My Dad
 

I was fortunate to have a photograph of my father to be able to use as a subject. I have attached the attempt here for my learning experience. I did this over a year ago but I feel I'm ready for some constructive criticism. If anyone would like to see the refernce material I can post it but I will warn you that I took liberties on his face. While I painted it, I was more aware of his presence than his photograph.

John, This is nicely done and I have no doubt that you captured a strong likeness of your Dad. However, two areas draw my attention... the first is that his hairline seems to be at an angle that has no relation to the angle of his head/face. The second is the sleeve on his near arm, looks like maybe you started into the detail of it, then got distracted or lost interest and didn't quite finish it? There're a lot of sharply (and maybe too uniformly) delineated wrinkles on his upper arm, while below the elbow very little and sort of fuzzy... just doesn't read as well as the rest of the piece...

Terri, correct on all counts except his hairline. It indeed had/has a sweep back compared to his left (our right) side. This was my first attempt at a 3/4 portrait and I struggled in many areas, especially the coat and sleeve. I like the painting for the subject and the lessons it taught me and still teaches me.

Just like my dad.

Hi John, I'd like to see the reference. Maybe we can help with proportion. Something seems to be off. His hands are very nicely done, and his gaze is hypnotic.

Jean

Jean, I am happy to post the reference but it may take me a while. If you don't mind and can be patient I'll get it posted as soon as I can.

Thanks for your offer.

Here is a photo of the photo of my dad that I used for my reference. It is too contrasting here and has a little glare on the mid to lower half but hopefully you can get the idea.