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Steven,
I am learning many lessons these days. I was already coming to the conclusion that drawings will require a great deal of time. I mentioned that Allison's portrait was taking longer than I wanted, but later started a study for another piece I'm working on, only to find that it was going to take at least as long as Allison's (and that's just the study). Since I'm planning to spend a full year drawing before starting to paint, what's the rush?
Previously, I could rifle through a dozen pages in my sketchbook in an evening. They'd be filled with false starts, poor drawings, and ripped out pages. Just since reading Tony Ryder's book, I've decided that there's no reason to ever draw a bad picture. A sustained drawing allows no excuses. There's all the time in the world to resolve problems before moving on.
I'm attaching a study that I'm currently working on (going into the third day). I drew the man's face pretty easily, but the cat gave me nothing but trouble (as cats are known to do). After watching Daniel Greene last night, I applied his method, and got a reasonable likeness. One of the biggest problems I had was containing the size of its head. Daniel Greene apparently sees this a lot, and addressed it (with much emphasis) in the video. I re-drew the cat, defining the size, then drawing from the inside out, and finally it looked like a cat. I found Greene's techniques worthwhile from the first day! I'll apply them, as well as Ryder's lessons, when I do the final piece, which will probably in charcoal.
As for James Lee Burke, I've been to one of his readings, but haven't read any of his books. I guess that's because I live in the Cajun culture, so I'm less compelled to read about it. As I understand it, his stories take place, not only in my town, but in my very neighborhood. I live in the historic dist. on Main Street. I really should pick up one of his novels.
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