Please review my second portrait attempt which is in my gallery

http://www.drawspace.com/forums/index.php?...i&img=54986



Ok, looking pretty good. I note that you are putting a light line round the nose on the shadowed side. I'd suggest that this isn't really necessary.

Its important to distinguish between what you know is there - or what you would be able to feel is there, by touch - as against what you can actually see - or in this case, not see.

Don't be afraid not to delineate things in the darks - in fact, often its more effective not to show things - as long as what you do have is not inconsistent with what ought to be there, the viewers will do the work for you!

Also, avoid putting lines round edges - the real world does not have dark lines drawn around the edges of things - what you get in reality is often a step in value - that is, the area on one side of an edge is brighter or darker than the area on the other side.

Also, watch your values in general - the "white" of the eye on the shadowed side will drop as much in value as the adjacent shadowed skin does.

I've made some changes to your drawing in photoshop to illustrate these points:
Click to view attachment

You are going in the right direction, I'm making these suggestions in the hope you find them helpful, please be encouraged, not discouraged



Dave

This was the reference picture if it helps

Interesting that the photoshop changes I made to your drawing swung it more in the direction of the photo. I'd suggest that this is because I'm applying general principles about lighting - basically that (obviously) the surfaces facing the light are most strongly lit, those facing away are in shadow, and those at a glancing almost tangential angle are the halftones (and the rate at which they change from lights to shadows is telling you how tightly curved that surface is)

Here's your original, and the photo-ref:

Click to view attachment

You can do a direct comparison, side by side, like this.

One of the things to look for, is to try to find lines that parallel (or near-parallel) each other, and note the angles they are at:

Click to view attachment

See how there are several sets here?

Dave

Dcorc I would like to thank you for your suggestions and by taking the time to illistrate them in photoshop to show comparison I appreciate that I'm actually glad now that I waited to apply fixative
Thanks

p.s. When I look at the side by side photos I can really tell that I got a long way to making decent portraits lol

That sounds a bit discouraged.

I think that actually you are quite close, its not such a big leap as you think it is.

The key thing is to look at the face as just a set of abstract shapes - if you can break down any face into a set of shapes, and just get the shapes reasonably right, the face "draws itself" (this is equally true for anything else, too ! )

For example - I've reduced the image to just 3 colours here, and simplified the shape:

Click to view attachment

Now, look what happens when I just blur that a bit, to soften the transitions:

Click to view attachment

See how little info is actually needed to get a likeness?


Dave

I think eyes are one of, if not the most important features. You can get everything right, but if you dont capture the eyes correctly then the picture just doesnt look like the person you are drawing.

dcorc - it's fantastic how you explain these 'basic' rules !
I learned a lot from this thread.
Thank you

Hi Johnathon

My suggestion for you is to define his jawline a little more (4 lack of a better way to say it) you have too much cheek. Notice that your cheek is slightly more rounded and your subject photo has a more chiseled jawline. Also notice that his neck on the same side, it seems that there is too much separation between his cheek and neck, try more subtle shading to define those 2 areas. I also noticed your subjects lips are a little wider and not as full, check that out as well. Great job on it... keep it up!

I'm sure you have heard this before but it works wonders... turn your subject picture upside down and also your work. You will see it in a whole new light and you will be able to pinpoint exactly what you need to correct or add.This will help you see what I mean about the fullness of his lips.
Imagine a line starting at the corner of his lips going up to his eyes and use that as a reference to where the corners of his lips need to be( It should be somewhere between the the outside of the iris and his pupil). I use these techniques on every thing that I draw, once you are happy with your changes turn it back the right way and you will see a great improvement.

I hope this helps you and Good luck..... keep up the great work!!

GRID IT OUT bro!! nice stuff though

Jonathon you have made a great start and received some excellent advice here. Don't give up continue to work on it and show us how you go. It's like everything practice, practice, practice and it will start to get easier.

Jacqui