Formal
 

I was excited to do a pastel, and put my brushes down for a while. So I took one of the references most everyone liked, to play with, from my "First Formal" thread in resource photo critiques.

Please note this is in progress, and is not finished. Comments are welcome and I thought it would be interesting to get opinions of the roughed in gloves and the "whiteness" leading to how they work with a three-value composition.

I would consider this a figurative piece as opposed to a portrait.

Thanks,
Beth

24 x 14.5 inches, on Wallis paper.

I know those flowers need a lot of work.

Here is the close-up.

This is the reference photo plus added extras and explainations.

This is the progress I ended up making today.

I have tried to recreate the white in the art as an example with Photoshop along the (our) left edge. I think it is important to try and get the color reproduced correctly with this one, but I am not sure I have.

This is the close up, which I lightened a bit with "curves".

The best suggestion I have for improvement is to work on the likeness in the face. I think most of the areas look pretty good as is, but when you put the photo and the painting side by side like that you can see some glaring differences in the face.

In the photo, her face is a bit longer. That is, the distance from chin to hairline is longer in the photo, whereas the distance from hairline to top of hair is shorter in the photo. But of course it's not as simple as raising the hairline, because that just gives her a longer forehead which isn't the answer either. I don't know if you want to get into messing around with the facial features or not, but that's the best suggestion I can make.

Overall it looks very nice. And as you pointed out, it's more a figurative piece than a portrait, so perhaps you're not too concerned with getting an exact likeness.

I'd call the painting "White Gloves" since they still do stand out so much.

I'd downplay the way the fabric bunches up near the hip on the left side of the photo. It's confusing and detracts from the form underneath.

(A word on the likeness: her face in the photo is much wider across the jaw, in addition to being much longer, as was pointed out in the previous post.)

Here is the latest with the suggestions above.

Thank you all for your input!

Here is the close-up.

The right underside of her chin (on our right) is too large and full. This is mostly due to having too much reflected light there. The reflected light on the underside of her jaw nearest the viewer has been painted as too large an area, too bright and too cool in color. It is also in the wrong position and needs to be moved up and left a bit. Those changes will help you with the symmetry of the face.

Also, her face is too wide across the cheekbones. You've chosen to emphasize the cheekbones more than is really shown in the photo of your daughter (which she might approve of) but it harms the likeness.

A little bit of help
 

Beth,

A few notes: Your initial drawing had better color, but her left eye seemed too small, the light under her chin also on her left seemed too light. There were also problems in the drawing of the jaw. I liked the looseness of your handling and command of pastel tones.

Beth, I will spend a week to two weeks just on a head, problem areas for me, chins, foreheads and noses. You did a great job on her nose.

Get a proportion wheel, they are a great help when you get into trouble with the drawing. If your nose length is 2" long in your photo, it will tell you how how long to make it in the picture.

I found the best dark cool red is Schminke's Quinacridone violet, one of their new dunkeltones. It would work great as the base of her dress and the background.

Hope this helps,

Oh Sharon,

I swear I have come to believe there is an illness that is consuming my body. I think I will refer to it as Proportional Dyslexia!

I am attaching a jpeg of my collection of "tools" for double checking my work. In a discussion with Bill Whitaker one day, he told me I suffer from a very common normality (by this I mean very normal) which I believe he called

This might not be the right area for this image, but I thought it would make sense.

This is another study I am doing from this series, but it is oil on linen, 9x12. I have never worked this small before. I was really intimidated by my proportional challenges when the face is one inch tall. But I have had a wonderful time doing this piece.

Please note it is still in progress. ;)

This is a close up of the face. It feels like the features at this size are the power of suggestion, and the value/temperature really play an important role at this size.

It is easier to get the colors richer with oil vs. pastels.

What a lovely piece - great color and composition!

As far as suggestions: watch the alignment of the eyes and the symmetry of the mouth. (I know, it's tough to do that when the features are just a few millimeters long!)

Glad you did this one
 

I liked this pose too. Having worked tiny, you have my respect. (It's murder.) Nice job.

Jean

Thanks Michele and Jean,

I spent the day finishing up (I think) the small oil, so I'll post it in Unveilings.

Back to the pastel in the a.m.

One more thing: really play down those nostrils, in size and lightness.

I wanted to post my progress on the pastel here. (I have also posted an updated version of the oil with changes in Unveilings.)

Thank you to everyone for your input and also Tom and Peggy. This has become a very good learning tool for values.

Here is the close-up of the face.

Very nice color on the gloves and face. The symmetry of the face is much better and the nostrils are toned down and warmer now.

You and your daughter must love this one!

Hello Elizabeth,

I like the restrained colors of your pastel (and oil)...indeed some proportion problems, however it will be avoided in the future if you practice more from life drawing...to draw after a photo very often is a "piege" even for professionals...life drawing gives you always a solution, meanwhile a photo will oblige you to follow the "rules".

My advice to you would be for a while forget about computers, photos, rulers and concentrate on drawings after live models...in the beginning it will be harder but later on the effects will be more interesting!

Best regards,
Sergio