I have joined a portrait study group on flickr called Julia Kay's Portrait Party and that got me thinking. I pulled out some of my old art books on drawing portraits and one in particular called... "How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs" by Lee Hammond. Inside was something called The Puzzle Piece Theory: A Guide to Seeing Shapes... I have seen this before but have not paid much attention to it before though something made me take a second look and I completed this graph puzzle. I found it very interesting how this puzzle had me drawing the picture upside down without even knowing it! When I finished I was pleasantly surprised and I understood why the author had me doing this ~ it actually did help me to realize that there are different ways to draw portraits by looking at things in a new way.
I really need to discover ways to see things differently as I have always been a black/white thinker when it comes to portrait drawing. I really need my eyes opened and this book is helping me to do just that.
It was a very good find for me as I purchased it at Chapters for $5.00 and it regularily goes for $27.50 Canadian.
I have always loved drawing faces... I guess I can thank my oldest sister for that as I started drawing because she did, so thank you Kathy!
So yet again, another book I can recommend.
Happy Creating everyone.
12 comments:
i should try this!
Sometimes we have to train or retrain our eyes to see, don't we? Glad you found that exercise useful. Another trick I use is to turn the photo and drawing upside down to either check angles, or to simply draw that way. It tricks your mind into not seeing "face", but just see angles and shapes.
By the way, Kelly, I recently found and joined the Blog Hop bandwagon. What a great idea. Thank you for setting up such a novel idea. Now I have to go check out other people's blogs - what a great resource!
Looking forward to seeing all of your new creations from everything you're learning :)
oh i remember doing this exercise in school! it is brilliant...and love how the image all comes together in the end!
thanks for sharing your book find..i have seen that one at Chapters many times!
also....it was nice of you to come by!
come again anytime!
ciao bella
creative carmelina
Hi there! Great blog and I love your drawings. I found you through the Blog Hop! What a great idea that is!
~Christina
wow I have this book too.I have had it for about 15 years! I actually took a class from her years ago! :)
I just want to say I really like your blog and I will be back for more visits!
Its great to see just lines and shapes and shading! Its why I was never embarrassed to be an art model - regardless of my size. All I was to the artist was a bunch of lines and shapes - I never once felt like I was sitting in a room full of people in my underwear (which is exactly what any non artist would think I was doing!)
Such a lovely blog Kelly. Thanks for popping by. Can't wait to come back and see more!
OOOh, I have got to get this book! I think I remember a smilar excercise in Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain. Love your blog! ♥
Hi Kelly, Thanks for your lovely comment on my canvases, and thanks for this post..I have been thinking lately that I need to perhaps go back and do some more drawing classes...xx...julia
So nice to find you! Thanks for you artful AND spiritual inspiration! You are so kind to stop by and leave such encouraging words, thanks for that too!
Hi! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and leaving such sweet comments! And thank you for starting this amazing blog hop! There's so much amazing talent out there, this makes it way easier to find other inspiring artists. Great idea!
I'm a follower now, can't wait to see more of your work!
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