Nikki W.
 

Graphite with white charcoal highlights on 17x10" light gray Stonehenge.

This went fairly quick, maybe too quick. I got the likeness down first try, no erasing within the first 20 minutes; don't think I've done that since college.

Decided to only put time into the face and hands, hair because it was braided. Really didn't feel the rest of the picture was in need of detail. Opinions on this are welcome. Thanks for looking.

Great work
 

Wow I realy like this drawing .I have seen the others you have done also. How long did this take you to do ?

Thanks for posting it .Rick

Love the hands and the unfinished nature of parts of this. One of my favorite drawings of yours!

Love it Jimmie! :thumbsup:

Jimmie,
I always look at your posts, and this is one of the best I've seen.
The way the rendering of the tones comes together with the not less eloquent line drawing is masterly.
Also the relationship between hands and head is interesting and keeps the eye bouncing from one to the other.
Many many compliments for this powerful work
Ilaria

Thank you for the comments.

This may have taken less than 20 hours, maybe even less than 15. If I were paying attention to the way I work, it would have been less.

I purposely extended her neck because of the angle and simply how nice her neck is; moving down along with the braids. Completely forgetting that I had done this and being that I always measure proportionately with a pencil, I began elongating everything from the neck down. It looked OK in outline, but when I began some refining of the lines, I thought "Man, she looks big." I measured everything back based on her head and there ended up being about a full inch difference to the bottom of her chest, and about 2 inches to the pinkie of her right hand. I did tho decide to keep the arms a bit longer than life, kinda what Ingres used to do.

I gotta admit, I actually like this one also. I think mainly because it worked out the way I had planned before I started. But along the way, I was able to use artistic license and it still worked.

Thanks all again.

Beautiful Jimmie as usual. Love those hands.

Another beautifully designed and drawn piece. I think this one is one of my favorites.

Ditto Sharon,

I think this is one of my favorites too - mood is great - tension in the hands is especially nice. I can almost feel her rubbing them together. I have posted, like 4 times tonight and couldn't leave without posting this Mr. Arroya!

Denise

Jimmie, I keep clicking on this thread and searching for the right words for the quality I like so much about this drawing. I love the gravity and drape of the lines here. You've really captured her attitude in a subtle and masterful drawing.

Thanks guys. Funny that I've gotten such a good response because I went ahead and made changes to it. I felt I had to change her right eyebrow, it was off, oops. Then I played with some of the contrast, defining some parts, like the hands.

I liked the way they looked on my monitor so much, that I made the outline heavier to match what was on screen. When I repost it, it might look too heavy based on contrast, but in person they are the way they looked on screen in the original post.I also added more to the background so she'd stand out more.

I tweeked it a teeny-weeny bit, because my best critic (my wife) said it needed it. It's always good to have an extra pair of eyes. She's usually very honest. She also thinks I'm the best in the world, but she can always find flaws in my work, so it balances out. ;)

I'll try to post the change later tonight or tomorrow. Thanks again everyone.

ps. Denise, it's nice to hear from you; you should'nt stay away for so long.

Here's the newer version after fixing up the stuff I mentioned in the last post. This is also, as far as my monitor is concerned, a much better pic as far as paper color accuracy and contrast.

I really admire your work Jimmie (in fact, I have you linked on my site with a small group of favorite artists that are recommended viewing). The women you draw all seem to have both a hardness and softness about them at the same time. How/where do you find your models?

Just great stuff. I really feel this one is a personal best for you, Jimmie. You're raising the bar for yourself, which should be the priority for every artist. Those hands - :exclamati

I agree with your corrections (or your wife's suggestions, hehe), and I appreciate your diligence in pushing a work to its fullest potential. And I'm glad to see the re-post. The quality is far better - you're right.

You know, you've amassed a pretty sweet 'folio of these contemporary portraits. This is a style and treatment that is all your own; I have not seen anything out there resembling it. Keep pushing it in the face of gallery directors - and believe me - some lucky SOB (who may actually have some foresight) will snap 'em up and sell them faster than you could imagine. None of us here will be the least bit surprised. And we can say, "we knew him when..."

Thanks guys.

Heidi, I sent you a pm,don't know if you got it. The majority of the models I find are clients at the tattoo shop I work at. It helps because they already know I'm an artist, so they don't think it's too wierd as opposed to asking a stranger off the street.

Rob, very kind words, I greatly appreciate the vote of confidence, thanks.