Recognizing where I went wrong

So, I was pretty off my game last night.  I decided I wanted to practice my sketch painting, and I also decided that this time, I wasn't going to sketch in pencil first.  I also wasn't going to use a picture or object as a point of reference.  So, with these two stipulations, I sat down and started working. 

I ended up with 6 paintings, and half of them are so terrible I'm too embarrassed to show here.  Maybe I'll tear them into strips and use them for a collage or something... The others are... ok.  And by ok I mean, there are parts that I think turned out well, and parts that look like I was closing my eyes when I drew them.  But since they have some good parts, I'll show them as a way to motivate myself to do better.  Though if I have a completely bad sketching night in the future, I am not promising that I won't burn each piece while doing a ritual dance to the God of painting. 

 

 

 

This was my first somewhat ok painting of the night.  I like her qualities of thick, smeared lines combined with thin lines.  Her nose, however- it looks like she lost it in a fight with a rabid weasel.  In all, though, since I had no point of reference and no eraser, I don't think she turned out too bad. 

 

 
I think my mistake with this one was working on it too much.  If I had kept the lines and smearing more minimal, the scene I created would have looked complete rather than covered in ashfall.  Still, the tree in this scene is my favorite.  I was able to recognize that the tree was done before I added too much, and I love how it turned out. 

 

This piece was my last of the night, and my final try after ruining three paintings in a row.  Sigh... so I took things more slowly this time, and tried not too add too much.  I still think I kept working on her a little too long, but she has a slight "Mona Lisa" type smile that adds a certain charm to her otherwise imperfect face. 

So now I have a better idea of things I need to improve to make my sketches better.  Don't overwork them- with this technique, less is more.  Don't work too fast.  At least, not yet.  And of course, keep practicing.