wow judy awesome work-- i just love how you rendered the hair-great job- i dont like to critique bc i dont feel i am good enough to do so, but i do agree with earnest on the squinting but i know how hard it is to do squinting. the funny faces portrait i did, i redid the eyes i couldnt tell you how many times and i still dont think i got it right but let it alone. but beautiful work judy
Lori

This is why I love Drawspace so much. The critiques are invaluable. Earnest, you have a great eye (for eyes) and I can see what I need to do now. I also thought the lip needed some work. I did change the original to a black & white, but it wouldn't upload for some reason. I will work on it some more an post again. Thank you both for your comments.

Blessings,

Judyvan

With the corrections. Hope it looks better.

Judyvan

That looks awesome!

I agree with Ernest, it's fab. I love the subtle shading and the hair is great too! Well done!

Thanks IRBaboon and Ernest. Your support is heartily felt.

Judyvan

Beautiful Judy!! Is she your granddaughter? I think you do awesome portraits. Keep up the great work.

My son, Zachary. The most important part of this one for me was the inside of the mouth. AndyBuck and BRB both impress me with this particular feature; I tried hard to emulate them here. It's a pale imitation, but I think I got some real depth in there this time.

[attachmentid=5758]

Wow, Ernest, this is fantastic , like you said you did get real depth in it. I love the highlights on the hair and lip and the eyes are lovely especially the eyelashes on the viewers left eye, they look so natural. The mouth looks very good too.
Well done!

Great drawing Ernest!
You are improving so fast, getting better with every drawing!
It's wonderfull to see that!!

Ernest - your draws are very nice

Judyvan - nica job, pretty good

recedoll - I liked very much your draw, it causes impact!!

This is my girlfriend I finish this draw yesterday.

[attachmentid=5817]

Emerson, beautiful job on your girlfriend!! Love the hair.

Thanks Venus, I love the hair to, hair always are hard to draw

Emerson, I love that drawing; the hair has such a rich texture.

Here's my latest:

[attachmentid=5823]

Ernest, very beautiful draw! I loved the eyes and the light and shades

JUDY .... the portrait you did on the other page ( sorry I am just getting back from vacation ) is so beutiful .. I have to say its one of your best ever . I love everything about it .

earnest if the drawing of Zack was not breathtaking ( I love the hair ) I turn the page and see your lastest .. very well done hun .

Emerson .. your portrait of your gf is very nice ...looks like a portrait used for a tattoo ... nice work .

this is my first try at a portrait drawing and i feel that its missing something. Is it as bad as i think?

I'd say it's a good drawing, Fredbo. The proportions are really quite good, and that's the first big hurdle to get over, because a lot of people start out drawing the eyes too close to the top of the head, for example, or too far back from the front in a profile, and you don't have this problem. Your observational skills seem quite good.

Now, as far as missing something: there are two things you can work on to improve your portraits (actually all drawings). One is using shading vs. using lines. It looks to me like you've tried to use shading to mark off different features, like the way the far cheek is darker than the nose. That is great! Do more of that! The goal should be to get rid of all your lines completely. This takes practice! Getting rid of lines and using shading instead makes your drawings look more realistic.

The other thing is contrast. The darkest part of any drawing should (almost always) be absolutely black, as dark as you can make it. In a portrait, that's often the pupils (centermost part) of the eyes. In between that and the white of the paper, try to distinguish between about five levels of gray. Use each level as appropriate. Using contrast like this gives your drawings more "punch" -- it makes them more visually exciting and gives them more impact.

Great first portrait, and I agree totally with what Ernest said. He is absolutely right.

What they said!
Paulette

wow! i feel like im getting my own personal lesson! Thank you so much Ernest I'll try it out and then show the results

All right here it is! its not a super big improvement but better then before there could be a little bit more shading on the left cheek but over all im happy

I see the improvment you have made in the shading .. as long as you are happy with it is all that matter's this is your first portrait so i wouldnt be to hard on yourself ... good job for a first try and I am impressed you did not do a straight on portrait .

I have been away for a couple weeks and am loving the new portraits. Hey Kim, are you working on the colored pencil lessons for us?

Judyvan

than you to all who commented my work

you are very welcome fred .. and judy ... I have just gotten back from vacation and no details have been made .. but now that you mentioned it I will get busy on deciding what I will draw .. most likely a portrait of someone ...this was the video right ?

Yes, the video, Kim. Am waiting in excited anticipation!!!!

Judyvan

Need your help guys. Here she is. I played around with the lighting effects in Photoshop.

Judyvan

Hi Judy,

Get two rulers and align one with her eyes and one with her mouth. I think you have her mouth drooping on one side a little too much. It is slightly off in the photo, but I think you might have exaggerated the angle.

bob.

they are so amazing:)..this is my first portrait i sent.. i've just found it..

