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As I mentioned in my gallery here -- where I posted this work -- I have been searching high and low for constructive critique, and then some. I have submitted the work to DeviantART.com, requesting critique and applying it into groups to help get the word out. I even sent some personal messages to other Deviants asking for their help, as they were advanced in portraiture techniques with the digital medium.

There was one promising artist who was supposed to message me privately with a thorough critique, but she did not. Aside from her brief "critique," the best I had received (which was not helpful at ALL) was as follows:

• some things need to be worked on (like hair) but you're on the right track; building up contrasts is helpful too. keep at it.

This was not the constructive critique I had hoped for, and only told me my weak points in the picture -- hair and contrast -- and did not supply me with any tips or even a link to a tutorial to help me improve. I have spent the major part of my "artistic career" without the proper instruction, relying on on-line tutorials by other artists and my own personal trial-and-error. And I tell you what, an aimless artist is not a happy one!

I just request that you be slightly gentle -- this is my second portrait attempt in all of my 18 years, and the first within 2 years. I am also a visual learner, so some examples to reinforce the critique will also be beneficial (or even something very descriptive).

Hi Carrie,

Well, it's really quite good for only a second attempt. The proportions and placement of (almost) everything seems spot-on. One thing I notice that you did very well is the teeth: you didn't make those "picket fence lines" that many beginners make, but rather just suggested the gums and the shapes of the teeth.

There are some issues with the rendering which I can spell out for you, since you've asked:

1) There are some "unintentional textures" that could be avoided by taking a little more time with rendering large areas. This is most evident in the blanket, where I see some long, arcing strokes, in the background, where I see straight "blend marks" parallel to the edges of the head, all around at different angles, and in the curlicues, where random marks are evident. Pencil artists these days tend to use either "crosshatching" (making many, short, straight, parallel lines) or "circulism" (making many tiny overlapping invisible circles) to do their rendering; both of these are Googleable. Brenda (the owner of this site) favors crosshatching and many of the lessons on this site cover that. You could search circulism in the "General Discussion" forum right on this site and you'll get TONS of hits, including some great demos.

2) It looks like you're not using professional-quality materials. Good drawing paper holds more graphite and allows you to get richer darks, and artist's drawing pencils come in different values which allow you to make very dark marks easily.

3) I see a few outlines. I don't think I have to tell you that nothing in the real world has a dark line around its edges -- there ar only value changes as different surfaces overlap. The outlines on his bicep and around the blanket are distracting, and should be handled by accentuating the shading as the edges of an object turn away from us.

4) One thing that doesn't look to be drawn correctly is the ear. Ears are hard at first, but closer study of your reference would help. It turns out that everyone's ears actually have the same shapes inside; it takes a little practice to understand them, but then it gets much easier.

I hope this helps!

Hi Carrie,

Its often difficult to find honest critiques as few people are willing to give them for fear of upsetting the artist. But there are sites who do. I don't know about Deviant Art, but I don't believe it is a teaching forum, so that may be the problem.

I think you have the makings an a good drawing here. You've chosen a difficult pose to work from as the features as distorted by lying down, but you seem to have got that fairly well in control.

Ernest hit a few points in the drawing that will help you and I'll add my two cents worth also.

First is the lack of values. I can't tell where the light source is coming from as you have no strong shadows which I would expect under the head and arm.

Also there is little shading in the face itself to indicate form. The same with the hair. Hair, no matter what the style, will have areas of light and shade in it to define shape.

From an anatomical perspective, you may like to revisit the length of the head. The forehead may be a little high or it may just be the pose. Also, I don't get any jawline definition. Even with a beard, the jaw line would be visible or an indication of shadow of where it joins the neck. And soften the eye lids. The shape is defined by shading, not hard lines

The hair on the arm concerns me. Its fine if he has hairy arms but you don't need to draw every hair to get an impression of hair. Too much hair and he turns into an animal.

In large areas of shading, its easy to become bored and rush them. That's often a mistake than ruins a drawing. Boring it may be, but necessary to ensure the background is given the same amount of care and attention that the focal point has been given. So look at the folds of the blanket and see shapes within it. Observation is soooooo necessary in drawing to make an effective piece. Look twice, draw once.

You can do this. You have the skills, just take your time, observe carefully and go for it.

Hi Carrie,

I am still learning myself but the points I found have already been pointed out to you. The outlines around the mouth, arms, etc. The values/tones in the face are missing and the ear shape is a bit off. One thing I learn although boring but helpful is to learn the structure of the face and why certain shadows and creases show up in the face.

I agree that the pose is a hard one to draw ..and you have been given good advice from some very respected artist ...with a little work your portrait will be perfect ..it always helps to post the photo of the drawing .

Don't waste your time with deviantart. It's a place that anyone who is actually serious about developing their art should give a wide berth, as the vast majority of people posting their are talentless hacks who are only interested in strutting about, posting paintovers of photos and having their egos undeservedly inflated by the frenzy of meaningless fanboy fluff that pollutes it like the plague.

Your drawing is not bad for a beginner, so don't be discouraged. With practice, your work will develop and improve. I can't really add much to what has already been said in terms of critique, however I do have one piece of advice: don't necessarily ask people to be "gentle". Remember, a harsh critique is not a critique of you, but of your work, and is generally given in the spirit of helping. Learning to accept harsh critique graciously and constructively is an essential skill that every artist needs to learn.