SUPPER IMPORTANT QUESTION!
https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/comments/qw7a13/supper_important_question/
2021-11-17 19:45
thelionkingthing
Okay so Ive been doing portrait drawing on and off for about 23 years but never consistent enough to get good at it. To keep this short, every time I watch a video of a professional artist doing a portrait I IMMEDIATELY can point out the mistakes when it comes to proportion and some details. But i for the life of me am nowhere close to their level. When I begin to draw a portrait its like I dont see the mistakes until the damage is near irreversible then I gotta start over. I dont feel fully conscious during the process, therefore missing most of the landmarks. I hope it makes sense, can anyone relate? Or has anyone found a solution? Please. Help.. me
Uncomfortable
2021-11-17 20:17
Try asking this over on /r/learnart or /r/learntodraw. This subreddit is reserved for those working through the lessons on drawabox.com, as explained here, which focus on the core fundamentals of drawing and do not get into more complex topics such as portraiture, figure drawing and anatomy.
For what it's worth, what you're describing isn't abnormal at all - think about it in terms of your brain having a certain amount of focus/attention you can afford. When you're looking at someone else's work, you're only looking at their work. When you're working on your own, you're doing many more things simultaneously - observing your reference, putting marks down, identifying where those marks might be off and might need adjustment as you work, etc.
Practice - that is, consistent, regular, structured practice over a long stretch of time - helps you better understand what kinds of features on a human face are important, and generally helps you invest your time where it's needed most. It'll also help you develop more patience and discipline as a whole, diminishing the urge to rush and allowing you to take your time where you need to.
And of course, there's the general fundamentals of mark making, of 3D space and spatial reasoning, and so on which all help reduce the weight being placed on your conscious, active brain, pushing it down into your muscle memory and subconscious, leaving that conscious brain to solve the problems that are specific to the piece you're making. When your brain isn't actively trying to worry about the execution of each and every mark, and of making things feel real and three dimensional, you free up resources that can then be committed to capturing likeness and other more complex things.