My first portrait drawing. Any comments to improve my drawings. I am very scare to draw portraits.
I love all of the Portraits of BRB. All your drawings are beautiful and your are a really artist.

lily

I think you did well Lily. It even reminds me of my grand daughter Shonda a little.

brb

I agree you did a fine job ..and for a first try and the angle you chose I am impressed ...my advice to you is to keep working on portraits and follow some of BRB's " how to draw portraits " and you will improve and amaze yourself .

Is this looking better?

Judyvan

Hi Judy,

The angle of the mouth is better, yes. This is a 3/4 view photo, which makes the features asymmetrical. I think most people find this the most challenging kind of portrait to draw (I know I do!) The way the far corner of the mouth sort of "dives in" because the face is turned away from you is very tricky to see properly. Try to look hard at the far side of the mouth and how its foreshortened.

Same with the nose -- the nostril on our right is turned back into the page a little and our view of it is different from the other one. We can't see the outside of the nose; there's much less of a shadow on that side. Also the nostril hole itself has a little different shape and it is a little lighter colored since we don't see "up" it so much.

Most people's upper eyelids have a crease where the eyelid folds when the eye is open, but this is rare on lower eyelids. In your drawing it looks as though you have a lower-lid fold that I don't see in the picture; what I can see is the lash line separated from the eyeball by a narrow ridge of skin. It could be that you've just drawn the lash line too sharply and were going to fix it later.

My last portrait, finish it yesterday is a job friend
I didn't liked so much

I like the way you have done the hair .. very soft and nice high lights .

Gorgeous hair!
I would like to see you tackle a lesson or two of Brenda's involving eyes. She explains it very well.

To say the truth I forget to finish the eyes I work so much in the hair and forget the eyes, very good observation, I will to improve it and also I post here
Thank you very much paulette!

This is the improved version of the drawing that I've posted yesterday, I work a litle more the eyes like Paulette said and the jewel to.
[attachmentid=5977]

That looks much better! The next thing I would like to see you tackle, not necessarily on this drawing, is the outlines around features. The edge of a cheek should be blended up to the stopping point. I am not sure if that makes sense. None of the outlines of the face should show as lines. You are doing great portraits keep going.
Paulette

Thank you Paulette for the valious tip, I will to pay atention to this in my next portrait!

Well, Earnest, I tried all the changes you suggested. You have a wonderful eye for detail. I know there is still lots wrong with it. Should I just let it go and work on another one? I'm frustrated again.

Judyvan

She is gorgeous Judy!
Each drawing brings us one step closer to our ideal drawing. Of course I don't think any of us reach that final step because there is always something else to learn. I think if you found an artist that was truly satisfied you would find some boring art!
Paulette

Paulette said everything, no artist are 100% satisfy whit your art, it is part of art.
We always think that is something missing or wrong, but it is a good thing!

emerson, I really like your portrait. Paulette, thanks for the encouragement. I'm trying to love all my drawings, imperfections and all. It is as hard as loving myself. Just trying to remember I am cradled in the arms of a Loving Universe.

Happy 4th.

Judyvan

Judy, I think your drawing is lovely, because a person can't help but feel love for the adorable child pictured. That's the best thing a piece of art can do: make someone feel (or think.)

There are so many different styles and approaches to artwork; there is no single "best drawing" of a subject, or single "right way" of drawing something. We're all struggling to improve as we follow our own vision of what our art should look like. Every single drawing I do has something wrong with it, and I'm willing to bet that most people here would admit the same thing. At some point, for pretty much every drawing, it just becomes time to move on. But I try to learn from each one, and apply it to the next one.

You have absolutely nothing to be discouraged about, so don't be, please!

Okay, I'll try...

This is the portrait of a good friend which I've made for his Mum's birthday. I worked after a photo (it was a surprise even for him *g*) with pencil from 2H to 6B on a soft, lightly coloured paper. The whole thing took me about 8 hours and I'm not wholly content with the right eye and the nose.

i really love the portrait earonn. i think its perfect. i dont know what the photo looks like but as far as the portrait is i love the way it is.
and i like your aviator. my son has a pet rat. he is dark gray. and 2 1/2 years old.
Lori

Thanks. I add the original photo so you can *see* the difference.
And greetings to the lil rat *hands rat a sweetie* . My avatar is a pic of Gyros, one of my two pet rats (the other one named Souflaki - I like Greek food).
Hm...watching the photo..the face is a little too broad and if anyone can tell me how to draw lips? I see wonderful pics of lips but somehow mine get too, distinct, if you know what I mean.

Here the photo: