Learning to draw again

With my interest in sculpting gathering momentum, I found myself having to learn how to draw again. Although technically you don't have to be good at drawing in order to start sculpting, I felt that it would be a good starting point for me as I would prefer to have some detailed concept sketches in place before I begin sculpting. This meant picking up a pencil and drawing again after so many years.

A drawing of the eye - the window to your 'soul'

As a kid I loved to draw despite not being really good at it. But sadly, any interest in improving my drawing skills were effectively killed off by a horrible art syllabus in secondary school (high school) which made art one of my most hated subjects. So any nascent interest in art was dead by my teens.

Taking a stab at drawing realistic hair - much more practice awaits

To get things started after such a long hiatus from drawing, I decided to start with the head. After all, if I can't draw a decent face what would be the point of continuing on to the rest of the figure. As with miniature painting, the eyes are - to me anyway - the most important feature of a figure. So I began by trying to draw a decent eye (see above). I have always struggled with hair too so I gave drawing realistic hair a go as well. Other parts such as the nose, ear and lips are also on my to-practise-list.  

My first drawing of Sucker Punch's Babydoll - a potential sculpting project

My first two subjects of my drawing are Emily Browning's Sucker Punch Babydoll character and Jennifer Lawrence's Hunger Games Katniss Everdeen character. Both will likely be my first sculpting subjects so it stands to reason to try a draw a likeness to both actresses. It's no surprise that my first two portrait drawings were not very good and did not have a close resemblance to the photos. A lack of natural talent in art means the only way I can get better at portrait drawing is to practice.  

My first attempt at drawing Jennifer Lawrence, in preparation of a Katniss Everdeen sketch

A sense of relief permeates my first steps in learning the skills required to draw some early concept sketches for my sculpting projects. Relief because for someone who lacks natural artistic talents, learning to draw again after more than two decades was very challenging. But with the mental hurdle of even starting successfully navigated, all that is left for me to do is practise, practise, practise!