Hi all,

This is my second attempt at a portrait.
It's taken from a reference photo at my aunt's wedding.

I'm quite happy with it generally but can't seem to get a good resemblance for the chap.
Can anyone see where I'm going wrong?
Any other comments welcomed also..

Thanks

Andrea

Sorry forgot to post the reference photo!

Hi Andrea.

From I brief glimpse at what you have so far I think you have the likeness down pretty well and you have also captured the feeling - thumbs up for that.

A few things I noticed and which could perhaps be improved upon a little :

- the groom in the reference is looking straight at the camera.. in your drawing he is looking somewhere over my left shoulder. I know - that is always very hard for me too!

- I think the amount of shading is making the couple look a little older than they are in the reference. I know flash lighting is a killer but I would still try to soften the shading a little, particularly round the bride's eyes. Shading over there tends to give the impression of age lines. You are perfectly entitled to artistic license... imagine a different light source if it suits you better and adjust accordingly. But I think, even with the light as it is a little smoothening of the shading (less contrast between lines and white skin... more gradual values) would go a long way to giving the couple a softer and younger look.

- the grooms hair is looking a little too spiky (or furry) - I would smoothen that out a little too

Other than that I think this is a lovely work! With a few adjustments it would certainly be something worth pride of place in any home!

Thanks Rose!
I still haven't got the hang of how to get people to look in the right direction, I presume it's where you position the light in the eyes, or is it?
I'll try reducing the shading; just got a bit carried away I think, I was trying a sort of ciculism (sp?) .
I wasn't sure about the hair as the reference piccie is quite dark, with try and smooth it a little!

Andrea

In this case it's simpler than that. Recall that his head is turned to face over Rose's left shoulder. Therefore if his pupils are centered in his eye sockets, then that's where he's looking, too. That's kind of what you've done here. Look at his left eye, on the extreme right of the photo. Compare the size of the white triangle of eyeball on the viewer's right side in the photo and in the drawing. See how tiny it is in the photo? That's because his eyes are turned toward the camera. In your drawing, the eyes are centered in the sockets and that triangle is therefore bigger. I hope this makes sense.

Thanks Ernest, that does make sense even to a blonde like me! LOL!
I have redone the eyes and I think he's looking in the right direction now.
It still doesn't quite look like him though. AAAAAAHHHHHH!
Any other suggestions??
I've posted the updated drawing. I've tried to smooth his hair as Rose suggested but my OH says he still looks too much like a pop star!!!

Andrea

Have just looked at the attachment, it's not a fantastic scan, I'm afraid despite playing with the settings!

Quote: 'in your drawing he is looking somewhere over my left shoulder.' - Rose
'In this case it's simpler than that. Recall that his head is turned to face over Rose's left shoulder. biggrin.gif ' - Ernest

He He! I didn't know you were at the wedding Rose, did you enjoy it?

If you'll allow me, I'll try. I'll use "right" and "left" to mean the viewer's right and left. The likeness is fairly close, but I can see a number of subtle things that together would bring it closer.

There are a couple of things I see about the forehead. On the left, you have drawn it tapering in towards the top of the head, while in the photo, his head actually appears to get larger as you go higher on his forehead, like William H. Macy's head. So the left side of the forehead should go further to the left, especially at the top.

Also on the right, the photo shows the typical male hairline, receding over the temples, coming down more in the middle. You've drawn it pretty much straight across, like a woman's. It needs to go higher on the right. Also look closely at the direction of the hair -- that "widow's peak" in the middle is combed towards the left, while you've got all the hair going straight back.

Then there's the nose. In the photo, the left "wing" of the nose protrudes a lot past the main line of the nose itself; in your drawing, it doesn't protrude at all.

I can see a couple of extremely subtle shading things, but I don't think they'd do anything for the likeness. I think the head shape and nose would help, though. One more thing is that he's got very light blue eyes, and you could bring that out more by going as dark as you can for the pupils (leaving the highlights, of course.)

Hope this helps!

Thanks Ernest, that's fantastic!
I will try to apply your suggestions tomorrow (its 10pm here) and will post again then.

Andrea

You have the groom looking off instead of at the camera, but I don't think that's necessarily a problem. Nothing says a portrait has to be a perfect copy of the original. But...the problem that I see is that you have his eyes open too wide. He has somewhat sleepy-looking eyes, but in your drawing he looks a bit startled or popeyed.

Overall though, a dandy likeness. You know, the phrase "dandy likeness" reminds me of that episode in MASH when the Korean sculptor makes a wood carving of Col. Potter and it ends up looking like a perfect cross between Potter and the sculptor himself.

