My favorite way to see where I am going wrong is to turn both the reference and my drawing upside down.

Great tip. I'll often view my drawing in a mirror. It is amazing how something that I've been staring at (but missing) for hours will suddenly pop out.

An experiment in charcoal that I did last night. Size is 12"x18". Done on newsprint. I covered the page with a solid background of charcoal then "drew" the picture with a kneaded eraser.

I really like the way it came out. The subject is Stevie Ray Vaughan, one of the greatest guitarist ever.

This was a lot of fun. C&C welcome.

Click to view attachment

Hi Edelweiss,
I think you have some real talent and I hope we will see more work out of you.
Get started on an album!

Hi Jus Sumguy
Click to view attachment
Looking at things side by side can help as well.
Also notice how pale her skin is.
I think you have a great start, maybe try not to over think it.
Here is a link to how one of our favorites does his portraits.

Mechtonia,
Wow! Awesome!
The only thing I see is maybe where the shirt opens going from his neck to the guitar, could have a little detail, no wider than what it already is though.
Just enough to pull your eye from one area back to the other. Hope that makes sense.

Thank you Paulette! It really helps. Just working on the album...

Here is a photo of me, my mom and dad. I tried this in soft pastels but I confess I am not too good at this. Enjoyable though

Peribocegi,
Looks like your pretty good to me.
Well done.

Let me give you my totally positively biased opinion on your piece : awesomeness incarnate ! Love it ! (and I say totally positively biased because Stevie Ray Vaughan is the Guitar God of my idolatry).
Now I feel all tingly inside

this is my grandaughter carrissaClick to view attachmentClick to view attachment

Looking good! I like how you added lost detail to the eyes and the subtle shading on the skin and eyeballs.

Hey folks!
First drawing since last March so I am a bit rusty! This is 8x12 on a very coarse paper done in vine and willow charcoal. This is a young Joan Collins .. I cropped the original photo which can be found here Joan Collins

I am to the point where I think I need to let it sit, and I have to stop looking at it for a while. I keep tweaking things and making it worse..
Please point out any major flubs that I can correct without to much destruction!

Cropped Reference
Click to view attachment

Current Drawing as of 5PM Feb 11 EST
Click to view attachment

Thanks!
Doug

Hi Doug,

I've been looking at your drawing in details and to me everything was exactly in place with the correct value. The only thing that bugs me, is really in the picture, but I think it does not help the drawing. The hard shadows on the eye in the right side, under the nose, at the edge of the right lip and a somewhat below the lip and the ear are indeed too hard and not necessary for the volume and life I think.

Otherwise it's perfect.

hey this is one i done lately, ill take any kinda advice i wont take offence so fire away lol its a woman i drew she aint anyone she just made up.

here's another one hopefully you can notice this person or its not a good drawing lol, ive only been doing portrait's for a couple of months if even that. and as far as drawing goes im a novice as i really only started drawing nov last year thanks to my gf, now i cant stop lol.

Okay, here is my Gerard Butler picture that changed into Burns, the film on Robert Burns that'll be start shooting sometime this year.

The pencils I used is between hb, 2b and 4b. But mostly 4b.

This drawing I had to prove myself with something (don't want to get into it), and I really love it... the hair was or should always say is funky to draw. His eyes are always expressive, that's one of the reasons why I love drawing Gerry.

I'll be posting my other ones later, just would love to hear what I'm doing wrong, and what I'm missing...

Hi Clare,

getting back into something after 3 years is tough, but I think it's great that you are drawing again! What I found helpful is to spend a few days and pages practicing each feature. Get lots of pics and just draw the eyes, then draw the nose and so on. Getting comfortable with drawing features really helps when trying to put them all together. Keep up the good work!
Simon.

Hi Mitch,
First thing I notice is you have gorgeous lines, really noticeable in the female, the hair and neck lines.
Her eyes and ears seem a bit high on her face, but otherwise she is believable.
I am the last person to put faces and names together, but this face will be notable for years to come, well done!
Lol, not stopping is the way we get better, so keep going. Don't forget to try out new styles as well.


Hi Skeller,
Nice portrait! you have good shading and form. The hair does look good!
To bring it to the next level, I would work on getting rid of any suggestion of outlining, (mouth, ears) and let your shading do all the work.
Another note for the future would be to try to use reference photos that don't use flash, look for natural light or at least diffused light.

hey thanks for the comment and yea your right. i should of given her more forehead that would of balanced it out, and ill be sticking at art this time because i think if i hadnt of gived up after school a could of been really good now.

heres another one lol

Cool!

