Mindy,

Your pic is turning out well for what you're working with. Actually one of my favorite parts is the mouth on this one.

And have you tried upping the brightness/contrast of the reference after you grayscale it? this helps me alot.

Draw Me In,

I just tried upping the contrast as you said, and I can see where it helps. Unfortunately this particular photo is beyond help, but I'll certainly keep that in mind for the future. Did you take the photo of the young lady you drew? If so, may I have permission to draw it for study purposes? Thanks, -M

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here ya go.
Enjoy!
-Draw me in

Hi everyone,

Here is a portrait I just finished of some friends daughter.
I would just like some feedback on what I could possibly do better.

Lovely job!

The two things I'd suggest: first, eyelashes do not grow as neat and tidy as you've depicted them. Have a careful look at the lashes in the photo, and at Brenda's great lesson on eyelashes here, and you should see what I'm talking about.

The second is to make you aware of the oft-repeated slogan "Don't be afraid of the dark!" This is a lovely portrait, but you've been fairly timid about the shading in general, and you've avoided making any really dark areas. It's true that the photo is somewhat low-contrast because of the flash, but even so, you can see that the shading on the sides of the nose, for example, is actually almost as dark as the irises of the eyes; and the corners of the mouth and areas at the sides of the neck are quite close to full black. Don't be afraid to push your shading harder; the only way to show really bright lights, after all, is by contrasting them with really dark darks.

Yeah, I see what you mean. Quite obvious when you mention it.
I'm gonna work a bit more on the shading and see how it turns out.

Thank you very much for your help.

I got a little insomnia the other night and tried a portrait in ball point pen. About 2 hours later I had this. The mouth ain't right and some proportions are off but for some reason it doesn't bother me in this one.

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Looks great!

Still messing about with charcoal and white pastel on toned paper:
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Hi all..tried to work on a portrait...plz crtic..
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here's one more..its a self portrait..head tilted too much i guess...looks stupid i knw..hehe
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looks gpod

I think your portrait look good you caught the likeness. keep drawing your doing good

great work! I want to use charcoal and I seen not to be able to do the detail I want can you use detail. How do you go about it??? any way after trying it. It makes me admire the ones who seem to make the charcoal do the right thing..

Do a search in the forum for charcoal, there are several threads with a lot of info on the subject.

Well, two things. First, some of this is actually done with charcoal pencils -- charcoal in a wood casing. They can be sharpened like a regular pencil, although the point really isn't that fine.

But if you look at the drawing you'll see the really coarse pattern of the paper showing through. That kind of indicates that there really isn't as much detail there as you might think. You cannot fight the charcoal and try to really put the detail in there; you have to think more in terms of suggesting the detail. The only really sharp details are the white ones done with a sharp white pastel pencil.

Thnx Chomaee and shadow2b63 for the commnts..
heres another one...i refered tis from one painting i saw in internet..

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im not sure if it was your intention jaison but her expression looks very different from the original. she looks angry to me in your picture and in the original I dont see that at all. I think its a great drawing just the expression seems different. The lips are also off to me. I think its the prominent line along the top of the lips. It makes them seem larger and bulkier then the original.

hi conte,

Thank you very much for the critic man..i checked it after reading your comment and you are right...i actually meant to do an exact copy of the painting with some thick long strokes and little directional shading...i missed out on the expression completely and the lips also became different.. and i also noticed one more thing...checking the slant between two eyebrows the head is tilted in opposite direction as that of the picture...now i should properly analyse the model before starting to draw...

As far as detail is concerned you can get some fine lines with a thin piece of hard vine charcoal or utilize the wood wrapped type as Ernest mentioned. The trick to sharpening is a new sharpener that catches the shavings and a sanding board to touch up. Lots of blending and of course careful patient application. Jaisan check this link out, is this what you are looking to achieve or even more?? http://www.drawspace.com/forums/index.php?...&album=3525

Wow...that was some cool stuff..especially i liked the Fankinstein...thanks for tips freind...i ll try that out...in fact i am not yet prepared to a detailed portrait...but some times cannot resist the temptation...my aim is like at a point of time i want to create some original concept works...so i am building upon a plan of approach...feels like i need to clear out a lot of basics...thank you very much for the suggestion...your works are really good..

Thanks, and good luck on your journey, have fun and be patient!

thnx airscapes...culdnt resist trying another portrait..critics welcome...

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Well, I put the 2 photos together and adjusted the size so the top of the head and the chin line up, take a look and see the differences. This technique can be very helpful to find mistakes if you do it every so often as you draw.
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thnx man..sounds a good techniqe..i ll chk that..

Click to view attachmentI just entered my first competition in portraits. I did my grandson in color pencil prismacolor pencils on fabriano soft 140 lb paper 16 1/2 x 18 1/2. It is titled Isaiah's Baby blues..I got to start some where can not when if I do not try!

