The 'ugly' stage

When you draw a portrait, whether in pencil, oils,  chalk... it seems to always go through an ugly stage. This is when the shading is half finished or some tiny proportion is wrong and it's not possible to see exactly how to fix it until more work is done.

This is the 'ugly' stage. It feels a little like climbing a hill. Getting to the top is ugly, and going down the other side is easy.

But the ugly stage is also the most interesting time. This is the struggle for likeness, balance, form and tone. Coming down the other side is where many people fall off. It can be a little boring with nothing difficult of challenging. Perhaps this is why some people start but never finish a lot of promising portraits. Or maybe because the top of the ugly-hill was never quite reached.

Anyway - I am sure portrait artists know what I am talking about.