I'm ready to learn
 

Its been a while, but I am back at the easel, practicing with every relative I can find. This is my niece Avery. This is the first time I've tried darker skin tones. I can see that the face is too round or wide. Other suggestions? Thanks
Amy

Hi Amy,

I'm so happy to see your work being posted again on the Forum!

I only have a few minutes this afternoon, but I did want to say a couple of things about your painting. First of all I think you are off to a wonderful start in terms of drawing the head and color mixes in general. Secondly, this is a badly distorted photo - see how big her hands appear? (You need to get further back when you take the photos in the future. There are many posts on the Forum regarding photo distortion.) If I were you I'd crop this painting to eliminate the hands altogether.

If you're going to reshoot I wouldn't select a photo of a child with downturned mouth corners. She doesn't necessarily have to be "happy" but I would settle for serious or pensive instead of a frown or a grimace.

Lastly, the nostril on our left reads as being in the light when in fact it isn't, and you'll need to adjust your values here.

Hi Amy,
I like this painting. You have an unforced style that I find inviting, and I like your painterly brushwork on the clothing. You may be ready to learn, but I don't know that I have anything very useful to teach you. I'll toss in a few comments for what they're worth.

Avery looks a little older in the painting than in the photo; maybe the face proportions (forehead versus lower face) are a little more mature in the painting. It looks like you've changed the lighting on the face from being brightest on the forehead in the reference photo to being brightest on the cheek and upper lip in the painting. This is difficult to invent, as I've learned from sad experience. It's better to photograph the reference with the desired lighting from the beginning. There is a tangency where her pigtail on our right ends even with her collar, it might read a little easier if it extended a little past, as it seems to in the reference. The top of her head might come a little too close to the edge when the painting is framed.

I wanted to mention that looking at her face on the monitor here - the side of the mouth on our left is turned down more in the painting than the photo.

Nice - keep going!

Thanks for all of the input - I agree with all that you have said. It is nice to have fresh eyes looking as you all know. I feel isolated painting by myself without having someone around who specializes in portraits.

Linda, I agree with the photo reference comments. I have been looking into getting a new digital camera that has zoom options better than what I have now. (Mine is one of the first models that came out some years back.) I'll read some in the reference photo and camera section and try some of the suggestiions on my next shoots. It seems that I wait for my kids to get back into school before I can really spend the time I need to on learning. But as I mentioned I'm ready to go now. Thanks for the nice comments too. They are always appreciated.