Portrait Drawing: Final Class!

(Above is a panoramic view of the classroom as taken by our teacher, Jim Cooper.  I'm there, second from the right.)

Well, my final Portrait Drawing class has come and gone.  I did two drawings in class and I took photos of them in progress.  Here's the first drawing about 5-10 minutes into sketching:

And now here it is fully resolved:

This is the second drawing I did, in three stages:

I've been thinking a lot about a comment that Kelli left after my last post about my portrait drawing class.  She said:

You've come a long way with these drawings and I mean that in the best way! I honestly don't see much difference in the drawings themselves but seeing how you write about them has been a transformation :o) It's obvious your confidence has received a huge boost and it's so great to read!

Posted by: Kelli | March 06, 2010 at 10:29 PM

I think the portraits have changed a bit.  The later ones are bolder, more intense, more filled with feeling.  Here's the very first drawing I did (same model, by the way):

It has less emotion for me. It's less interesting.  But she's absolutely right.  I *do* feel more confident.  I feel a lot less like I have no idea what I'm doing.  I feel like I need to practice, but I'm starting to trust my own instincts.

Confidence is something that I've struggled with for years.  Kelli's comment really reminded me to believe in myself.  This is a digital layout I did on that topic in June of 2008:

So, thanks for getting me thinking, Kelli.  And for reminding me that confidence is key.

Have a great day!