Skylar charcoal study
 

This is a 36 x 24 inch drawing to prepare for an oil painting of the same size. It is done with vine charcoal on newsprint; nothing fancy.

I'm trying to get my values and drawing right before going on to add color. I'm posting three times - the same drawing with modifications and then the reference photo. Please excuse quality of photo - it's second generation from a slide (what I wouldn't give for a digital camera! But not practical at the moment).

The top of the drawing was accidentally cut off on drawing no. 1.

Note the differences in the background and the lips - parents said after seeing the first drawing that the lips should have more of a cupid's bow in them.

Drawing No 1
 

Here's drawing no. 1

Drawing no. 2
 

Here's the slightly changed version.

Reference photo
 

Here's the reference photo.

Closeup of face
 

Here's a direct scan of the face.

Nah, forget it
 

You know, this is tough - I think no comment is much worse than anything. I don't think it is worth it to take the time and money to put something up for critique and face . . . silence.

So for now, I will do my 1,000 hours or so drawing, join the Portrait Society down in Atlanta, and keep plugging along.

I work full-time, so I read with envy the shares of those who can devote themselves full-time to their art. I'm a single mom, have to support myself and my son, and this is the first year I've had to devote more time to what I want to do.

Thanks, Steven, for your support on the other critique I put on the site. I think I'll go back now to lurking, learning and not letting discouragement keep me from doing what I want to do.

Julie,

You should not get frustrated with a lack of response. There are always less responses on the weekends, people have families, etc.

I've had plenty I posted without responses. So, what? When someone has something to say that they think will help, they will. But, I would not show impatience since the people here spend their time to help others at no benefit to themselves. We are not paying for this Forum, so any benefit we get is a bonus and should be well appreciated.

I do not usually give critiques unless something is very clear to me - portraits are my weakest area. But, at a quick glance, I thought her features looked too small and it made her face look fatter. But, I only glanced as I am rushing off for a movie date with my 6-year-old.

Thanks
 

Thanks, Kim -

I know I have a long way to go, and I do get impatient. It's a real act of courage for me to share anything and put it up for critique.

Thanks for the tip about the eyes - one parent thinks her cheeks were too fat. But since I "cheated" and projected her image on the paper to start, I know the eyes are approximately the right size. I know I got the angle of them wrong - they should have been tilted more, like the head itself. I think, as far as the right cheek goes, it goes out too much, whereas in the photo, from the eye down to about the area of the nose's highlight, it's fairly straight.

Someone else mentioned that they could really see the things wrong with their work when they put it side by side with their photo on the computer, and they're right!

Julie

One more
 

Here's another one. Please excuse prior post - I'm sick and haven't felt this bad in a long time. I guess it was bound to affect my mood.

Couple of quick points . . .

Others may have other views on this, and when it comes to composition I

:)

Some tips for posting for a critique
 

Hi Julie,

I tried to critique your work but there are a few things that are discouraging. I tried to look at the face but it's hard to comment on that. The source-photograph shows the face very, very little on my computer screen, without enough detail to compare it to your drawings. If you want a critique it's good to consider what exactly you want critiqued. In this case, when you post a close-up of the face, also show a large photograph of the face on the source photograph. If you want the hands or arms critiqued show us those details on the source-photograph in a larger image and the hands you have drawn.

Seeing the second drawing I would advice to work on the accuracy of the placing of the different parts of the face. Get a really accurate line-drawing. Using a mirror to see the mistakes can be helpful. You also seem to be reluctant to put in shadows, the face is very light. The second drawing looks unfinished.

Thanks
 

Thanks for your comments, and I AM ashamed for that one post. I know you who post are going above and beyond the call of duty.

About the drawing - part of the shading was obliterated during the jpeg transition, but I was purposefully keeping it light, because the photo translated everything dark. I'll try to post a blowup of the face.

Steve, I like just the face too, but the mom is set on having the expensive dress she bought her daughter be completely in the picture. I'll try to see if I can help out the composition by adding something toward the bottom. Maybe a few flowers, like setting her in a garden? Or a pot of flowers off to her right? I'd move her over more to the left.

The drawing again
 

Here it is again so it can be compared easily to the photo. The hair is lighter because it is actually a medium golden brown. Photo issues again. I'm learning a lot on that score too. One day I hope to get a digital camera (sigh).