Hi everyone !
This is the first portrait I have ever done. So it's also my first self-portrait too ! Well, besides my avatar, which is a lot more 'cartoony'.
I could've spent more time on it, but it was just a quick experiment to see if I could actually draw portraits, or if I should stick to getting the basics right. I think I'll practice techniques by doing more portraits !
HB pencil on cartridge paper. It's about 6" x 8".

I'm here to learn, so all comments welcome !

New portrait, but totally different style. And different medium, too. Pen and markers on 6"x8" sketchpad.

Hi Al,
You got the right proportion (self portrait) --a very important consideration.
But my personal standard will not allow you to stop practicing shading or 'working with light'. Just MY 2cts. opinion.
Generally, I like your marker and ink work --a novel illustration kind of.

~v.

Doug,
You have an excellent photo reference.
I can see your browse-sweating effort at rendering the 'right' light and shadow. Value and proportion --both are important. And gradation is a tough job. Subject like this needs a huge amount of patience and slow pacing. You really have to 'look' at the picture --not just for a while, but take time studying it.
Here's a hint (from experience): At the finishing stage, keep the reference away (forget it if possible), and begin to take a 'fresh look' at your work (like you've never seen it before). You must find flaws -something you 'do not' like --and you don't let it pass. Because you 'copied' a photo does not mean you created a great drawing. Nathalie said it, and I saw --something is not quite right with the photo (shadows).
At least one percent of the photo is at your mercy --did you say 'tweak'? Then I may say 'modify' too.
My 2cts.

~v.

how do you get your pictures so big elana?

So, I go to the gallery, copy the link of the image(there are several options, choose image link) and then in a fast reply in the thread I add the link by clicking on the insert image button on top of my message window.It's simple and you don't use your MB like in the case of attachments.

I've been busy with life and art and commissions and thought I'd share a couple of portraits that I've been working on. They are in coloured pencil on colourfix paper and the last one is watercolour with a touch of pastel.

Enjoy.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

wow - I am speechless, these are wonderful drawings, color of skin, eyes, hair = just exellent and perfect

Awesome work Jeanette!

The man with the goatee is inspiring. Lighting is brilliant. I love the skin tones, especially the contrast between the shaved areas and the other skin. Izzat gray paper or white?

My progress from July 18, 2008, half an hour sketch



to March 15, 2009, 1 hour 40 minutes drawing in CP



With more time and care for proportions i guess i will get there soon.

Thanks....Ernest the paper was sort of blue grey. The photo never shows the true colour and my tweaking in a photo editor isn't competent.

Elena, you're going in the right direction. Just take your time. With portraits, proportion is everything, as is measurement if you want to achieve a likeness. In the case of a child, the proportions are slightly different and a lengthening of a nose or face will add years to a face.

Part of the problem with this is that the photo you're using isn't high resolution so you're guessing at details and that makes the job more difficult for you.

I've done a quick sketch using your same image. See how the proportions change to make the girl look younger? Drawing really is simply a matter of observation. Carefully looking at the subject then drawing exactly what you see will give you results.

Click to view attachment

Here are a few of my portraits.......Let me know what y'all think! I would love some constructive criticism.......

MY NIECE:
(Charcoal and Pencil)
Click to view attachment

MY SON:
(Charcoal and Pencil)
Click to view attachment

CHINA GIRL:
(From Weekly Challenge Forum 3-15-09 to 3-21-09)
(Charcoal and Pencil)
Click to view attachment

QUICK SELF PORTRAIT:
(Charcoal and Pencil)
Click to view attachment

SELF PORTRAIT (PHOTO USED):
Click to view attachment
I will add more later.........

what strikes me as the first = all the images are very hard shadow painted, a soft shade with a lower pencil/charcoal hardness and smear with a soft cottonpad would perhaps be better
your technic looks very good by China Girl Drawing
(sorry for my bad english)

My wife from her senior picture. I not pleased with the drawing at all. I guess the hair was good practice but I'm not really pleased with it. I was going for a semi-line art look but I think I only partially succeeded.


Click to view attachment

The hairline is truly spectacular -- really excellent work! Some other parts of the hair have much lower contrast, and maybe that's what you don't like about it. Adding more darks (to the top, anyway) and tightening up around the highlights (all over) would add more interest to the top and sides of the hair.

The "line art" approach is neat. I can see a lot of experimentation here as you shift from very formal hatching strokes on the lips and gums, to less-formal hatching at the neck and side of the head, to even more informal shading around the eyes and nose. Maybe that's what you don't like, the inconsistency. I think it's very engaging.

