On 17 Jan, 2015 With
I have a trouble with 3/4 view portraits. How can I improve this portrait proportions? Thank you, Anna Feedback from Vladimir London, Drawing Academy Tutor Dear Anna, Many thanks for your portrait, I like it; however, as you pointed out, it can be improved. You can do the following: 1. Draw the central line of the face from the top-middle of the forehead to the bottom-middle of the chin. Make sure this line is arched to the left as girl is looking in this direction. 2. Check how the bridge of the nose corresponds to this line. You may find that it sits deeper than it should be or the chin is protruding further that it should be. Also, make sure that the base of the nose is also positioned correctly according to this central line. 3. Make sure both…
Read More
On 7 Jan, 2015 With
I happened to watch the Drawing Academy video on why drawing from a photo is treacherous and was quite impressed with it. This led me into this drawing course and now I am a very happy and keen learner. Thank you for such a wonderful course!
Read More
On 14 Dec, 2014 With
Drawings by Svetlana, Drawing Academy student
Hi Vladimir,
In the shortest amount of time possible, I want to learn how to be an excellent artist. I realize this is the wish of almost every artist.
However, I think my drawing skills have not changed and I am still not satisfied with my artworks.
I like the Drawing Academy course; I learned a lot. I now know much more about drawing materials, how to hold a pencil, and how to render tonal values. I am still learning about perspective and anatomy…
Read More
On 24 Nov, 2014 With
Artwork by Yasmeen Kanan, Drawing Academy student Hello! After viewing one of your critiques given to another student, and after viewing the drawings that you have uploaded to improve our pencil strokes, I decided to take you advice and do a study. First, I made a copy of a drawing (as mentioned above) and created a drawing of a real life model using the hatching technique-pencil strokes. I must admit, copying an existing drawing is easier than drawing a real life subject. I wish I could upload two photos at once, but I will upload the real life drawing later. I would like to hear your critique for my “Gamut of pencil strokes.” Commenting on this study, an artist claimed that the difference in the strokes between the background and the subject has ruined the drawing. I oppose this view…
Read More
On 18 Nov, 2014 With
Artwork by Slater, Drawing Academy student
Hello,
I took your previous advice on how to shade with chalk pencil. I had to expose quite a bit of the chalk to sharpen it into a lasting point.
I decided not to smudge the marks.
The drawing I included is a copy of Masaccio’s St Paul…
Read More
On 11 Nov, 2014 With
Drawings and questions from Anastasia
Dear Drawing Academy tutors,
I have some troubles with drawing a human head. It is OK when I copy a drawing, but when it comes to draw portraits from memory or imagination, I’m lost.
Can you please advise what to do? …
Read More
On 7 Nov, 2014 With
Drawing by Yasmeen Kanan
Hello there! Just to tell you a little about myself, although I have been drawing a long time ago, but it is recently that I have started academic drawing… and I usually have a problem with being afraid of mistakes in drawing, whether it is in watercolor, pen, pencil, chalk, etc… so I try to get rid of this fear via the continuous practice, but I must make sure before graduating as a Visual Artist, that my basics are well established. That is why I have joined this Drawing Academy. The sketch I uploaded is daily practice, but I want to add character into my sketches and artworks. I love to portray mood and emotion even if it is just an academical sketch. I tried with chalk to increase the darkness although the in reality the…
Read More
On 5 Nov, 2014 With
Dear Drawing Academy Tutors,
I’m having a difficult time rendering shapes tonally. I believe I am still much too dependent on hard lines to describe forms. This is why I think my drawing here appears two dimensional.
This drawing was done from a live model in charcoal. To me, it looks flat, and the shading is not very precise.
How do I improve my rendering skills so that my drawings look more three dimensional? …
Read More
On 2 Nov, 2014 With
Drawings by Steven Nielsen, Drawing Academy student
Vladimir,
I was attempting practice shading and gamut of pencil strokes. Here’s Sarah’s portrait. I feel that I may have overdone this drawing.
I feel I need to work on my hatching skills either I am impatient or I just hatch in a controlled chaos type of way.
I will be going to local studio on Wednesdays soon for life model drawing and I am a bit nervous about this as I am not the fastest drawer, but we shall see how this works out! …
Read More
On 18 Oct, 2014 With
Drawings by Svetlana, Drawing Academy student
Dear tutors,
I recently enrolled in the Drawing Academy course. I like it very much and look forward for every email you send me. Your advices are very helpful, thank you for sharing your knowledge!
Can you please check my sketches and advise what is the best way to improve my drawing skills?
Thank you very much,
Svetlana
Read More
