For this exercise, I first selected a picture in the magazine Country Living (September 2021). I chose this image as I thought it contained the right amount of details.
I then drew the little boy and the dog following the instructions.
The first drawing is definitely the best of the four. I expected my sketches to improve as I repeated the exercise but, when I tried to draw faster, it got worse and the last two sketches in particular do not look good. In retrospect, it was probably a challenging choice because I still struggle with human expressions, especially when I try to draw people laughing and it took me some time to draw the first sketch. When I tried to recapture the same expression faster or without the original reference, it did not work.
I decided to do the same exercise with a less challenging subject. I selected a picture I took in Mudchute Farm, a city farm in East London.
Again, the first drawing is still the best.
What I learned from this exercise
In both cases, the quality of the sketches got worse after each version even though I initially thought that I would feel more relaxed as I kept drawing the same subject and that the lines would become more fluid. I think the outcome is partly due to the expectations I had. As a result, I found it difficult to just draw without thinking too much of the end result.
However, I noticed that, even though it is not apparent in the drawings, I was becoming more familiar with the subject. For example, I understood better the anatomy and the shape of the goat at the end of the exercise, which will be helpful in the future.
How can I improve in the future?
I believe that I can learn from drawing the same subject several times and this is something I’d like to practice more in my sketchbook. I tend to do the opposite and look for a different subject every time. However, if I spend more time on a subject, I can understand it better and improve my drawing. On top of this, as I get more familiar with it, I can draw and express myself more freely.
Catherine Roux Degree in Illustration 