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Hi guys. So i finished this and i say finished because i just can’t do it anymore. And i see how amateurish it looks and it’s depressing. I mean i know i’m an amateur by definition but i really want to learn to be a good artist. And i feel absolutely lost. There’s no good school where i live, so all i have is books and online classes. But i definitely lack a sense of direction. And it’s not like i’m fresh out of high school, i’m in my thirties, so i want to make the most of my learning time.
So if anyone has good advice on how to structure my studies, i will greatly appreciate it. Critique, your experience, ideas, pep talk all welcome
As are honest opinions on whether i have a shot at becoming a professional at this or i’m just delusional and wasting my time. My main interest is portraiture of course, hence the thread.
Hope to make friends here! My instagram lana_yashina
Always grateful for C&C!You are a very talented artist and you should not be too worry about gaining experience and learning more about portraiture, especially on pastel.
My recommendation is to purchase or view videos of well established artists such as Daniel Greene, Wendy Caporale, Cuon Gnuyen, Alain Picard, and other videos in You tube.
During the last decade or so I have been able to get books and videos from the Internet. The more you practice, the better.
In the meantime, work on black and white in order to learn the values, which is more important than colors.
Is this the same portrait you posted back in November? or did you re-do the portrait? Really this is a fine portrait!
Anyway- you are being hard on yourself with your comments, but then we all are! It is an indication that you can see where you want to be, and not sure how to achieve it.
Be very clear about the kind of portraits you want to produce. I made a file of painters I admired, the techniques that I wanted to improve and focused on that. The more specific the better!
My goals were to more easily/accurately draw and paint portraits from life. Then improve alla prima oil painting from my reference sketches and photos.
Over the years I have joined workshops for a week at a time with an artist that suited my goals. These very quickly improved my skills.
The biggest improvement was (you guessed it!) practice- as a result of getting a small group together and getting people to sit for us. Sketching people regularly, our life drawing group has been meeting regularly for almost 15 years.
Good luck.bethany
moderator in figures & portraits blogs: artbybethany life-presence
website www.bethanyart.com
My inspiration is art... because without art, we would just be stuck with reality. ~Daniel R. Lynch
Is this the same portrait you posted back in November? or did you re-do the portrait? Really this is a fine portrait!
Anyway- you are being hard on yourself with your comments, but then we all are! It is an indication that you can see where you want to be, and not sure how to achieve it.
Be very clear about the kind of portraits you want to produce. I made a file of painters I admired, the techniques that I wanted to improve and focused on that. The more specific the better!
My goals were to more easily/accurately draw and paint portraits from life. Then improve alla prima oil painting from my reference sketches and photos.
Over the years I have joined workshops for a week at a time with an artist that suited my goals. These very quickly improved my skills.
The biggest improvement was (you guessed it!) practice- as a result of getting a small group together and getting people to sit for us. Sketching people regularly, our life drawing group has been meeting regularly for almost 15 years.
Good luck.Thank you for the kind words and for remembering my portrait
It is the same one, i just kept working on it to get more likeness. Your drawing group sounds amazing, wish i had something like that. Don’t know ways to organise it though.Hope to make friends here! My instagram lana_yashina
Always grateful for C&C!Your drawing group sounds amazing, wish i had something like that. Don’t know ways to organise it though.
Like Bethany I started an ran a portrait group for six years, it eventually died away for lack of commitment from the fellows.
When I started it I first found others willing to participate then hired models and a venue, to begin with it worked well and we all learned a lot.
If I was to do it again I would keep it small and have the fellows take turns to model and not higher a venue but to use my studio.
Dave.“What peaches and what penumbras! Whole families shopping at night! Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the avocados, babies in the tomatoes!—and you, Garcia Lorca, what were you doing down by the watermelons?”
— Allen Ginsberg
Are you ready for a Journey?
PS Critiques always welcome but no plaudits or emoting, please don’t press the like button.
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