It looks like a couple of weeks back, I spoke a little too soon regarding moving on to the next stage of my portrait learning process! I am learning that this is to be expected on any path of learning and discovery! As they say, ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’. Further, it’s really impossible for me to truly ‘see’ how far I am from a goal in art until I actually do the work necessary to get there.
I’ve needed to spend the last couple of weeks continuing to work on those Reilly method rhythm lines rather than moving on to the planes. Two specific issues were pointed out to me in my critiques that have been holding my work back from really improving a lot over the last year or so. My proportions need work, and my linework also demonstrates a need for a lot more practice.
I cannot stress enough how beneficial subjecting oneself to cold, honest, dispassionate critique can be. I’ve been of the opinion lately, that I can only really rely on myself for thoughtful critique. I absolutely must critique myself as objectively as I possibly can. But the inescapable truth is that even if I can somehow remain perfectly objective about my work, there is no substitute for the critical eye of someone who has already been down the road I travel. God bless those who have been generous enough to be honest with me about where I’m at.
Critique that isn’t specific enough is less helpful, but nonetheless useful in its own way. It can alert me at least to the presence of a problem, even if I must then seek specific guidance elsewhere.
If at all possible, I highly recommend to anyone who is serious about improvement, to find a community of artists who know what you are tying to accomplish and who have already accomplished it. Seek others who are willing to help you by being honest with you about what they see in your work. Particularly in an online environment, ultimately each artist must make their own judgments about which criticisms are most valid. I have found though that amongst artists, those of us who know how difficult this can be, it isn’t always comfortable to stick one’s neck out to point out a weakness in someone else’ work. When someone does that for me, I really have to pause and take it seriously.
My focus since my last blog has been on being as accurate as possible, and creating clean, consistent linework. Below are a couple of before and after images. The effect is maybe kind of subtle, but that’s really what portraits, and achieving likeness are all about!
This will be the basis of my overall process. I will do many more of these as a basis for constructing the planes of heads. I’ll check back soon with more progress!
