Hi....

First of all - a big warm thank you to Brenda for creating such a great site, providing guidance, and inspiration.
I started drawing this weekend, straight with the portrait lessons. Jammie was the first, and then I have drawn a portrait of my ma from her youth days. It came out very close to the photograph.

Can you please take a look at the portrait, and comment what and how to improve, what areas do not look natural, etc.

My concern is lips (too accentuated), eye brows as well, not enough shading on the face....

Brenda, if you read this post - could you please create a lesson on how to draw a nose and eyebrows? This would really help in drawing faces.

Thanks to everyone.

ZD.

hello there i like your drawing am only just starting out as an artist



you have one eye bigger then the other and u need to make the nose on one side the same shape as the other size of her nose i hope u understand what i mean am only using on hand to type this as im on the phone i have my mother in law coming soon and shes a very good artist would it be ok if i print ya drawing off and she will mark in pen where it needs improvment

Hi!

Thank you very much for your comment - yes, please print it out and show it to your mother in law. I would be very interested to get feedback from a good artist.

I based my drawing on an old black and white photo, and tried to replicate what I saw. You are right about the eyes - I think my proportion "eyes - nose" is incorrect, nose should be bigger, eyes smaller.

Look forward to hear more from you and your mother in law.

your welcome am just starting out aswell and your drawing is very good better then my portrait stuff its not easy when we are just starting out as artists huh?

how old are you? and how long have you been doing art? hope u dont mind me asking?

Don't mind at all!

I'm 27 - just started this weekend. Have drawn 2 portraits so far - this site was a true inspiration.

wow we are the same i will be 26 years this month and i have only just starting really with in the last few days my mother in law has been doing it for years shes in her 60s

You are lucky to have an artist in the next of keen! My father did a bit of art (wood craft and metal graving) - but that can be noisy and neighbours won't let you do it most of the time

well there are Artists in my blood line all my grandads and great grandads all of the males in the family

but they have died only one grandad left

Wow - just checked your gallery. Loved the ocean - it was always a challenge for me (in fact i never even tried) to draw ocean and white water. Where is the ocean beach - UK?

the Beach is in California usa .



ok here you go i got my artist mother in law to draw over ya drawing in ink with some improvements well she said and i think aswell that your drawimg is very good and that you got the chin and lips and eyes and nose perfect well done take care for now your new friend Ukartist! x

Ah - thank you!
Talk to you soon.

Zorro, I think you've done a very good job on this portrait for someone just starting out. Have you done drawing before? You have a good grasp of the basics here.

Yes the eyes and nose could be tweaked a little to make sure they reflect what you see in the reference image. Its always difficult to comment on a drawing if I can't see the reference. I can only say what immediately jumps out at me from a technical perspective.

A full front on reference is difficult to work with for a couple of reasons. One, its likely a flash photograph so it has little contrast to work with and two, a front face portrait isn't very interesting to the view usually. The classic pose for a portrait is a three quarter view of the head with a lot of good contrasting light, preferably natural light.

But of course that is the ideal and the ideal isn't always available, so you make do with whatever reference that you have.

I would like to see more shading on the face of your subject to bring it to life. Right now its all pretty much the same tone which flattens it. If you can create some shadow you'll find it will look much better.

Keep going with it, you have the basics of good ability here, you simply need practice. Also, if you want work critiqued, you should put it in the Critique Thread at the top of the Forums listing, as that is where people will comment most with input.

Hi Jeanete,

Thank you very much for a detailed response - I have not done any drawing really... Last time I had a pencil in my hand was high school....

You are absolutely right, the contrast was very poor, plus the photo was not very large. I could not make out the differences in values, the face seemed to be white everywhere (I could probably use my imagination and add shading myself).

Will post any further work in the CRITIQUE thread - I'm new to this site, only learning the rules!

Thanks again,
zd.

I agree with Jeanette you have done a great job and when UK motherinlaw penciled in to correct things .. notice the portraits not all marked up .. see only small changes had to take place to perfect it .. awsome job .