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Upside-down Nightmare

One thing that really helped when I started learning to draw was turning the subject upside-down. The less you are able to associate objects with their proper names, the less likely you will be to draw their simplified, symbolic representation. It's a valuable tool to the beginner, and still a useful exercise to the advanced artist. Today, though, it produced a nightmare creature.

I can't imagine what people were thinking as they walked by my quiet table - with an upside-down magazine, a pencil and this monstrosity looking back at them. Not that I mind what they think. Portraits and figures and my weak spots - I know that if I want to get better I have to keep challenging myself.

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