Portrait 028 of 1000 | Beautiful Lady with Glasses

Fifteen minutes squeezed in after practice. Earlier today, during fourth period, I was helping a student who's learning to draw with a Wacom tablet, where you look up at the screen instead of at your hand. I told him something I need to hear too: you don't have to get every stroke perfect, especially while you're learning. You do what you can and you learn from it. It's okay to suck. It's okay to have moments where you're just not hitting the mark. The 15-minute timer is a real regulator. In my classes we do "blitzes": a really basic overview of the software, then 15 or 20 minutes to create something and turn it in. It releases the expectation of it having to be really good, and I've been blown away by some of the work that comes in. On the drawing: I usually make that gap too big, so I kept pulling things in. She's squinting pretty good, so a shadow shape breaks up the eye. Rather than just doing shapes, I'm looking at forms that converge and why the shading is there. I love it when the structure lines up in the first round, but I also like getting it way off, redrawing over the top, staying loose and having it come together. Getting the form a little more correct at the start opened up time for the details at the end: the glasses, the hair, the neck. As we get older our skin doesn't hold as firmly, and the neck has personality. Those wrinkles are earned, and they give that feeling of wisdom and life. She reminded me of a woman in my parents' retirement community who plays the piano beautifully. Such a kind lady. One of my favorites. So sloppy... three, two, one, perfect. ▶ All portraits, full demos and Shorts:    / @russmayomaker   — 🎯 The 1000 Portraits Project: I'm drawing 1,000 portraits to train my eye for likeness. These are quick, loose studies. Big shapes first, then proportions, then just enough shading. I draw in pen so I can't fuss over them. #portraitdrawing #drawingpractice #penportrait #1000portraits #portraitstudy