Some Ears and A Cat

As I work through the book, Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain, in January, the exercises are focusing on portraits.  Even though I’ve been using the skills in this book, it is still hard to see and draw what you see, rather than being impacted by the symbols in your head.  Ears have been a stumbling block.  It’s not just seeing the shapes.  There are also a lot of details so there are decisions about what is needed what is not.  

Since I have been struggling with the basic shapes of and within the ear, today, I sat down, looked at some profile pictures or Sktchy where I could zoom in on the ears, and practiced drawing.  For some of them, I did the upside down trick.  Looking at those ones on the top makes my head do a loop-de-loop.  For others, I went right side up.  These are way more detailed than what would go into a portrait, but I figure if I understand them better, hopefully, I can make better decisions.  Here's the part of the page where I was working on the whole ear.

I still haven’t figured out how to balance drawing and painting.  It's hard to find time to do both in one day.  Since my January project is about drawing, I am trying to paint when I have some extra time.  Rather than rushing, I am working to slow down, which also means working on thumbnails. 

It’s weird how sometimes things just work.  This one was short, easy, and quick.  I wasn't fussy and did worry about the making a good drawing.  It reads better than many of my paintings.

I worked on this painting over the last few days.  It’s a little fussy.  I should have stopped sooner.  I like composition and I think the values work.  Having the thumbnail helped with that. Although, there is a spot on the right under the eye which should be darker. 

#371 - A Little Orange Sunshine - 8" x 8" - paper

It felt good to paint a cat.  It’s been a long time.