First Attempt at drawing human figure

by Sue
(Tennessee)

This is my first attempt at drawing the human form (I hope Megan doesn't see this).
I have a lot of trouble with the face--it comes out looking like a cartoon (I almost submitted it in that category).
The hands may be even a bigger problem. As you can see by the photo that I copied, one hand is behind her back. After I almost erased a hole in the paper, I solved my problem by putting BOTH hands behind her back.
A lot of time and erasing and I'm still not happy. The form looks pretty good but it does not look like I want it to.



Note from Kerry:
Hi dear Sue
You may not be happy with it because it's not what you envisage... however, this is pretty dang good for a FIRST attempt!! It's lovely, actually.

Now, I am no expert so don't take what I say as law but here are some tips that might help you.
You have done the right thing and made the drawing the same size as the pic. You could take measurements from your pic and put little marker points on your paper using the border to gauge where to place them. This only ensures your drawing has the right dimensions. It's not cheating because you still have to do the drawing.
If you try another drawing from this pic, you can use the black negative space to draw the hand - it doesn't have to be exact - the neg space helps to simplify the subject. Most artists have hang-ups about hands.
I love this blog by Tom Richmond. He does caricatures but this is an excellent tutorial on drawing hands.
Sue, I am thrilled that you created such an appealing drawing on your first attempt.

Also Sue, thank you for sending a donation to our friend's son who lost everything in the flash flooding. I will never forget your wonderful kindness.