Mike Sibley   Comment Posted Oct.20th, 2015, viewed 7 times

HI Naima,

I apologise - I didn't see your post of the 9th. I'll reply ASAP.

In the meantime, if you haven't completed the final drawing (I never did expect you to!) and you'd like to receive advice and critiques after the course ends please read on.

We don't have facilities for extending a course here at Drawspace, so go to the Workshop Plus page on my website. You'll see a big "upload" panel in the top right-hand corner - click that and post your final course work (at any stage). You won't see your work appear immediately - I'll critique it for you, post it to the page, and email you to let you know it's available. Be assured that I will continue to offer assistance and guidance at any time after the course has finished.

Most artists who take this course think it's centred around accuracy, but it's really about seeing in depth. By studying each small area individually, looking for features that can be picked out and plotted on the grid, you learn to see ever deeper into the reference and gain a much greater understanding at the same time. The majority spend time on Kitty's face and the lamp and then skate through the ceramic hair. Yet, the reverse is far more useful. The eye and lamp, with their sharply defined shapes and edges, are comparatively easy to handle, but the hair requires thought, study and work. If Kitty had real hair and you wanted to draw it realistically, it has to possess life - and that usually means including, inventing, exaggerating or manipulating the small features within it, and the hairs that are out of place. That won't happen if you just take a broad overview. That overview, being the full extent of your mental picture, is all you'll draw. So take you time, tackle it one section at a time so you understand it fully, and think about the lighting direction as you draw Kitty's ceramic "hair". You're trying to describe each three-dimensional shape to your viewers as simply as you can, so work out how you can best use highlights and shade to do that. Think about textures and surfaces too. For example, find different techniques for the glass and brass, so they cannot be confused.

I'll take this opportunity to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this joint adventure with you. I feel as though I'm about to lose touch with a good friend - and you have worked hard and made advances in your work that really pleases me.

Thank You!

MIKE