I think if you don't mind me helping a little bit..when you draw a portrait you do not have harsh lines it is all about shading like the lips are not hard edge or the nose..etc..I just uploading my grandsons picture I did with color pencil I added to much of a hard line to his little face around the laugh lines.. I think the softer the shading the better the drawing..but always before you shade make the out line drawing correct or every thing will be off. I am learning from experience. if you have light hair or skin it helps to put dark back ground behind it..and make the eyes even and make the top part darker then the bottom shade under the bottom lip..that is all I can say for now..all of this helps me..I wanted to pass what I learned on to you ...I am learning just like you..shadow2b

Thank you very much shadow2b63...am still in the beggining stages..trying to identify the guesture and shapes in the objects.. you did say few things that is surely going to help me in the long run...valuable critics will always help...it will be there in the mind when you go for it the next time..
("I think if you don't mind me helping a little bit..")Please feel free to give any kind of feedback...

btw...your grandson has come out cute..the softer shade surely seems to work magic and as you mentioned i also feel the odd thing is the hard line of the cheeks..i liked the hair part in the painting very much..can feel that lightness..

Thank you very much..

I am always inpressed with those that can draw in this medium .. I have tried and only made a mess ...what kind of charcoal pencils are used to get such detail and shading ?

Very nice drawing indeed, couldn't do better myself I think. Only 90 minutes Wow..

The only things that really bother me about this image are the left side of the mouth, the squareness of the chin and the angling of the bottom of the right side of the face. For the left side of the upper lip, you've angled it too sharply so that is comes down into a thin line where it actually tapers out right to the end.
For the chin it needs to be slightly more rounded and narrower so bringing in the curve from the left hand side might work in this situation so that it comes in on a gentler curve. As for the curving of the bottom right had side of the face you've put a more extreme indent to the right of the chin than there actually is so it throws the upper portion of the outline out slightly as well.
I hope this helps a little

I'm doing a portrait of Emma Watson myself at the moment, will probably throw it up here when (if) it gets finished.

My latest.

This is a portrait I did recently. I am always frustrated when I draw faces because they come out looking "smudgey". Am I using my tortillian too much? Any suggestions or critiques would help.

Jdartfan, I usually tend to lurk in the shadows here and occassionally join a challenge or trade, but seeing that you are a high schooler, I just wanted to say that this is a very good portrait. However, it's evident that you are being very shy about shading. In order to progress from the level you are at, you'll need to be brave and shade much darker, and much more! This is a fantastic reference picture with dramatic lighting from the side. The only spots that should be left white is the very brightest highlights hitting his face and shirt. You'll capture more likeness by shading (contouring) his cheeks more, and really make that hat curvy with deeper shadows. I see many spots in the reference with the darkest darks like the pupils, the deep wrinkles coming down from his nose, inside his ear, in the shadow of his collar. Also, he is notorious for his scruffy beard. I'd use a kneaded eraser to "pull out" a few lighter whiskers and also add some darker ones wherever the reference seems to show them.

I'm not sure if you used a grid, there's nothing wrong with using a grid, I always use one when it's important to capture a likeness to someone. Also, did you draw from the color reference, or did you first convert it to black & white? It's much easier to draw from black and white. Do you mind if I try to draw this myself someday? I'm no professional myself, and I also tend to hold back on the darker shading, for fear of ruining it. The Marilyn Monroe in my gallery is the first portrait I've been proud of, thanks to the assistance of Poecilotheria_27, who is not timid at all about putting the darkest darks into his portraits.

You're doing great already, and I can see you'll be a fantastic portrait artist in a very short time, I hope you'll stick with it and keep showing us your work as you progress! Kind regards, -Mindy

Jdartfan, I came yesterday, and wanted to write almost the same comment as Mindy. I'm not a specialist neither, but I would want to say : Yes more shading should be tested and you can learn a lot from this.
I used a computer to artificially show the effect of more shading. This proves that you are really very good, and in relative values your shading is very exact. But please don't be shy!
(I took the liberty to add more contrast on your drawing, just for a comment. Forgive me if I offend you)

Thanks so much for the advice! I did use a grid and I did convert my picture into greyscale. My teachers are always telling me to be "bold" and go darker and now other people are too! I will absolutely try to go darker next time. The stubble, now that I look at it, is almost non-existant! Thanks for pointing it out! I don't care if you use the picture, its a great shot. Thanks again for the advice!

Thanks for the image! It looks 100% better! I will try to be bolder in my shading next time. Thanks for the advice!

Hello again! Here is a portrait I did of actress Emmy Rossum. I used a grid but did not convert my picture to greyscale. I liked how the hair came out ( I have always been afraid of drawing it), but I am dissapointed overall about the contrast. I should have gone darker!

Portrait of Daniel Radcliffe (as Harry Potter if you couldn't tell xD).
I'm hoping for critiques on this, especially the hair given that I compeltely fluffed it lol

Here's a "comission" I did for a friend. He wanted to offer his girlfriend a portrait for last Xmas and I obliged.
He was very pleased with the result, and so was she apparently. But I know I could work on some points, though I can't tell which. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

vincent price

Wonderful! I just have no idea how you imagine colors like that.

I do a lot of experimenting.

Great work on Vincent Price, Rsine.

Thanks. I used NO black when drawing the piece.

yes I remember you told me about how you draw in reverse like .....you know what colors are what when they are reversed ...I did one not as well as yours but it turned out bvery cool .

This wasen't one of those drawings I inverted on the computer. It was just a normal drawing in which I chose not to use any black.

I very much like it; For the amount of lines given, there is an amazing amount of art in it!

the 1st 2 drawings were made using pencils only and on the third one i used a dip pen and ink

I really wanted the colors to stand out in this one.