Have never had critique...
 

Hello,

I have never had a critique of any of my work. I've never met anyone around here that does portrait work...except in Savannah. I met John H. Sanden at a seminar and got so nervous I hid my portfolio behind my back. I would like to know where I stand in the group. This is Brandy. I did this exactly a year ago and have learned more than I knew then. I've dabbled with art in the past, but have taken portraits very seriously for the last 5 years. Looking for another jump in technique.

Thanks,
Morris Darby

I'm impressed and think that you have a lot of talent. You clearly defined light and shadow and I can't tell you how very important it is for any serious artist to understand this. Have you worked in other mediums too?

Other mediums
 

Hi Karin,

Thanks so much....I stressed over anyone looking at my work, but I didn't think it would be someone as good as you. Yes, I use pastels and enjoy them. My drawing skills are maintained with that medium also, however, when I work with oils my attention is turned to color concerns and the drawing suffers a bit. I've been so used to the 2 hour charcoal study that when I get my oil and canvas set up, I tend to rush through it.

Way back when...drawing with charcoal or pencil was the most fun for me. Then one day it occurred to me that painting was really as simple as "drawing" with a brush. Here is the actual painting where this "clicked" for me years ago....it is a copy after Ingres...(sorry for the poor digital pix)...

Seriously, if you ever wish to make the transition from feeling comfortable with drawing to feeling comfortable with oil painting....I suggest starting with a limited palette so that color doesn't confuse you. I started with a toned canvas and "drew" (painted) with raw umber thinned with Liquin and added some titanium white at the end.

Because you draw so well and understand the importance of a single source of light, I'd be surprised if you didn't do well with this starter method into oils. I painted like this for quite awhile until I got comfortable with color and thicker paint and found it was a dandy way to begin an underpainting a la the Old Masters.

And I still get nervous when I show my work to anyone. Although I hope I get over it someday (the sooner the better), but I'm not gonna let it stop me ;)

A lot of visitors will empathize with your concern about "where you stand in the group", and though it's easier to mouth platitudes than to internalize them, the fact is, you stand on your own two feet, not on the back of anyone else, not in anyone's shadow. Critiques are merely observations -- sometimes perceptive and helpful, and yes, sometimes impulsive and judgmental -- that you can choose to adopt as a barometer of ability and self-worth, or accept as information that may be useful (whether it leads to changes in the work or, after reflection, counsels you to leave the work as is.)

My non-painting wife has the incredibly annoying habit of taking a quick look at a piece that I've worked days or perhaps weeks on, and without any prefatory remarks about my obvious genius of composition or masterly execution, saying something like, "Are you still working on it, or . . .?" [at which time I say yes, even if I had theretofore considered the piece all but finished], and then she says, "Well, that thing in the background looks like it's sitting on the table instead of hanging on the wall" or "Is that supposed to be . . . no . . . is that grass?"

There was a time when I'd transform those comments into little darts, which I with open arms would permit to enter me between ribs to prove my incompetence. No more. Though I'm perhaps not yet always gracious enough to immediately thank her for her observations, I often do, as soon as she's gone, soften the edges and lower the tone of that background object, to push it off the table, and I add detail to the foreground of the grassy area and let the optics of aerial perspective mute the distant field. And then you know what I do? I take FULL CREDIT for the result!!! -- and I do so because I considered the information I was given, analyzed my work in light of it, made deliberate decisions about how to address the "problem", and resolved it. It's not only a great way to learn, it's the ONLY way to learn. So try very hard never to fear the necessarily biased (we all see through unique eyes), sometimes inartfully expressed, and yet sometimes dead-on observations of others.

I think you have a very nice drawing here, one that I immediately thought must capture some essential quality of the subject. I felt like I would know this person if I saw her in real life. The parts of the drawing that might need some reassessment are things that come from experience, from drawing dozens or hundreds of head studies, hand studies, and so on. I've found that one of the most useful guages in drawing is carefully comparing reference points. A couple of examples: if I'm satisfied that the left shoulder meets the neck at the correct height (from the viewer's perspective), does something seem amiss at the other shoulder's being so much higher? And if in this not-quite-3/4 view, the center of the chin is to the right of center, wouldn't the center of the lips be also, and wouldn't the tip of the nose be even slightly to the right of that? [I hasten to add that I don't know the answers, because I'm not looking at the subject.] And from the side of the skull adjacent to the eye on the right, is the upper corner of the forehead above, or to the left of that point? (Cover up a sliver of the right side of the forehead with your finger, so that the skull is more "rounded", and see the effect.)

Comparing those reference points to each other, and to horizontal and vertical plumb lines, will very quickly ratchet up the realistic accuracy in your drawings and your paintings.