Portait of a Woman - Structured

[kachina]

MY IMAGE(S):







GENERAL INFORMATION:
Title: Portait of a Woman - Structured
Year Created:
Medium: Pencil
Surface: Paper
Dimension: 8 x 11
Allow digital alterations?: Yes!

MY COMMENTS:
This is a drawing of my friend that I want to give to her as a gift. It's my first complete piece in quite a while (over a year). I'd love to know what you think!

MY QUESTIONS FOR THE GROUP:
I know that the picture doesn't match the photo.
That doesn't bother me too much.

I am wondering:

how could I improve upon the hair?
are there any features that I need to work on more than the rest? eyes? nose? mouth? ears?
how is my use of shading - too much, too little?
what technical aspect can I practice to get better?
what are my strengths as an artist?

[Erica Shipley]

Sometimes its not about matching the photo but more about capturing the essence of the person and feel of the moment.

I think she is stunning.

For shadows I was taught to squint to the point you cant see details and look at your piece. If you cant see the shadows its to light and if all you see are dark shadows its to dark.

I don't know if your just working her face still or moved on to body but her face is feminine and body is a little masculine. Her right shoulder needs to be softened up some angle wise and her left is to thick. I think the left is a shadow issue that may be helped when/if her chest has more shadows on it.

You changed the angle of her head but in doing so her body would of changed some around the back of her neck. The way her muscles stretch and bones show would of softened probably. I think her back looks a little thick also.

Hair I use very find mechanical pencils with many layers. I work slow and draw in the direction of flow and I try when possible to make strokes length of strands. Its not drawing each hair as it is drawing illusion of hairs. I think the hair looks great and just needs more shadow contrast to show where the light reflects.


Her ear looks mangled but that may be the photo size. Might need cleaner definition unsure at this size. I hate drawing ears mine always turn out funny.



Once your confident where your lines and shadows should be then the shadows need darkened unless they are much darker in life. Pencil can be hard to photograph and may be reflecting light so unsure.

I wish I had friends I could draw like that. You have done amazing so far! Its a great start.

[Andrewcody]

It is a very odd photo pose with her eyes looking at the photographer
The head should be turned towards the photographer or her eyes should be looking away.

I would not overwork the hair now - say this is done, do another

Best suggestion I can make, I agree with Erica regarding capturing the 'essence - hard to do if you don't know the sitter

Regards
Andrew

[goddessofgeek]

The first thing that I noticed was that the eyes were a high (just in general not just based on the photo). And I think that if you added some more shading to the hair the highlighted parts would really stand out and give more of a sense of movement. It's very nice though. Most of the basic shapes are there, but I would work on the shading around the hair and face to give a bit more of a rounded soft appearance. It's very lovely though. Keep at it!

[Andrewcody]

One thing I forgot - I would observe her ear, and correct it.
I am sure she never played Rugby

Regards
Andrew

[Debzy]

Hi Kachina! This is a lovely drawing!
I agree with pretty much all that Erica said.
I would not have changed the tilt of her head, I think the line of her face silhouette is so feminine, and I think you have lost some of that by changing this.
Her chin is not so sharp, and her cheek is not so bulgy on the silhouette side. Her lips are not as pouty as you have drawn them, you have sculptured her hair well but needs softening a lot and her eyebrows are not so thin. Her ear , yes needs reworking and her chin looks double so I would soften that shadow quite a bit. The shadow on the back of her neck could be softened and the curvature of her nose needs to be lengthened slightly and the shadow darkened underneath it. The full eye needs to be slightly bigger. Her hair needs to be higher on top also.
I really like what you have done so far, and I know you are not trying to draw a perfect copy, but if you changed some of these things I think it would improve your work out of sight!!! You have a strength in the fact that you want to capture the essence of the person and have put it out on a limb for others to critique and advise! Your skill with a pencil is evident and you seem to particularly like drawing hair... I think! There is nothing wrong with what you have presented here, but with improvements and more work it could be even better and give the lady the sultry look she posesses. I hope I haven't bombarded you, but when someone asks for structured... I think that is what they want. I haven't done many portraits, in fact only three. A drawing of my daughter, an oil painting of my son (many years ago), and an acrylic of my cat. I am no expert, but I can see these minor things to change in your drawing and would do the same if it were mine. Good luck and keep up the good work. Nice to have you on WC. Cheers =)) Debs.

[henrik]

Just 2c of advice: It is hard enough to capture what you see in front of you with pen and paper. Inventing things that you can not see (in a photo or a live model) is much harder to make realistic.

A common mistake is the eye placement esp in 2/3 turned head and when head is tilted - we think "I am drawing the eyes" and the result is usually "symbols representing eyes". Your drawing of the eyes are pretty good for "invented eyes", but her right eye is not foreshortened (needs to turn away). Eyes are also placed high on the head. Need to see more detail, but it looks like eyes are made up of drawn solid lines.

Priority; portraits typically work best when the eyes are given priority - in real life, we tend to look at the eyes - and in a portrait/drawing you typically want the most contrast/definition to be in the eyes. (Now, the hair plays that role - seems difficult to tone it down).

Not saying this to put you down; set it aside and start another. A very good exercise is to make a blurry copy of the photo in black and white and then draw that. Also turn it upside down or on the side. This helps you draw exactly what you observe (as opposed to an interpretation of what you see; eye, hair, nose, etc.), and also help avoiding hard lines and using darkest darks. It is amazing how much likeness you can capture and with great economy in a short amount of time. Then switch to non blurry photo and finish. Or do another. Do many.

[bruin70]

to my surprise you are generally correct in your divisions.

your problem starts with the width of the eyes.

try triangulating. find a point on the inside of the eye, the corner of the mouth, and either the outside of the eye or where the cheek turns or whatever outside point you choose. the three points create a triangle...use that to adjust your major proportions.

HOW YA DOING, HENRIK. you still here. just came by to say hi to the old old gang.

[bruin70]

i reshaped some areas including the eye.

btw, her shadow on her cheek is as i have circled in blue. it is best to view her face as that which is in light and that which is in shadow. that part of the cheek is in shadow with the lighter area in halftone. you chose to put that lighter area in light and it makes he face fuller

the reflected light under her jaw is unnecessary. it draws too much attention to itself.

did you trace or lucie the face? the face drawing is pretty darn accurate overall and from the neck down, it is not.

[thevaliantx]

You picked a stunningly beautiful subject to draw from.

I'm nowhere near the stage of using triangulation and other proportioning tools, I'm just starting to wade into the territory of understanding what makes an animal an animal, and a human a human, in terms of physical characteristics.

[henrik]

Originally Posted by thevaliantx

I'm nowhere near the stage of using triangulation and other proportioning tools, I'm just starting to wade into the territory of understanding what makes an animal an animal, and a human a human, in terms of physical characteristics.

Good for you, but how does that help kachina? She asked for a structured critique after all

[Black Spot]

You have a nice touch with the pencil, but you need to keep the features in line. I hope my red lines help.

[sonny1]

the 1st thing that struck me was the far eye was a little too high for the angle of the face

also try going heavyer on the shaded parts with a b7 8 or 9 and smudge it to blend with your finger