Light and Shade Studies

During this semi-project, I learned how the human brain uses various aspects of the information in front of us to piece together an understanding of where we are in space compared to other objects. The brain utilizes light, shade, size, and the differences between the two images produced by our eyes to create one, three dimensional image in our mind. As artists, we can try to recreate, by using different pigments, the illusion of such an image by imitating the light, shade, and size to trick others' brains into thinking it is real. I already knew some of the patterns of shade and size although I have not had much experience looking at the way that light bounces from surfaces so I found this very useful in expanding my knowledge of light's properties. I hope that this will, in the long run, help me to become a better artist.

Facial Proportions

After making the lines for proper proportions on top of my photo, I realized that I slightly differed from them. My chin, mouth, nose, and eyes were all slightly above the line by about the same amount. After taking this into account as well as the fact that I have a slimmer face than that of my original drawing, I think my secondary one looks better, although I think I may have made the eyes set a little too high and the mouth is off. Aside from those, I think it looks closer to the real face than the first image did and, because of that, I am satisfied with it for now. I would like to get better at this, though. 

Artist Self Portait

I thought this particular image was interesting because not only did the artist draw himself, but he also had his face in a way that was different than the flat, neutral pose. This creates differences in the proportions that one must learn before trying such a feat, unless the artist is skilled enough to draw without any previous knowledge. As I am new to drawing faces and have not yet become comfortable with this part of art, I need the previous knowledge such as what details to keep in, which to not bother with, or how someone's face distorts when he/she smiles or frowns. While my skill with recreating faces is lacking, I look forward to helping it to grow.