Critique?
 

Here is my first portrait of my husband. You may recognize him from this forum. Please critique.

First portrait? Not bad. Your lighting is good and you tackled the hands like a pro! I most especially like his eyes.

It really would help me to know what size this is and all the materials you used.

Karin,

Thanks for your comments. I painted the portrait with oils on a 20x20 canvas. I had a bit of trouble with the shirt and body as I had to modify the original photo angle.

Oils? Hmmmm....it is tough to see but from here it looks like you didn't use enough paint on the shirt and in the background.

At least in the bottom layer(s), your paint should be thick, buttery and really cover the canvas...just like a large and overgenerous glob of mayonaise covering a slice of bread.

Another clue that you don't have enough paint on your brush is that your brush makes a lot of scrubbing sounds. I had a teacher once who insisted that we all "paint with a quiet brush." (This means you must use a lot of paint).

A lot of beginners don't put enough paint on their palette because they are afraid to "waste" it. However there is no need to fear this as there is a dandy post on this forum that deals with saving paint. http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...save+and+paint

Dear Cathy,

You should be very excited about this first portrait, and be energized about your next one!

My few comments relate briefly to several elements of your painting:

Drawing. Your drawing skills look to be strong; I am very impressed with your willingness to dive in and render the hands...very nicely, too. With regard to Dean's head, it looks to me like the top half of his head may be a little short. With an adult looking straight at the viewer, the eyes (by eyes, I mean the caruncles-or as Harley Brown is wont to say, "The PINK things!") are invariably halfway on the skull. It's a little hard to see as Dean's chin is hidden a bit, but it would be a measurement to perhaps check.

Design. The negative spaces, right and left, are nearly mirror images..by altering the shape and/or volume of one you can lend a sense of movement to the composition. I personally love a square format, although I find that I do need to spend extra up-front design time to consider movement in a format that is by its nature somewhat static. My guess is that this is mainly a function of the source phtoograph you have used.

Color. You have a nice analogous color scheme going...you could push the temperature shift between light and shadow a little more to create more depth. I think that by using complements in the shadow and light you can accomplish much dimension, even when, as it appears, that your source photo doesn't offer a lot of value shift between light and shadow. The gray background, on my monitor, looks a little cold, as it if it is a black/white or Payne's gray. You can get a beautiful lush neutral with your blue and its complement. (What colors do you have on your palette?)

Kindest regards, Chris

Wonderful first portrait of your husband! Aren't they patient with us???

Valuable comments.

Chris,

Thanks so much for the constructive advise. I changed the angle of the portrait from the original photograph and didn't make the subtle adjustments to make the image "correct". I originally had a pastel blue background but went with the gray-tones to bring out the strength and masculinity of the subject rather than a soft portrayal. The actual painting is overall toned a bit darker than how it appears on the forum. Thanks for your input! I look forward to my next portrait. Cathy.:sunnysmil

Cathy,

Excellent start for your first portrait but who is that handsome devil in that painting?