We are still working on the complexities of the human face in our shading and drawing art class at the moment and thus far the students seem to be showing real progress and are enjoying it. Most of our students are children and I give them a lot of freedom as far as what they are going to work on is concerned. For a recent project we had students choose anyone that they wanted and they would recreate their face by looking at but not tracing a picture of their choice.
Here is one of the results from a recent submission by a student, age 15.
let's see if you can guess who it is. I will admit that I got it wrong and that is not to suggest that the student did a bad job because this is one of the most difficult parts of art. recreating the complex lines and contours of the human face is one of the most difficult things in art in my opinion.
This is why we use pencil at the beginning stages and heavier paper so that we can correct our mistakes.
This was the original image that the student used as a reference for their drawing. I think they did a pretty great job. Remember, embrace your tiny little "mistakes" in art rather than trying to aim for a 1:1 replica of everything that you create. We have photocopy machines for that and it is rather boring if a person simply recreates everything exactly as it appears. This is why those paintings on your grandma's wall of a landscape was something that she could buy at a thrift store for $20.
Your "mistakes" might be exactly what it is that makes your work unique!
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