Genuine Bovine Love

@klanceogies Yes!!! I draw from life all the time. I really recommend it but it's not the end all be all to improving art.

Drawing from life as opposed to a photograph is hard because you are turning a 3d object into a 2d object.

To improve your proportions I recommend having the whole composition loosely mapped before you ever start worrying about the details.

Blocking in shapes

I start by trying to group objects together into a couple of big shapes. The middle pole is going to act as my "anchor" in this piece, everything I put down will be in relation to this object. Is it bigger? Smaller? is it parallel to the object? So when I draw the shape on the left I make sure that it is smaller than the pole.

If you are struggling to figure out what the main shapes are, cross your eyes slightly and see what sticks out! This also stops you from getting too detailed to quickly, I swear nothing kills a life study quicker than drawing blades of grass before marking out the field.

You can see how each version gets slightly more complicated. I'm marking where buildings start and end, adding the light bulb, adding grass. On my final pass I let myself start to carve out negative shapes and add details to the buildings!

Life drawing honestly isn't the end all be all, practice it when you want but if you are struggling, level up some of your other skills with subjects you like and return back to it when you are ready!

Here's a still life I did 5 years ago (when I was in the middle of a BFA program and had been drawing for 7 years!) compared to now. So much improvement happened the more I drew EVERYTHING not just still lifes!