Liza – Pencil to Paper

Hi Matt,

I did the Pencil to Paper lesson. My instinct is to do disjointed chicken scratch outlines so continuous line was a struggle. Part of the reason I avoid continuous line is my hand is shaky. Any advice on that?Interesting that you said to put weight on the hand, not the pencil tip. I’ll have to pay attention to that.

I feel like my shading is sort of bland and lacking any organization or style. It just feels scribbly and not all that confident – which is true.

Another thing I want to ask about is how to not feel stressed out about the big picture. I find that I am constantly trying to keep track of lines and shading over the whole piece and it’s not all that relaxing. I think I must be so intent on getting the lines perfect and the shading accurate, and it feels high pressure. Any advice on how to make it more fun and lower pressure?

Thanks, Liza (yes you pronounced my name accurately — it’s Lie-zah, like Liza Minelli)