I donated a graphite portrait sitting to a local charity's silent auction table recently. Turns out somebody bought it, and now I have an appointment to go take pictures of their two children on Wednesday. So although I personally won't get any money, I guess I've sold my first work

Yay for me!

congrats to you, Ernest. It's always nice to have a beginning.

Congratulations. I wish you good luck and smooth sailing on the project. Will we get a look at it before you turn it over to the client?

Oh, absolutely. I am sure I will ask for advice along the way.

awesome...and congrats to you

Yes, congratulations, Ernest, and that's so great that you donated your talent for a good cause! I believe because of it you will find the process very satisfying and your purchaser will have received a great prize!

Congrats to you, Ernest. You're a wonderful artist, I'm sure they'll love the portrait. Can't wait to see it.

Wonderful Ernest!!

I hope you get much more work from this latest venture!!

congratulations Ernest. Money isn't the only way of payment (of course we need it to survive) but seeing others with a big smile is sometimes even better than getting payed.
And this can also open some doors for your work to be recognized and you sure have worked for it!
Can't wait to see it eighter

Excellent! Congratulations. You're on your way with another commission in the offing. Great stuff!

Congrats Ernest!!! you never know it may lead to being a paid commission...that how my last colored pencil picture is turning out to be...LOL

Way to go Ernest, I'm so happy for you. You deserve it. Keep us in touch.

You Rock, Ernest!!! Look forward to seeing the commission work.

Judyvan

Congratulation Ernest, so happy for you.

lily

Congratulations Ernest!!! wish you many more.

Way to go Ernest!
You have a lucky new client!

I went and took the photos today. Tried to act very professional, as if I'd done this a million times. I had a lot of fun with her two kids. I'm still working on the crop but this is an idea of what I'm going to be doing.
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I had the presence of mind to get a signed model release!

Good one Ernest!! You have some nice shadows to play around with. Look forward to seeing Stage 1.

Neat, Ernest! Does that mean you will keep us updated with a WIP while you are doing this?
Just curious, are you going to cut off the back of the younger one's head or is that just how the picture came out?
It does look like you got some really nice shadows to work with. Did you have a special room/lights/camera? It seems like I always have to fight the light whenever I am taking pictures.

Yes, I think I'm definitely going to do a WIP. Double portraits are nerve-wracking; I could use the emotional support!

The (color) photo was taken outside on a bright, cloudy day, then grayscaled and contrast adjusted. Here's the original:
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The mom seems to like contemporary, edgier stuff, which is why I chose a photo with the girls looking out of the frame and I'm cropping it closer. I cut off the back of the one girl's head to create some intimacy; I left as much space to the left for them to be "looking into" as I could. Feel absolutely free to suggest alternative ideas for a composition from this image, or just to tell me I don't know what I'm doing

This is a dream of a reference photo. The only concern I would have is the arm in the center - I would have to be careful to show that it belongs to the girl on the left. Perhaps I just looks for things to worry about. Good luck

Great photo & good crop! Can't wait to see the WIP.

I do think your photo choice is excellent, Ernest.
Since you asked for suggestions, I will only add something from my own gut (everyone thinks and see things differently so please remember it is just that). I have always felt that the head is very intimate and personal as it is, and the person you are drawing might feel like something is missing if part of their head is not in the picture - you know, like they would always have this feeling they need to feel the back of their head to make sure it's there? I think because when it goes completely off the edge of the picture, you aren't sure it IS there. That is actually the way I would feel so I guess I would take it right up to the back of the head or take liberty as the artist and add a wall or doorjamb covering the back (which still suggests that it is there). Again, this is just a personal feeling.
I really do like the way you are considering this as a work of art and not just a simple sitting portrait. It will make it much more memorable.

You lucked out they are adorable and should be fun to do.
Have you decided on a medium yet?

Hi Ernest,

I think you cropped your picture perfectly. Both kids look really nice, they should be happy with it. Don't be afraid to measure since proportions are vital to portraits. And also, the picture looks somewhat solarized on the skin, which does not necessarily reflect the reality. Watch it. Really looking forward to your wip.

Ernest, have been thinking about what you said with Mum liking "edgier" stuff.

Have you thought of going a little Warhol??


I played around with your crop (like that crop a lot) and came up with this as something tasteful but a bit "edgier than a usual "realism" portrait.

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You could soften the exaggerated tonal changes - but I thought it retained the likeness and gave it some edge. Just thought i'd throw something different into the mix - actually I could see myself playing with something like that in pastel.....

Well, that would be a surprise! I'm definitely interested in experimenting with things like that, but I don't think this is the time for such a radical departure for me. I think maybe "edgy" was too strong a word. I think "contemporary" is closer to her tastes, anyway. Her favorite photo of the two girls has them sitting back to back, looking off camera, with thoughtful expressions. That's about where I'm aiming!

