Looks Like Black and White

Susan Soto · 11-03-2002, 12:43 PM

Hello, my name is Susan Soto and I thought I posted a portrait here yesterday. I looked for it but could not find it so I am going to try again.

I want to say a little bit about my background first but I will keep it brief just in case I have already posted a message and I just can not see it.

I have been an artist for 45 years working in various mediums. But I have a degree in computer science because that is what my father wanted. He did not want me to be a "starving artist".

So I worked in the IT field for umpteeen years until 9/11. This event put an end to my geekhood as I saw the second plane hit tower 1. I was on day one of a six week project there. The next day I took my rental car and drove from NYC to my home near Atlanta. I have not looked back since. I decided to go back to the haunting in my head, art. Starving or not I want to do nothing else. It has become a passion and an obsession.

Since 9/11, I have been commissioned to do several portraits. I am going to post one of them here. It may not me my best but it holds a special meanning as it was my first since 9/11.

If this is a double post, excuse me. If not please critique my work as I truly want to know if I should continue down this road.

Steven Sweeney · 11-03-2002, 07:22 PM

Absolutely yes, by all means, continue. You've come so far already. I'm assuming that this is charcoal (?), which you've handled very deftly. I particularly note the subtlety you've seen and captured in the range of and changes in value shapes. There are peculiar little tics and asymmetrical qualities in the facial features which do a great deal to strongly characterize this young girl. It's a very accomplished piece.

Since posted for critique, I would note two or three elements. First, there's an ever so slight confusion of light. The highest values on her face tend to be centered, or slightly to our right. Yet there's quite a dark halftone on that lighted side of the forehead (in the temple area), and there's no differential light on that side of the nose. Realizing that photos of graphite and charcoal often eliminate the subtler halftones, I think the transition on the chin between the light and halftone is quite sharp; I'd soften that up and move it either way so that the division wasn't so linear and right down the center of the chin.

Secondly, the dark triangles at the corners of the mouth seem a bit too dark, and as I squint so as to "lighten" the spaces between the teeth a little, I find that enhances the overall appearance of the mouth. If you worked from a photo reference, that would probably account for these areas appearing a little dark -- the camera would have exaggerated the value.

Lastly, the forehead seems large, in fact the entire cranium of the skull looks big. The hairline is perhaps too high -- having the "bangs" pulled back into the bow probably helped create this effect. I can see a faint suggestion of what might be the actual wispy hairline, and as I cover up the area of the "apparent" forehead above that line, all falls into place.

It's a very beautiful picture. Welcome to the site.

Cheers,
Steven

Susan Soto · 11-03-2002, 09:26 PM

Thank you so much for your words of wisdom. This portrait was done from a photo which I will post here also. The original portrait shadowing is not so choppy. This is not a scanned in picture but a digital photo. I think that hurt the the changing values and showed some lines of demarcation that I wish were not there.

I agree with the forehead thing but I am not sure if it was my drawing or the picture I was working from. It was a professional photo so I would not think there would be any distortion. Also I did not know this little girl and had never seen her live. She is 24 years old today and her parents wanted this reproduced.

This portrait was done in powdered graphite and powdered charcoal applied with various objects, my favorite being a paintbrush.

Steven Sweeney · 11-03-2002, 10:30 PM

The photo confirms for me what I saw regarding the size of the forehead and the placement of the hairline. See how far below the bow that little curly forelock ends? It wouldn't take much to touch that up, if you happen to still have access to the piece.

Susan Soto · 11-03-2002, 10:38 PM

Yes, you are right. I never saw it till just then. Unfortunately the portrait is with its proud owners, and lucky for me they love it.

It's funny how you can look at something a thousand times and never see it till someone else sees it and points it out to you. Well like I said, it was my first portrait in 15 years so I guess I will just get better as I go. And with critiques like yours I am sure to become the artist I long to be.

Next time I will post my portrait before I send it off to the owners. Thanks again.

Steven Sweeney · 11-03-2002, 10:57 PM

For what it's worth as you continue on, I might mention that before I sorted out the problem with the hairline and its effect on skull size, the very first thing I noticed was that the eyes were well below the halfway level between top of the head and bottom of the chin. That's not an infallible dimension, but if it's off, it gives you a place to start analyzing the piece for what's gone wrong (if indeed anything has).

And as often happens, "what's gone wrong" isn't going to be the first thing you notice. Proceed very deliberately, with a clear purpose and intention when making adjustments. This will come more easily as you get back into the groove. Keep at it.