One other problem is the quality of the outlines themselves, the ones around the eyes, chin, lips, and nose; they're kind of "sketchy" and don't have the commercial illustration look I think you were going for. I think -- and I'm not an expert here, but I believe -- that the way to get those lines looking like a 1940's magazine advertisement -- if that's what you're going for -- would be to use a mechanical aid, like a French curve.

Thanks. Good suggestions. What I'm striving for is a look similar to this guy's work:

itsajackal at Deviant Art

Warning: if you are offended by (artistic) nudity use caution when following the above link.

I am trying to improve on my portrait skills (but I'm not near as good as anyone else here) so I thought this would be a good place to get some helpful hints...


This is another portrait of my son I did last night....and then the photo I used as my reference:
Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

Thanks for your feedback!

exellent , it`s really perfect

Wow! What a compliment! And from such a talented artist like yourself! I appreciate it. You are always so kind!

That makes me want to go and draw a few more, just to see if I can keep it up!

Thanks again,

Thank you, Jeanette for your time and advice. Yes, being impatient in drawing a portrait is bad, i still have to overcome this impulse but I guess i cannot get serious about it.Never tried to do a portrait in 3-4 hours or 6 as I saw this picture was addressed. The photo size was set to 640x480 and i couldn't change that.At least I have a consolation that she looks Chinese...lol.

Here is a piece I just finished...there is much I like and much I don't...feel free to pick it apart!

Laura

Hi Laura! Please know that I'm not anyone special, or anyone even remotely close to qualified to give advise....However, I would love to comment on your portrait.

I think it's wonderful! I love the detail.

Is she sitting in water? The only thing that looks a little inconsistent is where her elbows are touching the water (that's if she's in water). If they were touching, I would expect to see some sort of break in the water.I know that I look at some of my own drawings and think the same type of things and then look at the picture I'm using as a reference and realize there is "no break in the water". I was always taught to Draw what you see, NOT what you THINK is there! So....please keep in mind that my comment is simply what I THINK should be there, nothing more.


Again, I think that it's WONDERFUL, and Beautiful. I hope that you don't mind my comments, and I am amazed at how realistic it looks.

Did you use a reference photo? I'm always curious to see the references other artist use to create their pieces.

I am working on a portrait of my father, and when done, I will post on this thread. Please feel free to comment on mine as well. I appreciate any constructive criticism I can get!

Sarah,

Actually the photo I used was of my daughter, Sara, when she was in the tub. So I hope you'll understand if I don't post it on the internet. The angle of the photo makes it appear that her arms are touching the water but in fact the darkness you see beneath her arms is a cast shadow on the water...perhaps that is why it looked off to me as well.

Do not belittle yourself...you are somebody....you're an artist:)

As for your portrait of your son...it is lovely...I would suggest that you use a high resolutiond photo and avoid flash...it washes out the features...and we tend to draw what we see so you duplicated the washed out look into your drawing...It is a very good drawing btw. If you do have a picture that you are having a hard time seeing the values in you can pump up the contrast with most photo software...and this will help. Also it does help that you have the live model so close to hand:).

As for your portrait of your father...you could post it in the general forum as a wip (work in progress)...it's easier to get help along the way...then after the fact.

You can see my current work in progress...finding nemo

Laura

Laura again the drawing is very nice ...I love drawings like this ...only thing that strikes me odd is her arms look long ..very long ...maybe like you said it is the angle ....like taking a pic of someone setting with their legs crossed and the feet are closest to the camera ..the feet always look sooo big lol

I just finished the attached on clayboard. It was fun. I'm open to criticism or praise. I'm just working at this trying to improve my skill.
Kathie

hello al
first excuse my bad english
i`m bogdan 24 years old from romania. y whas drawing once at few mounts.... when sommeone ask me. with 2 mounts earlyer sommeone ask me for a drawing and y start to drawn allmoust evry day (or when y have time) . y don`t have a autoportrait yet... y`m too ugly to made one, and y thynk is better too put one with a good friend of mine. y want from u all to critisize me where i do bad.
best regards

and this is the girl from the drawing

Hi Kathie,
You're doing great, I was just looking at the drawing of the girls in the critique area.
One thing I would suggest and I know it is hard to do. You have to find or take better pictures.
The pictures are fine subject wise, but the flash is washing out all your detail. If you really can't get no flash pictures to work from, then you need to make sure you are looking at a model in real life to see how light normally acts.
Otherwise you are moving along really great!

Hello VaCaRoZ,
I love the composition and drama!
For a strict likeness her face could be a bit longer and her forehead a bit more shaped, but I would not change the drawing as it is definitely her. The shoulder on the right could be a bit longer, but someone with more experience would know better.
Again I wouldn't change a thing this is a beautiful drawing. Keep up the great work.