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Old sketchbooks are often left in a dark cabinet, helping only to sustain the local population of silverfish. But they contain endless training benefits for improving your skills and vision. Reviewing older work to note strengths and weaknesses, you can help improve future work. Reviewing this sketch from a few years ago, I see an improper neck angle, uneven texture levels (eyes lack crisp detail and focus), and some balance problems with the weight of the face. Reviewing a sketch even day or two later can give you a renewed direction.

TiltShiftGen is an awkwardly named tool that’s great fun to play with using art images and photos. Emulating a tilt and/or perspective shift lens, this software tool for computers and mobile devices enables dramatic effects using depth of field and selective focus.

Also, check out your local chapter of Dr Sketchy’s Anti Art School for fun, low pressure access to richly costumed life drawing events. Molly Crabapple, the organization’s founder, has several immersive art projects available for crowdsourced funding on Kickstarter.

Bring a sketchpad during your next museum visit. You’ll find that guests often find art creation to be just as inspiring as the work of the masters hanging on gallery walls. If your inspiration piece is a well known image, it’s easy to find online afterward for a comparison of style and accuracy. This sketch study was completed in front of the famous Rembrandt self portrait. Later comparisons with a scanned image help me see that my eyes were a bit too high on the face. Comparisons of this type help improve rendering skills, and refine specific stylistic elements.

Welcome to my very abbreviated online blog.
Hope you find some inspirations.

Keep on sketching!