Practice, Practice, Practice!

I have a new art book called How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs by Lee Hammond. What an amazing book! I am practicing the nose right now, and I can tell you that I have NEVER drawn a nose like this before in my life. I must get her book about animals. I was practicing last night, and I showed my husband what I drew when he got home from work. He said, "Wow, you drew that? That looks really good!" My specialty is not portraits. My specialty is drawing flowers and animals, so I was shocked when I drew a nose which looked so lifelike. I looked back on the first nose I drew (This one was only the second nose I have drawn) and decided that it was not too bad and did actually look like a nose after all. What a super feeling!

Recently, I sent the link to my portfolio to my professor because he jokingly said that he wanted a picture for Christmas. He complimented my work but did not place an order for a picture (unfortunately). I also found a local watercolor artist and sent her three of my portraits. She emailed me back and said I was doing well, which I took as a compliment. Up to this point, I have only received compliments from family and friends. It is nice to receive a compliment from someone you have never met. I have also been happy to see that my portfolio is getting some traffic in it.

Yes, I put my schoolwork aside to draw! I am sitting here right now writing this post and would rather be drawing. I know I have a paper to write, but I keep thinking to myself, "Maybe I could just draw for a while." BUT, the student in me knows that I MUST write my paper first.

I can't wait to get through this book and begin drawing portraits. (Maybe then I will be able to sell some pictures)