Here are two 15 minute drawings. The first done in a live drawing session, the second at home on the couch from a dfl reference My issue-the drawing from life just doesn’t, to me, have a satisfying structure to it. I tried to compensate by a bit more rendering. The one from the photo of course has less rendering but is a better start for something more finished. This is consistent between my life drawings and those from photo references. Does any else have this issue and do you know how to get past it?

I have stacks of life drawings from my art school days at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore MD. These are just a couple of my favorites, one being more sketchy and expressive, while the other is a bit smoother with a focus on the contour lines. Drawing from live models and learning various techniques definitely improved my skills as a young artist.