So, um, what I'm trying to say is...

...are you slightly popeyed?





















(Just kidding!)

[quote name='Dan999' post='20202' date='May 2 2007, 09:27 AM'] You have the groom looking off instead of at the camera, but I don't think that's necessarily a problem. Nothing says a portrait has to be a perfect copy of the original. But...the problem that I see is that you have his eyes open too wide. He has somewhat sleepy-looking eyes, but in your drawing he looks a bit startled or popeyed.

Overall though, a dandy likeness. You know, the phrase "dandy likeness" reminds me of that episode in MASH when the Korean sculptor makes a wood carving of Col. Potter and it ends up looking like a perfect cross between Potter and the sculptor himself.

So, um, what I'm trying to say is...

...are you slightly popeyed?


Funny you should say that Dan........

I decided to give myself a break from the wedding photo and did this one instead.
Honestly, thanks for the advice, I will have another go at the wedding picture today and see what I can do with those googley eyes.
Andrea

Ok, I've had another play with the groom!
I've changed the shape of the head on the left, changed the hair direction on the left, added some more nose on the left! And tried to give him less stary eyes. I also changed the teeth (my idea!)

But, he still doesn't look right! I'm very frustrated with it!

Any other ideas guys or shall I just throw it away and start again. Shame because I think I managed to get a reasonable likeness to my Aunt

Andrea

I've just scanned the groom this time..
I've done a larger sized image as well (on the right) in case you want a closer look..
Sorry I'm finding it hard to get the scan image to look like the original drawing.

Hi Andrea,

I’m not really comfortable in giving advice because I have very little experience in drawing. But perhaps my suggestion will help a little, so here it goes.
I feel there’s a little too much emphasis on the lines in the grooms forehead. When I look at the picture in a somewhat larger format and I hold my fingers over his forehead so I don’t see the lines, he is getting more of the look of having fun and being open as in the photograph. So maybe something is to be changed there? I hope my explanation makes sense and can be of use. Otherwise just forget about it haha

Don’t throw the drawing away anyhow, I think you are doing a great job!

Marijke

Thanks Marijke, you may well be right. I do tend to over emphasise lines and make people look older!
I don't think you need to be an experienced drawer to make useful suggestions. Thank you.

Andrea

I scaled your drawing and pasted it into the photo so we can do a very close comparison (BRB taught me this -- always a good idea!) With the images right next to each other, I can see some more things, and I bet you can, too.

[attachmentid=4573]

In the photo, his cheek sticks out more on the left side of the drawing, and his ear sticks out a lot more on the right. He's got prominent ears.

In the photo, his mouth is open a little less wide, and the upper lip is longer, and his teeth a little smaller (vertically).

He has light colored hair and I don't really see any eyelashes, but in the drawing the eye on the left, especially, has a dark lash line.

I agree that you've made the forehead wrinkles too prominent. On the other hand, the shadow to the left of his nose isn't prominent enough.

He's got some wear on his teeth, so they go straight across in the front. You've drwan the bottom line of the teeth as a curve.

The eye on the left side of the picture is still open too wide. He's smiling and his eyes are crinkled up, which is what's causing the forehead lines and the lines on his cheeks.

Hope this helps!

Wow, thanks Ernest!
How do you scale the drawing down and place it next to the photo, can you teach me? It's a lot easier to compare them side by side.
I'll have another play tomorrow. You're my knight in shining armour , I was just saying that I was going to give up on it because I couldn't seem to get it! Thank you.
Andrea

Hi, please forgive me for jumping in here, but I am interested in knowing how to combine two pictures as you show above. Is there a thread here on drawspace where I can find this info.?

Christine

When I said BRB taught me this trick, I meant he showed me the value of looking at the pictures right next to each other on the computer screen. As to how to do it, it depends on what software you use for working with images. I (rather famously, by now, I guess) like to use the free software program "The GIMP", but you could also use Photoshop , Paint Shop Pro, or many other things. Microsoft Paint won't do it, I'm afraid. My advice to you is to learn to use one of these in general -- it doesn't matter which. Once you have the basic skills, you can use them to do all sort of great stuff!

In the GIMP, I load one picture, create a new layer with a transparent background, and paste the second image into the new layer. Then I can drag the top layer around to position it, and there's a "scale layer" function that lets me conveniently resize it (I just eyeballed it here.)

Another very nice feature is that you can make a layer translucent. If you do this and then move the top layer over the lower one, you can superimpose your drawing on the photo, and see where they differ.