Rachael

[mcassatt]

Comments and critiques welcome. This is 18x24,oil. Looking forward to hearing from you.

[carolkay]

Hi grace--

since you asked for coments,, the ea rdoes not look correct, and there would not be a hard line where the jaw joins the neck. The leye on our left seems a tad large.

Much study of anatomy and the scull is a great learning process,

Hope this helps.

[tintero]

How about one more layer??? softening the jaw line and trying to use the same range of skin colors, because right now the colors of the face are totally different to those used on the arms (probably the shade of the hat?) and your background looks somewhat thin. how about use a rich loaded brush to cover the background?
It is not a bad painting, it just need some details.

[mcassatt]

Thank you both for your c&c's.

[ArtistOz]

Spend more time looking at your subject and more time painting what you see, learn as much about the human form and clothing and look at painting techniques that appeal to you. It takes years so be prepared.

I like the hat the figure has potential. If you follow through with the edge of the hat around behind the head to the other side you will see where it lines up. Now if you do the same with the near shoulder draw through the neck to the other side you see where to fix the dropped far shoulder. I can draw on your painting if you want a clearer picture.

[mcassatt]

That would be great Bill, you are right, I'll change that. I'm not sure about the jaw line because I want to keep her face advancing and it may fall flat if I change. I have to look at ref. ear, that may need remodeling as was said earlier.
I'd like to work on lost and found edges, but I'm not sure how to go about it w/her. Any ideas. I may try some things, see if they work.

[wandathefish]

Hey, this is good beginning, as for edges, if you squint at your source and fine places where the edge between adjacent edges disappears, that might be a place to soften or lose and edge.

[mcassatt]

More squinting, thanks Wanda.

[mcassatt]

made some more changes:

[kevinwueste]

Hi Grace, would you mind posting your ref ? I can give you lots of feedback but I want to see the shadows!

Mostly, what I see are minor drawing issues ( facial features, shapes etc.,) and values getting sorted out.

-Kevin

[mcassatt]

I wouldn't mind at all. I was playing around this am on lost/found edges. I'll post that too.

[mcassatt]

Ok. This is it(last one,cann't stop). I worked on her eyes some more, shadowed her inner arm.

[kirants]

Good one! You learn fast. I see that you improved on a lot of areas folks commented on, like the softened jaw line, and work on the edges.

[mcassatt]

Thank you, Kiran. I've been told that I do everything that's critiqued but not true. I listen to each and every one only change what I agree w/after thinking about it first. The jaw line I was unsure of because I was taught it needs to be hard edged and really dark to bring the face forward. But, I'm not one to be afraid of trying things, if I think there's a chance of making it better.(sorry for being long winded on this).
Good of you to take the time to view/comments.

[kirants]

Originally Posted by mcassatt

The jaw line I was unsure of because I was taught it needs to be hard edged and really dark to bring the face forward.

I wonder why you were told so. One of the things I have to keep reminding myself is something that Kevin(Wueste) here on the forums keeps reminding us all i.e. the forms are always turning, towards light or away from light ( w.r.t human form). Human form is not made of hard edged box like strucutres. So, given that, it is hard to conceive of a situation where an edge would be hard. Cast shadows can have hard edges, but the forms themselves are always turning and twisting gracefully , and rarely ever abruptly. Given that, even in something that looks as jetting forward, like a jaw line, there is always the aspect of the transition being smooth as the edge curves inwards into the neck. If it is hard edged, it looks like a flat picture of a face stuck at an offset, something like how it would look when a page of a calendar is slightly turn up against the one behind it. Make sense ?

In the latest update, I see that you softened the transition of the jawline near the ear, which is cool. You need a subtle curving towards the bottom indication for the front portions too i.e. below the chin. I hope am not giving wrong information here, so experiences folks correct me if am wrong.