Let me be the first
 

Let me be the first to critique my own work :)

It's all distorted. The head is narrower than I drew, and the features are not properly placed, as mentioned.

The only thing I can tell myself, besides the obvious (practice, practice, practice!) is that I was laying on the couch with a blinding headache while I did it. But the result is what counts, not excuses. So, that said, "excuse me" while I go try again.

Julie,

Just out the door for the day, but your comment about distortion reminded me of something else I wanted to mention, regarding your earlier reference to having projected the image onto paper to begin. On the face of it, I don

Last note for now . . .

You mentioned moving her a bit to the left. I considered that at first blush, and while some movement might be okay, I wouldn

Dear Julie:

A few things I do that help with a drawing by trying to find different ways of seeing the subject:

Make a black and white copy of the face from the reference photo. This way you can better understand the value relationships. In your drawing of the head, I noticed you're giving equal tone to the core shadow and the shadow under her lighted cheek. This is not the case. Getting rid of the color will help you better read those kinds of tonal relationships.

Hang a mirror behind you and constantly check your work in the mirror while you are working. A reverse image has this way of making drawing mistakes more noticable.

Turn your photo upside down and work from it that way. It tricks your brain and you'll see relationships better. Looking at an oil portrait upside down helps you better see the local flesh color and the form of the head as well. If the overall flesh tone is too pale, you'll see it upside down.

Take a digital photo of your drawing and bring it up on the computer. It's also a way of seeing things differently.

Projecting the image to trace on your ground is okay as long as it doesn't become a crutch. As Steven suggests, use it to indicate where everything should go but keep in mind the drawing process continues until the very end.

My final piece of advice is not to get discouraged with drawing, painting, or the Forum -- only clients who don't pay you on time. I consider painting at a high level to be as difficult as playing a musical instrument well or writing a good book. It requires maybe 10% talent and 90% percent hard work, years of hard work -- a lifetime of hard work. But if you love doing it, then it's not really work. You know you love it when five hours go by and you hardly notice the passage of time. (I'm really full of it tonight.)

By the way, the first sketch you made was quite nice. It looks like you have a good plan for the overall light and dark pattern of the painting.

A new one
 

Thanks Scott and Steven.

Yeah, the tracing is only temporary. Believe me, I want to get my rusty drawing skills back. Anyway, here's another one. Very tight, but that's because I feel unsure of myself.

By the way, what is meant by the core shadow? Is it the one farthest from the light?

Dear Julie:

A brief explanation of terms thanks to Mr. J. Sheppard: When a light source (a) strikes a sphere or cylinder a number of things can be observed. The primary core which I mentioned regarding your drawing, is the darkest shadow (d). It

Thanks everyone
 

Thanks everyone for all your help. I am learning so much on this forum, and I'm going to try to participate as much as I can. You guys are great!

Hi Julie!

Not sure if you are still looking for feedback on this sketch or if you've already moved beyond it? First let me say that the most recent sketch you've posted is really improved over the earlier versions - and I think the likeness is much improved and very close - you've been working hard! What struck me most when I put the two images side-by-side (and I converted your reference photo to greyscale for better comparison) was that her nose and to a lesser extent her chin in the sketch looked just a bit too narrow in relationship to the rest of the face.

Hope that helps!
Terri

Thanks for the feedback
 

Thanks, Terri -

I have a long way to go before I am able to analyze all the little details that go into a good portrait, so thank you for lending me your skills. It took me a while of looking back and forth before I could even see what you were saying with the chin, but now I do. Looking at the two pix together, I see a lot of other differences, but it is still hard for me to be able to state in words what the problems are.

One of the best tools I've found for really seeing is this ability to "sight-size" my picture and the original photo using Photoshop. I'm going to use that grayscale mode for the original next time I do a value study.

Haven't gone on yet with the portrait process, due to getting sick again. The next thing is to do some color studies, then the painting itself. I'm taking a long time on this, due to working full-time, getting sick, finding pinholes in the canvas I ordered (wouldn't have known even to look them if it hadn't been for this Forum), deciding to add more coats of primer to it, and just life in general.

Thanks again!