Hi again all… another update!
Before I do add the update, Id just like to say I think there is actually tremendous good in copying photos like for like. I try to use imagination in all I do, but most of what Ive done with this piece is underpinned with some banked knowledge that comes from lots of straght copies from photos, masters and anatomy books and hundreds and hundreds of gesture drawings in my case! Its only through doing these studies that I think you get any better at being able to do the stuff straight from the top of your head. Ive still a lot to learn, and copying from photos and other esources is certainly one of the best ways, especially to those who dont have live resources anywhere nearby! If it wasnt for these drawing workshops and the advice on offer here, Id be a lot further behind than I am. Its only very recently that Ive realise that in order to create something you really have to understand it, as daft as that sounds. Until now, I made the daft presumption that these people who can do it effortlessly were just uber talented, but theyre not, they just worked harder for it, and they have doubtless copied straight from photos too!
Right… Ill hop off my soapbox now. I put the piece up for review on my Deviant gallery, and got some really good advice there too, so heres an update. Ive tried to make the mask somewhere between solid and ethereal, and worked some more on her body. I also changed the outstretched hand to give it more expression and to make it clear she wants the dove to land on her hand. Also got rid of the hair, as it was leading the eye out of the picture, and gave her more of an insubstantial crest which fits more with the whole bird spirit idea, and pulled the brighter colours (which Im hoping pull the viewer immediately to her head) down into the wings, to give the impression that the hair crest and wings are all part of the same etheral substance. I’m toying with the idea of maybe putting in a couple more larger doves, as I’m taken with the idea of them flapping around her, but don’t know whether this will busy up the composition too much. I’ve not decided whether to put her eye in yet either… so much to do! :argh: Thoughts on progress are muchly appreciated.
Oh, and Ron, once you get used to it, you should love the tablet… I bought the exact same one just after Christmas, and haven’t looked back. It comes with a couple of different textured nibs too, so you can have it feel more like a pencil, and put paper over the tablet surface too. enthuses greatly about wacom tablets
It’s also the case that many people can’t afford live Workshops. Heck, I can’t! I cannot dish out the $20-25 per session that just one Workshop costs ~ especially not with the amount of drawing and painting practice that is required to acquire and maintain one’s skill level. I copied master drawings for years for just this reason ~ outside of a school environment, I did not have access to live models, and though I am thankful for having had the luxury of working from wonderful live models in school, once I graduated, I actually found it tremendously helpful to work from Master Works instead ~ and this was before I was aware of the tremendous online art communities that exist! So, I certainly count this and similar Workshops as an advance for all artists, who no longer have to labor alone ~ and unnoticed ~ but rather have the opportunity not only to practice their skills far into the future, for free, but also have the chance to get recognition and to interact with artists from everywhere ~ to me, there’s nothing that you can lose in seizing such an opportunity! 
