, now I know about a new bone in my face, and yet, the next instruction is: don’t forget to evaluate the position on your individual model when drawing.
What do I do with this knowledge when it comes to actually drawing a skull, especially if I’m still checking the proportions of my model? What am I checking for again? (The last time I took a figure drawing class I was a teenager). How do I get the faces I draw to go from what they look like now to what they look like in this book? I am sitting here writing this and poking (what I think is) my zygomatic bone thinking, “cool that I know the name of this bone.” So for now, maybe that’s enough.
As I plan and write these posts, normally a thought emerges that I want to share; something that I’m learning about myself or learning out in the world. And while I am learning through this obsession, for this post, I keep coming back to the very visceral feeling of being bad at something. How can I reflect and write a nice, quippy post when, again, I’m screaming on the inside!
My first day of class, I stood at my easel and thought to myself, “I’m exhausted by my mediocrity!” On my last day of class, I sat on my drawing horse and thought to myself, “This stuffy room and this watery portrait is sucking the energy out of the room and my boy!” I wanted to pull out my phone and show my instructor one of my other paintings. “Look! I’m a good painter!”
Through all of my internal screaming and tantrums, I love going to class every Wednesday and figure drawing sessions on the weekends. What fun to try really hard at something and see how it all pays off. (It better pay off!)
And I do think it’s paying off already.
I’ll sign off with one portrait from my black and white portrait painting class that I actually quite like. Payoffs! It’s the paintings that goes well that keep me thinking, “I’ll come back, try again, and soon more will go better than not.”
What I’ve been reading
Andrew Hem: Phase Four - I’ve found myself reading a lot of books that aren’t book, books, like cookbooks and artists’ exhibition books. Andrew Hem’s book was my most recent purchase, and I look at it daily, like a bedtime story. His work makes me excited to get better at using gouache, painting people, and traveling more with my paints.
I recently asked Kyle if he wanted to see my new book, and his response was, “It sounds like you want me to see your new book.” Obviously! I want him and everyone I know to see this book!
What I’ve been making
Portraits.
And now you've got me poking my zygomatic bone. :-) Thanks for sharing this journey with us. It's hard to learn new things. Keep going!