I’m drawing this figure today trying to use the method from the Russian academy book. But, I’m not doing well, I feel like I need more information.
I don’t really mean I need more information in the book. I need more information about the figure as I’m drawing. Working from a general envelope then breaking that down into smaller shapes is a good way of working but I use comparative measurement and the more information I have the more accurate my drawing is.
When you start very general like this I have nothing to compare these big lines to. Yes I could just measure with my pencil but that is a crutch that I like to get away from. Overly measuring a figure to draw really hinders the flow of the drawing, I don’t feel like I can get lost in the act if I stop every few seconds to think about distances.
I find it much more pleasing to start with a more exact representation. Plus it gives me more information to compare the subsequent marks against. Sigh… there are issues with every method I guess, but I like to try them all. One thing I don’t want to do is get stuck into one way of drawing. It’s all about growth and discovery daily.

