I've discovered some things over the last year or so:
I have a lot more success if spend some time on getting-to-know-you sketches. These are the ones where the expectations are really, really low, the "Look, I just need to get a feel for how this thing works" sketches.
Like this, multiple views of the shell of a moon snail, a "predatory sea slug":
Most of the doodles on birdlydrawn are sketches of this type. There's no art anywhere in this kind of work. It's truly just to try to get an initial sense of what I'm looking at, to work out what's happening in space.
In my zoological illustration class, we're working on learning how to use carbon dust. So after the getting-to-know-you sketch comes the rough measured drawing in graphite, with some values.
Still not much going on in the way of artistic expression, but it's one step further along the continuum of understanding.
Next up: I'll take this view at 75% and experiment with carbon dust on a smaller sheet of paper. Then, I'll go to 125% and do the final version of the assignment.
Here's my other discovery: I usually have to do assignments like this twice, once to get a sense of where I'm going (get the rookie technical mistakes out of the way) and once to make some actual headway. In other words, my real beginner experience happens the second time around when I'm not freaking out about getting to the work and can actually pay attention to what I'm doing.
Slow on the uptake? Perhaps, but I prefer to think of it as being deliberate about my work. It's my experience after all, and this is how I get the most out of it.
