To overcome these and other biases, I did sketches based on pictures. Then I would take a photo of the sketch with my phone and overlay the original image on top of my drawing. Making the photo semitransparent allowed me to see immediately whether the head was too narrow or wide, the lips too low or too high or whether I had put the eyes in the right spot. I did this hundreds of times, employing the same rapid feedback strategies that had served me well with MIT classes. Applying this and other strategies, I was able to get a lot better at drawing portraits in a short period of time (see
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Again, you became an incredibly skilled mimic. It's a feat, I will grant that, but to say that you actually improved *as an artist* is another thing entirely. There is a reason the life sketch is a key component of a fine art education. Even photographers and filmmakers are well served by life sketching, as evidenced by how many of the greats were classically trained painters who swore by it
