Michelle at the block-in stage is not easy to do. First, proportion is very hard to do correctly and to add to the difficulty, proportion from a photo (which compresses the figure/scene) creates other distortion problems. But the good news is that because there are distortion problems, the artist will make the final decisions (a good practice always).
There will be several attempts at the block in stage. Here are two. As I redo the sketches they will get closer and closer to the vision I have and how I want this piece to look. I am not there yet, but you cannot get closer until you take steps in the direction you want to go. The darker image on the right is the photo converted to black and white. The one on the left is the first attempt at free hand and is still incomplete (proportions not right yet). I decided to post these attempts however, since it has been a while since 'Michelle' got any attention. To help myself with proportion, my next block-in sketch will show red marks at the various stages showing how I made the decisions about proportion. You will enjoy this next stage as it is right out of my portrait drawing 6 week class with Sadie Valeri http://www.sadievaleri.com/blog/ .
Some subjects are fun and interesting to do and some have you so enthralled that you cannot leave it until mastered. This one is one that I have a very strong desire to master. That is so exciting, when an artist feels that way about a subject. How lucky can you get!
