Drawing Portraits: My starting point in 2023

I've tried a few things to get into drawing portraits, and I would say some of my more recent attempts have almost looked human!
Here are some of the things I mention in the video:
You Can Draw In 30 Days by Mark Kistler
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards (I recommend the Workbook version of this book rather than the actual book)
New Masters Academy -- mainly an art school in the fine arts tradition. I took a bunch of classes on this platform, but Steve Huston's Constructive Head Drawing is the one I spent the most time on.
My big plan for the next month or so is... more practice! Wow, revolutionary.

[@thuntz29]

Hi! I just discovered your channel. It’s wonderful… I’m in my own pursuit of becoming a better ‘artist’. Something I noticed in this video that you perhaps have noticed now is that you should enjoy it! It’s not all about drills, drills are important if you want to become a better draughts-woman but I think you should also enjoy it, draw subjects you like…(urban sketching is great for this) get lost in a bad drawing just for the pleasure of it. Also, seeing is I think more important than eye-hand coordination… enjoy studying a subject closely and playing with different ways of drawing it… I keep a little nature journal for this :)
Just my opinion! Love the channel! Will keep watching ❤

[@laurak5196]

Your commitment to practice will see you through. I think you’re making great progress! What helped me with portraits was polychromos colored pencils by Faber Castell paired with a sketchbook brand called Hand book. I feel like that brand has been bought out by another company now. But honestly it was the pencil for me mainly that helped. Probably any decent paper would be fine. The other thing I noticed was tickling the pencil onto the paper vs trying to draw any type of line. Focusing on shape and form and not line. Just my two cents, hope you get some value out of it. Your trees amaze me. And your ability to draw from your imagination, vs a reference. I find that difficult! I bought a bunch of different pencils and colored pencils open stock but it was the polychromos I really connected with. Along with Staedtler pencils. Again, for what it’s worth. Not sure how many different types of pencils or papers you’ve tried, and whether that could be a vehicle for you at all, but it did help me, so I’m sharing. Good luck and keep going!!

[@charlottebrown1975]

Thank you! That's a useful tip, I've actually got some Polychromos pencils so I'll see how I like drawing with them!