Describing the 30 day/ 30 portrait adventure

Drawing portraits has always been challenging! as an artist you can draw nice looking trees, vases, ducks or whatever and if the finished piece looks nice it's OK.  If you are reasonably skilled nobody is going to say or notice that a certain branch is a bit narrower than you drew it or that the vase came out slightly taller than real life. They take a quick look at it and usually say 'hey that's nice'!

But all that changes when drawing portraits! if you make a high quality drawing of a man's face with pleasant features pretty much skillfully rendered in their proper places but the finished artwork doesn't immediatly call to mind the intended individual, the critical feedback comes very quickly.

"That's not uncle Norm or Auntie Liz! - what are you trying to do here, make fun of them?? ?"
People not only get VERY critical but sometimes offended - as if you tried to mock them by mishandeling their precious features intentionally.

So the high intensity challenges of portrait drawing make it perhaps the most demanding arena for improving drawing skills.

I'm setting out to draw 30 portraits in 30 days to increase my observation and drawing skills. the 30 in 30 aspect adds the extra challenges of discipline and tenacity, sort of like someone who hikes or jogs a bunch of marathons in a row. Drama is created when you wonder if the person has not only the skill but the desire and discipline to see it to the finish.

A new month just started - It's July first 2013. I invite you to join me on my quest to see if my desire for drawing/art improvement holds up and see if my skills improve.

This is also a social media exercise. I invite you to share, comment, post, tweet and whatever else you do to keep in touch with your tribes. From time to time I'll post analytic info., and if you have suggestions on how I can use social media more skillfully, let me know.