"Yes, I Do That As Well"
Dear Peggy...I totally agree with what you just "said" about painting what's under as well as what you see on the outside. Lon thought that process might be more applicable to the field of illustration...well, I started as a fashion illustrator, and usually began my drawings with a light, quick skeletal/motion sketch of the body to achieve the right angles and perspective, determining which way the figure was moving, and which leg was bearing the weight. Then I would wrap the folds of the fabric around the body, after fleshing it out a bit, following the movement. All that school training (quick motion sketches, contour drawings, and the endless warm-up exercises drawing spirals to represent the mass of the body and limbs...winding up with a "tubular" figure made of Slinkies!) really has stuck with me. Sometimes I even get into a "student" mode and can "hear" my prof's voice in my head as I'm drawing. No...I'm not crazy....honest! I've even thought about taking a class at the local college, just to freshen up my ability to see and interpret what I see. Sometimes I think it's possible to get a little "stale", the further removed I am from being in the learning mode and due to the fact that I work from photos. But, I really think it's an enormous advantage to really understand what's going on under there! So, basically Peggy, I can say what you hoped to hear..."yes, I do that as well". And yeah, much of "that" is in my mind's eye, and in the little voice of my prof, right up through the end. By the way....the portrait you posted......WOW!
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