Three in charcoal
 

This portrait is approximately 10" x 12", charcoal. I am posting it as finished since it has already been sprayed with a fixative - although I do appreciate any advice I can use in the future. (plus, I might still be able to tweak this one a bit) I have so much to learn...

As for a self-critique, the older boy seems a bit pasty looking, maybe due to over-modeling? There is a line in his shirt I would like to remove. Also, I should have enlarged my daughter's eyes a bit. The picture was taken outside, and I couldn't believe how the kids cooperated! They are, of course, my inspiration.

Thanks for looking.
Andrea

Beautiful work. Very painterly.

:thumbsup: << that's a thumb's up... :thumbside << and this is a pat on the back.

Andrea,

An artful execution, all three very believable.

Andrea,
This is a beautiful portrait. All three look great which is a feat in itself, I'm sure. What paper did you use? Did you use charcoal pencils? I usually work in graphite but am tempted to do my next portrait in charcoal pencils. You seem to have good control over the medium, which I find is very difficult to do.

Adorable children, by the way!!!

Andrea, they will be fighting over this in thirty years or so. Beautiful job!

Love it! Great job.

That's a good point. Better draw two more :)

Jeff, Mike, Patricia, Linda, and Mary,

Wow! Thank you all so much for your kind remarks. My heart did cartwheels when I read such nice words from such talented artists. I'm just coming off a complete failure and was wondering how on earth I thought I could do this. Maybe there is still a glimmer of hope... The photo I used as a reference was intended for our Christmas card this year, but I ended up drawing a portrait for the card instead. The feedback was very positive.

Again, thank you so much.

Patricia,

I just went to the art store today to figure out what paper I had used for this. It was Canson Colorline - and I did use charcoal pencils. I hesitate to recommend anything since I am so inexperienced and haven't tried many different papers yet. This was only my second portrait since I put my pencils down over ten years ago. I will say, however, that this portrait seemed more effortless then my more recent attempts which could be due to the paper. I feel much more comfortable with graphite as well, but became so frustrated with the inability to do dark enough that I decided to give charcoal a try. I actually cheated and started with graphite on the lighter areas, then used charcoal for the darker areas and somehow merged the two.

Your latest portrait of your son's friend, along with Jimmie Arroyo's work has inspired me to try using toned paper with white pastel highlights. I can't wait!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Two Thumbs WAY UP!!

I hear you! I put my pencils down for almost thirty years. But there was never a time that I did not want to be doing art, dreaming of doing it, but unable to pick up a pencil. It is a long story. But the happy ending is that I started up four years ago and there has been nothing but joy in drawing again and great hopes for painting soon!!! The first portrait I did after so many years seemed to draw itself, like some kind of magic. I was amazed at what came out. I may post it for you if I have it here.

Anyways, I can see from this drawing that you are going to soar and I am sure you will get great encouragement from the professionals on this site. So glad you are here on the forum. You will love it.

Glad to "meet" another graphite/charcoal artist. There are so few of us here!!! I look forward to more of your drawings.

David and Patricia - Many thanks for the kind remarks. I am incredibly flattered.

Andrea,
This came out incredible. Congratualtions. This is already an improvement from your first 'Maddie' post. I'm kinda jealous, my charcoal's still stink. Gotta keep going. ;)

Jimmie - I doubt you could produce anything that stinks! Okay - here lies my frustration. The post that you commented on was done AFTER this one. I am going backwards!

Uggg, I knew I was sticking my foot in my mouth. Then you must have had a better reference for the 3 kids, or the contrast in 'Maddie' may have made you nervous. High contrast always has me thinking, "how dark is too dark" or the other way around with the lights. Anyway, you certainly have the potential to produce great work.