Another sketch done from a photograph

While we have moved on in my classes at this point there are still some students trickling in their work from many weeks ago where we were focused on the intricacies of the face on all humans and how difficult it can be to get it right.

It is agreed among almost anyone that younger people are easier to draw because due to their youth, they have significantly fewer wrinkles if they have them at all. This is true. I only have to look in the mirror to know that this is the case.

This sketch was done by a student and they said that they did NOT use the grid system of focusing on one small part of the face at a time while looking at the photo. If they are not lying to me than I am seriously impressed because the creator of this sketch is a very young student of mine.

The detail evolved over time and I was particularly impressed with how they shading became more and more of a part of the picture. I didn't tell them that they had to do this, they simply decided to do so on their own. I like when this happens without being told because it shows that they are genuinely interested in doing these things well rather than because "they have to."

In my classes there are no grades and no one is forced to come to the classes outside of a few parents that are looking for some free babysitting for an hour.

Also, the idea of grading art is something that I have great issue with seeing as how it is really up to the individual what out there can be considered "good" art and what can be considered garbage. I really don't like modern art but apparently a lot of other people do since there are massive museums dedicated to precisely that. No one person gets to decide what is good and what isn't so if someone ever says that your art is terrible I encourage you to ignore them. The very thing that the person, even an instructor like me, is criticizing, might be exactly what it is that makes your work unique. Some of the best and mostly highly-regarded artists of all time were shunned by their peers and told they were "doing it wrong."

Embrace your mistakes and help to make them evolve. Art should be something we enjoy doing, not something that we have to do.