Portrait of daughter
 

Hi, this was done on canson paper with NuPastels, Rembrandts, and Schminckes.

Jimmie, I like your work. Striking and well drawn, keep it coming. I've just started using pastels, but it looks like you've used them a lot. Didn't I read in your bio that you're an illustrator?

Tammy

Thank you
 

Thanks for the commments. Actually, I've been doing pastels for about a year, but I've only had the chance to do about 6 finished pieces. I had been airbrushing for over 15 years, and 1) got tired of it; 2) not well respected in art world; and 3) horrible on the lungs. After viewing works in pastel, I decided I wanted to make it my medium. I fell in love with the textures and the many different looks pastels can achieve. Just wish I had more time to use them, but I gotta pay them bills and tattooing pays very well. Anyways, thanks again!

Dear Jimmie,

Your daughter is just beautiful. I enjoyed reading your introduction, and I can see how very well your "day" job has contributed to your fine art work. I think that pastel is a natural path from airbrushing; and the planning and precision required for tatooing, I'm sure, are excellent skills to apply to portrait painting.

The one observation I have is that it appears that you are using flash photographs for your source material. Your drawing skills are very strong, as is your use of value in modeling a three-dimensional image, yet I think that you could go so much further with really great source photos. There is a great deal of information here on photographing subjects, not only the threads located here:
http://forum.portraitartist.com/foru...?s=&forumid=47
but many of the posts by Forum members like Mike McCarty, Karin Wells, and many others.

Welcome to the Forum; it will be exciting to see more of your work.

Kindest regards,

Jimmie,

Your daughter is beautiful, and you have captured her face is such a lovely way. I personally think the background is distracting because it is so close to the shape and value of her hair. When I drew my oldest daughter (17), she said "It looks like I have an attitude"..."Your point?" I asked. ;)

Thanks
 

Thank you for the compliments and advice. I understand what you mean about the background. It made me go back and look at the original. It's not that bad in the painting, and the dress doesn't go right into the piano as it may appear, but some adjustment will definitely help. I'm going to lighten the background a bit and work on her dress to improve the contrast. As far as the attitude, for some reason, I feel my daughter looks better when she's not smiling. She's the most beautiful after she's done crying. Her big eyes sparkle! Thanks again.

An earlier comment by Chris Saper: the photo I worked from was a Sears studio picture. I greatly understand the need for better lighting. I took my own pictures when I did illustration, using a basic lighting kit, but it really made a difference. The only pastel portraits I've done were kinda practice pieces (I do still try my best) and I didn't take any of the pics myself. Once I get some time to pursue the portraits more, I'll have the chance to work on the lighting. The comments and critiques are truly appreciated. Thank you.

Pastel 101
 

Jimmie, you have a great handle on the tonal sequences of the skin tones. I agree with the other comments on the backgrounds. One caveat, watch the hard line on the jaw. It seperates the head too sharply from the neck. Many artists, even well known professionals, have fallen into this trap.

I, like yourself, was an airbrush illustrator before I went back into fine arts. I have a site here. I personally like the fact that your daughter is not smiling. The emphasis is where it should be, on her beautiful eyes. In my business I refuse to do any smiles, except maybe an occasional hint of one. If you note the great portraits of the past, very few are smiling. It takes great deftness not to make them syrupy, and it can detract from the mystery of a piece. Check out the post I sent to Geri Comicz. It is my basic primer of how to start doing pastel portraits. I just taught myself to do them 3 years ago and I am now exhibiting them in Boston on Newbury Street.

Good point about the chin, I usually have a tendency to do this with my work and rarely realize it myself. I read your other post and found useful advice. I already own the 'Erica' tape and recently bought the 'Jim' tape, in which he gets more detailed about the overall process. I'm picking up pastels little by little. I would like to eventually buy a full set of either Girault or Unisons, but I can't spend that type of money right now. I use Canson paper, but I also use Wallis for more personal work (I've only done one piece on Wallis so far) - but it is great paper. Thank you for the advice.

Unisons
 

You can get the Unisons from Cornelissens in the UK much much cheaper that here in the US.They sell their 18 color sets for $48 inc. shipping.They are great pastels.The cheapest you can get them here is at Jerry's for about $62 + shipping.

http://www.cornelissen.co.uk
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