Wedding present
 

Sharing a wedding present I did for a relative - the young man is my nephew. I was there for a short while before the wedding, and did a pencil portrait of them as a gift. There is more detail in the shading than I can show with my low pixel camera, but it gives the general idea.

The young lady wears her hair like this all the time, wasn't thrilled with posing (shy) and didn't have any clothes other than t-shirts and her wedding dress and preferred informallity.

The signature is placed in an odd location to cover up a stain. I had to borrow a pencil to use its eraser, and it was OLD and left a dark pink line. Got rid of most of it, but needed to cover up somehow. Lesson learned: NEVER NEVER use someone's supplies without checking first!

They must love this Julie! It's great!

Thanks. I see some values in his right cheek that I could have toned down. And on the girl's left side, her hairline could have curved more. Doncha hate it - when something is not quite right and you can't go back and fix it?

But, seriously, this is up for critique, so feel free ....

It's a lovely drawing Julie.

I'm only not sure about his eyes, I don't know if they are following the same line.

it's something very subtle, maybe a camera distortion, or some shadows...

Thanks Pat and Claudemir -

Claudemir, thanks for your helpful comments. I had to laugh - that "eye thing" has happened before to me with other pieces I've done. I have been trying to pay special attention to it, as one of my personal idiosyncracies to look out for.

I wish I could go back to the original and check it, but it is now in New Jersey and I am back in Georgia.

In this case I think the problem may be a result of the quality of the photo . I was really frustrated: I couldn't seem to manipulate the art in Photoshop to show a value difference between the pupil and the iris in his right eye. Without that visual information, the eye does look off. I had to up the contrast and brightness on this shot, which took out some subtle value differences. I'm attaching a closeup, but still can't get the contrast correct - maybe it will help some?

Hi Julie,

Yes, this helps, but could you post a close-up from the reference too, it would help a lot.

Closeup as requested
 

Hi Claudemir -

Here it is....boy, there's nothing like seeing it on the web to notice the things that should have been fixed!

Let me know what you see - I am seeing some, but would love to have confirmation. Thanks!

Hi Julie,
The right side (model's right side) of his right eyelash vanishes away in the shadows while his left eyelash is a little thicker than the original.
They are not following the same line, the right eye is larger than it should be. There's also a little area with too much light below his right eyebrow.
Some minor corrections only, the drawing is great!

Hi Julie. If I may, the shaded eye needs more flesh above it to make it smaller. Also the whites of that eye need to be bigger to reduce the size of the iris.

I love the way you have handled the corners of his mouth. He has such a cute smile & you captured it beautifully.

Thanks, Tricia and Claudemir-

I wish I could go back and make these corrections, but the deed is done. Still, it helps to have feedback in order to do better next time.

Your comments hit on the same things I saw, so I feel good. Even though I didn't fix these in time, at least I can see with my own eyes what the problems are and get confirmation of them by you helpful fellow artists.

This was a rush job - it was for my nephew and his bride. Due to time restrictions, I had literally a day and an evening to take pictures and complete it.

With the time constrictions, I believe you've done a very fine job. I'm sure you would've taken the time to double and triple check if allowed, but some of the problems are so minor that it will still be enjoyed for many years to come.

Dittos to Jimmy.
 

This drawing is lovely, and fresh. The larger view looks fresher than does the close up. Overworking is the danger with drawings like this. Critiques are OK for future reference, but I wouldn't change a drawing after it is done. Let the learning pass to the next drawing. Chalk it up to experience. In this case, a good experience.

Lovely Julie, this will certainly be a treasure. I just wonder if the parents will be fighting for it to hang in their homes!

I see some prints in production here!