I got faces, now what?

I've got the hang of drawing faces (well, somewhat, but it's suffcient,) but just when I thought I had the hang of things, I learned that other stuff is still waiting to be learned...

Now my dilemma is what should I work on next? Hands? Torsos? Feet? I'm trying to pick something but nothing is coming easy to me. Any suggestions? (Before I lose my mind trying to decide?)

I would advise not to focus on a certain body part in particular, but start out with the whole figure, poses and gestures, even if they may appear rough or crude. You'll automatically be drawn to detailing certain parts, and by doing this you will get better at it.
Try to draw from nature while practicing, (don't just limit yourself to "tickling poses") and if lacking a live model, you can learn a great deal from drawing from photos (but what ever you do don't "lightbox-copy" them, you'll learn nothing by that method!).

Lastly, be bold and experiment away. Nobody need to see the end results that you don't like. Believe me, a lot of my primary sketches have ended up in the trash bin, and still do.

OK, so I should focus on drawing whole figures from my books, and just keep at it, eh? *sighs* Well, looks like I'm gonna need my portable stress reliever.

*takes out a cushion with a bullseye shape on it with the words 'IF ALL ELSE FAILS - BANG HEAD HERE!' written underneath it*

It took me several years to master faces because I wasn't keeping up with it, and it wasn't untill a year or two ago I looked back and realized I was making progress. If I keep at it with this, though, and do it constantly, it shouldn't take as long. Just a matter of going at it. Should I stick with just one pose and when I get better at drawing figures, try some other ones and then experiment? Or just do a variety of them and keep at them? Because drawing a figure in general is tough for me, even a stick figure.

Yes, just keep going. It's like some philosophy that keeps me going on even if it bleeds my whole being: this "3 inches away from gold" thing.

When Carnegie digs for gold with his contractor for 7 years or so, he quitted, and never knew he was 3 inches away from it. The next person who followed after him got the gold.

When I was 8 years old, I was drawing quietly, my classmate (who was then good in drawing) mocked my sketch to the bone that I took it personally. I felt so bad that I promised myself to draw better. Time passed by. At 5th grade, that classmate and I crossed path on a drawing project, this time I won, my art project was the one chosen for exhibit and not his.

Sometimes it takes a bad feeling to bring out the challenge. Never stop. There will be milestone. Promise.

Tip: put action on stick figure and gradually add muscle until you compose a figure in action.

Hey, art isn't supposed to be stressfull. Don't feel like you have to prove yourself. Art should be the stress reliever in itself. Art is a way of expressing yourself. It should never be a chore.

What I meant by focussing on the whole figure, is that you need a "frame" on which you put your torsos/faces/feet or whatever you like to concentrate on while drawing. If you would concentrate on certain bodyparts, you'll face great difficulty putting it alll togehter in the end. The human figure (among other shapes) is an organic whole, not a collection of pieces and parts.

Sure your first drawings are gonna suck, so did mine. And there's always going to be room for improvement. I find myself studying art techniques all the time -not just the work of today's top artists, but also the masters of classic painting.

I guess I gotta do what I did with faces. Just keep working on the sample one I want to master over and over, untill I've memorized it enough to keep going without needing my book. And then eventually look back and see how much I've improved. Except this time I'm not gonna be sporadic (if it weren't for being so sporadic I might be better now) and keep at it. Which means my skills will go up faster.

Bohemianne said:

Sometimes it takes a bad feeling to bring out the challenge.

Click to expand...

Words to live by.

Kalamos said:

Words to live by.

Click to expand...

^ How cool of you!