As I previously posted, I have been out of the "loop" for about 15 years. Here is my first WIP after such a long absence. I am attempting a portrait of James Cagney ….please feel free to comment and critique.


John


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A good start! I hope my comments will be helpful.

Here is a reference photo from doctormacro.com; it might even be the one you're using:



You sure do have the expression down pat! He looks angry and menacing. It's hard to make too many specific criticisms at this early stage, partly because the sketch lines are hard to see.

I think you have the shape of the nose looking pretty good, but it's definitely too wide; the bridge needs to be considerably narrower.

Look at the shape of the mouth line between the lips. It's not a straight line as in your drawing, but has a wiggle in the middle and wiggles as each end. He's also got a fairly pronounced "divot" in the top lip that's not in the drawing. The highlight on the top lip in the photo suggests moisture, which is somehow appropriate.

I think one important characteristic of Cagney is the head shape; "Flat-Top" in Dick Tracy I think is a charicature of him. The head seems large on top and the face is comparatively small. You may or may not have that in your sketch; it's hard to tell because it's so light.

I have to say, it's looking pretty darn good considering you're out of practice

Thanks Lizzeh...



Thanks for the reference photo and comments. I know you cant comment too much because of the early development. I have a feeling my cagney will look more like John Wayne when I'm done....and of course that is what I will be going for...

Looks very nice .. and the photo of him his spooky lol