I would consider myself to be a “Natural Talent” when it comes to drawing. I have no formal training or schooling. As a child I loved doodling on all my books, papers, homework etc. but never did much with it. Every now and again I would come across a photo and think, hmm I wonder if I could draw that… so I pulled out piece of paper and a just a regular writing pencil and would draw. End result would be something interesting at best but nothing spectacular.

In 2005, my son (then 13) came across a few of my drawings “Leather Jacket” and “Bare Necessities” as well as one I did of his mom which is not in my gallery for personal reasons. All of them were simply attempts at replicating a photo I found. He was very impressed and asked, “How come you don’t draw more”? I could not answer his question with anything other then Time… He laughed and said “Well, if you spent less time watching TV you might be a great artist”… then a few days later he handed me a photo he copied off the internet of Jaime Presley and said “here, draw this for me” So I did… and the flame was lit…. so that is how I returned to drawing…. now I need YOUR help.

All you artist out there with training and experience… please give me some pointers. I have learned a great deal the past year or so by simply listening to and applying tips from other great artist. I purchased several graphite pencil sets, learn more about paper, erasers, blending tools etc… now I am looking for tips and secrets that can help me achieve the photo realism I am seeking.

Anything you can provide will help. In my art I learned that one should seek criticism, not praise!