Last night I tried something I haven’t done before: I put aside my reference photos and decided to do sketches working entirely out of my head. I think this approach freed me up to try things I wouldn’t have ordinarily done. Looking back on the work session, I think I was more inventive, and looser in my approach to the drawing. Basically what I want to achieve is a strong contrast between the tightly controlled rendering of the face against a drawing approach that feels violent and out of control in the figure.
I’m really itching to start on a large piece. While these sketches are helpful, working on the 7′ x 4′ Dura-Lar really is a completely different kind of experience. When the scale of the marks changes, I have to shift my drawing technique quite dramatically.
Clara Lieu 
I did that my first painting-the instructor didn’t like it but it turned out ok