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MY
PROGRESS 
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I bought
Lee Hammond's book in September 1996.
I took it home, read the first chapters on materials,
gridding, shading and blending and then, using what
materials I had, drew my first portrait of John,
a family friend, onto a sheet of copy paper using
an ordinary wooden 2B pencil.
Okay, so it's a bit messy, and you can still see
the initial gridding in places... but apart from
my recent watercolour attempts I hadn't really used
a pencil since my school days, 35 years earlier,
so the drawing above astounded me on completion...
I could actually recognise John.
At the time, I assumed that was as good as it got...
Your first attempt may be a lot better or a lot
worse, it doesn't matter... believe me, you will
improve.
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Convinced
that Lees gridding and blending technique actually
worked, I drove into town the following morning,
purchased the recommended bristol board, a 0.5 mechanical
pencil loaded with 2B lead and a variety of erasures.
This is my second attempt, it took me about 3 evenings
to complete and as you can see it was a vast improvement
on the first with more detail in the clothing...
hair that actually looks like hair instead of straw
thatching and a little more contrast between tones.
I even attempted the folds
and shadows on the shirt using Lee's chapter on
drawing clothing, quite effectively for a first
attempt, I thought!... |
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Until...
( impressed huh?!!)
Several weeks later and after having read and practiced
most of the techniques in Lee's book I produced
this drawing... it still took me about 3 evenings
to complete but notice all the little extras that
I've started to 'see' :
Reflected light on the jawbone beneath the ear.
Hairline blended onto forehead to eliminate toupe
look.
Stronger tones giving better contrast.
Smoother blending.
More attention to detail... things that I simply
never saw earlier.
And (notice the date... still '96)
From a non-drawer to portrait artist in a matter
of weeks. Compare this picture to the first one...
And believe me... nobody was more
surprised than I was! |
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Over
the next eighteen months or so, I became so busy
drawing portraits of relatives, friends, friends'
families etc. that my skills and speed improved
dramatically. I also made quite a lot of money
during this period which was a bonus because I'd
never actually considered that aspect of it!
The
drawing of Norman Wisdom, took me between 5 -
8 hours (over a three day period) and I actually
had a photographed copy of it signed by Norman
himself. I now keep the photograph and a very
nice letter I received from him, framed above
my desk.
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