Sebyth
Errol McGillivray
Look at the huge difference you've made in confidence of line and control. Now, try to take that construction you had when you started and work lightly, with the same control. Then use your confident line to finish it off. Construction is always first, but I find that sometimes you have to get one thing down before another. Trying to do it all at once is overwhelming and discouraging.
It is overwhelming and discouraging, I agree. I'm not sure how 'confident' my lines are in an actual sense, they still wobble and don't go where I want them to go (even without having had coffee all day).
Still having trouble with the whole 'hold the pencil near the back' thing; every way I try it seems to make everything even more awkward and wobbly. I still don't grasp the line width stuff fully, nor how to do that without making the lines even more messy.
As can be witnessed here:
Week 2 video 2ish drawings
Week 2 Daily 1a
Week 2 Daily 1b
Then I was too frustrated to continue, will try the quiz later on.
The wobble is a matter of control. That will change over time as you train the muscles in your arm and hand. I find that I wobble more when I grip the pencil like crazy. When I realize I'm doing it, I have to make myself back off a bit, or stop and go relax before I come back to it.
I didn't post my last dailies and I pretty much didn't do dailies all week (well, work stressed me sick too) because I got frustrated and let it get to me. That's the key. Don't let it get to you. Just keep doing it. You've got a goal and that's to be better than you are now. Each time you're doing better, you're making your goal and setting a new one (which is the same one.)
You're doing fine. After being overwhelmed, I thought about it. Maybe I'm expecting too much of myself right now. So I'm going to do something more simple. Just work on proportion and volume by drawing only two shapes at a time. Then I'll add another when I'm more comfortable. It's all about keeping your ego/self self doubt in check. I do it by keeping things academic. Nothing is learned immediately. I also have to think of it like a sport. You have to train to be able to play well.
Try to go into the drawings with no expectations. That can help you focus on what you're doing instead of what you're not doing.
Trust me, you're doing fine. You know me. I don't bullshit people. Speaking of, that card in the first one... awesome. Despite the control issue of the lines (and the blade, that one ignores the different planes of the blade), it's
exactly what I'm looking for. Hell, yours came out a hell of a lot better than mine did in the video.
Can you take a picture or something of yourself holding the pencil? Let me see what you're doing. Maybe I can help with that.
If you're having too much trouble controlling the tip, hold it closer to the middle, but not right up by the tip. And try to keep the wrist still and move from the elbow and shoulder. It's weird as hell at first, but it gets comfortable after a while and you can put in the construction super lightly because you're not pressing into the paper.
