Can You Teach Old Artists New Tricks?

I sure hope so, because this month I waded into unfamiliar waters. I signed up for a 11 hours and 35 online lessons — Portrait Drawing Fundamentals by Stan Prokopenko.

It’s been 50 years since I studied portrait drawing and painting. My landscapes have been noted for their wildness and one Chicago Tribune art critic said my work leaves out the one thing that can “muck up” nature — humans.

But since moving to the city in 2025, I find myself wanting to draw more and draw people. No one sees my figurative work, but I’ve kept up with it since college but never worried much about the head and faces until now.

So stay tuned, those of you who have followed me for years, you are about to see some faces and figures in my paintings.

It takes years to master drawing — by starting late in life, I don’t expect to become a master, I’m not sure I have enough years left even if I wanted to be a master.

But drawing has always been relaxing, especially nature and it has always been something personal, something I don’t really share that often.

There's so many things we put off in life, or never had a need to do until, like now, my life circumstances change.

This isn't the first time I've started learning something new-- two years ago I took up violin. I set out to teach myself. I never wanted to do more than learn a few classical pieces, and I have accomplished that and more. They say violin is an intreument that takes 2-3 years before anything one learns sounds tolerable. And that's the truth, at times it sounds like alley cats fighting. Let's hope my faces don't start looking like alley cats too.