I just came across this ....how wonderful and what a honor ....you must be thrilled over this ....money part of it would mean little to me .. the fact someone bid and bought your art would be the thrill of it all .

The back to back sounds like a nice pose Ernest.

Have fun with it - will look for the WIP when you start.

wow! Congratulations! I admire your work and can't wait to see how this turns out! The girls are lovely.

Thanks for the encouragement everybody! OK, time I got started on this.

I spent about two hours altogether on this sketch. It's 11x14". This is not the final piece of paper -- I'll be transferring this either to Bristol board or Strathmore drawing paper, as soon as I decide which, and as soon as I'm through doing little tweaks. I also am posting the reference image again.
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Looking at this, I see the corner of the older girl's mouth is too low on our right, and her nose is a bit crooked. The Mom wanted me to fix little sister's hair, by the way (longer bangs, ear not poking out.)

Hi Ernest, this is a really good start. With all the help you have given me previously, I will try to return the favor.

I agree with what you said regarding the older girl. On her, I also feel, the headband and partly the hair is puffier than in the picture, it sticks up a little bit.

Also, I think the younger one should have a larger mouth, and the eyes should be farther apart, or the right eye should be wider. Make sure you measure these. I like what you did for the ear.

Good work

Ernest,

I love the start.

Agree with you about the older girl's mouth. The nose .......I am not sure if it will look better when you have some more definition of her cheeks - she has such lovely high cheek bones with the defining shadows underneath - hmmmm ..... now that I look again is her face wide enough on the right (our right) ?? It doesn't look wide enough to have the shadow between the sister & the apple of her cheek as well.

Sorry to bring up more things to worry about - but I figure that you'd rather know now.

Nice start!
I agree with Sue, the older girls face doesn't seem wide enough and the little ones (viewers) left side seems not quite wide enough.

Very good start,

about porportions, It looks to me that also the little boys hair is to close to his eyebrow, I think it really is better to mesure, sometimes in scketch it doesn't look right but them with the shading it is. Also the photo is a bit bigger so it can be tricky to mesure with only your eyes.
The likeness is already there

This is so impressive! I love how you fixed her hair! hehe very cute! Can't wait to see more!

Thanks for the input, folks. This is going slowly as I haven't had much art time. Here's the finished sketch, ready for transferring. I'm going to wait for the sun to come up tomorrow and then trace it onto Bristol board.
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Like this finished sketch Ernest! Can't wait to see the "real" start !

Very nice!!! Can I ask a question, I've never done that....transferred a sketch...how do you do that? I'm thinking that saves a lot of heartache?!

There are a couple of ways to do it, depending on the paper and the medium you're working in. One simple way is to scribble on the back of the sketch using soft graphite (or scribble on a separate piece of paper), producing "carbon paper" made of soft graphite. Then you put the sketch on top of the good paper, and trace over the lines, which will make more or less faint graphite lines on the drawing paper.

What I'm going to do this time, though, is stick the sketch to a window with Blue-tak, stick the good paper over it, and wait for the sun to hit the window full-on. In bright sunlight, even with heavy paper like Bristol board, you can see the sketch right through it, and then you can trace the sketch with your pencil. Instead of using a window, you can use a light box (a glass-topped box with a light bulb inside). They also make projectors that project an image onto your paper so you can trace it; those are fairly expensive.

OK, enough dragging my feet, time to get started! I spent about 15 minutes tracing the sketch onto vellum Bristol with a 2H pencil and then I started right in on the leftmost part of the drawing, the older sister's hair. Some of the darkest darks in the picture are there, so those are done with a sharp 8B pencil; the remainder of the hair is done with a 2B. This is about 20 minutes of rendering the hair, so altogether I'm looking at about three hours so far on this drawing.
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Sometimes I work all over a drawing at once, and sometimes I finish one spot before moving on. It looks like I'm going to do the latter here.

Another half an hour. 8B on the headband, 2H on the flowers, more 2B for the hair at the crown. That'll be it for tonight.
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Ernest, good to see that someone else uses the same very expensive lightbox that I do

Great highlights in that hair - good start!!

Oh- la-la, you keep going like this it is going to be a masterpiece!

Thanks for the encouragement, ladies!

OK, about another hour's work. The modeling on the face is done with a 2H pencil, with a very little bit of blending with Q-tips. I'm pretty happy with the way this is going so far.
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There are a few things that look like dirty hand prints but they're actually shadows from stuff on the window the sun was coming through.

wow Ernest this is really comming out beautifly, this will certainly be a master piece keep going

Ernest, you are surpassing yourself, this will be outstanding. And you really did it with the little girl. Keep up the good work!

so far, looks awesome.

Beautiful Ernest!

I assume from your statement that this drawing is being back lit in a window?
If the light was falling on it from the normal side is that head band black or the normal pencil gray?
Or am I off base about being back lit?
Thanks!