Portrait Artist Forum - View Single Post

Steven Sweeney · 03-26-2002, 09:57 PM

Sandy,

My first impression when the image opened was that the head was too big, which you also alluded to regarding the shaping and blending of the hair. It's a tough call without seeing the photo (perhaps you could post that, too), because childrens' heads are often proportionately large just as a developmental characteristic. However, I just printed out a 6x6 copy of the image, and then a 5x5, then pasted the smaller head onto the larger body and I thought the proportions seemed more correct. Have another look at the photo and check this out.

So if the head's too large, what to do? The facial features are rather well done (the irises in the eyes look a bit large, you might double-check that), though you're hampered by the "school photo" absence of shadow shapes in the features and hair that would help describe form. Not much you can do about that. It may well be that some tweaking here and there will give you that 10-15% reduction in the headsize without completely re-doing the head. I do think the hair shape has gotten too wide on the viewer's right, which itself is built on the disproportionate sizes of the sides of the face. (See how considerably farther away the right (viewer's) side of the face is from the centerline of the features, than the left side?)

The distance between the mouth and the bottom of the chin seems quite long to me, and a tiny bit lopsided (the "corner" on the viewer's left is lower than on the other side). If you can take away a bit of that length, it will factor into the overall reduction in size of the head.

Try some of that, and after you're satisfied with the head size, you can reconsider the hand size -- right now the hands look too small in relation to the head.

That knitting together of hair and background can be difficult to accomplish, but before you fuss with that too much, make sure the overall shape of the hair is correct. Paint some of the background colour into the hair shape until that shape is not only the correct size but has some interesting variation in line (rather than a straight fall from the top of the head to the ends of the hair -- even if that's the way it appears in the photo). You can soften the edge a number of ways, most of which will be discovered through experiment, but try making a small zig-zag down the area where the shapes come together and then with a clean brush, lightly pull it down the zig-zag to gently blend the colour. [The paint on both shapes must be wet in order for this to work.] Also, consider a common optical quality where two different value areas meet, that a dark area tends to lighten ever so slightly just as it approaches the light area, and the light area tends to darken ever so slightly just as it approaches the dark area. (This helps create the appearance that one shape is slipping in behind the other, rather than just meeting it and stopping.)

I do think that you would also benefit considerably by getting some more colour into this piece, but I'll leave that to folks with a better eye for that than I have.

No need to feel shy about posting early work. Every artist here has been through the sometimes frustrating work of mastering the fundamentals. But even a three-chord guitarist can sing around the campfire, while beginning to steal licks from others who just have been pickin' longer.

Best wishes,
Steven

03-26-2002, 09:57 PM	#2
Steven Sweeney Juried Member PT 5+ years Joined: Nov 2001 Location: Stillwater, MN Posts: 1,801	Sandy, My first impression when the image opened was that the head was too big, which you also alluded to regarding the shaping and blending of the hair. It's a tough call without seeing the photo (perhaps you could post that, too), because childrens' heads are often proportionately large just as a developmental characteristic. However, I just printed out a 6x6 copy of the image, and then a 5x5, then pasted the smaller head onto the larger body and I thought the proportions seemed more correct. Have another look at the photo and check this out. So if the head's too large, what to do? The facial features are rather well done (the irises in the eyes look a bit large, you might double-check that), though you're hampered by the "school photo" absence of shadow shapes in the features and hair that would help describe form. Not much you can do about that. It may well be that some tweaking here and there will give you that 10-15% reduction in the headsize without completely re-doing the head. I do think the hair shape has gotten too wide on the viewer's right, which itself is built on the disproportionate sizes of the sides of the face. (See how considerably farther away the right (viewer's) side of the face is from the centerline of the features, than the left side?) The distance between the mouth and the bottom of the chin seems quite long to me, and a tiny bit lopsided (the "corner" on the viewer's left is lower than on the other side). If you can take away a bit of that length, it will factor into the overall reduction in size of the head. Try some of that, and after you're satisfied with the head size, you can reconsider the hand size -- right now the hands look too small in relation to the head. That knitting together of hair and background can be difficult to accomplish, but before you fuss with that too much, make sure the overall shape of the hair is correct. Paint some of the background colour into the hair shape until that shape is not only the correct size but has some interesting variation in line (rather than a straight fall from the top of the head to the ends of the hair -- even if that's the way it appears in the photo). You can soften the edge a number of ways, most of which will be discovered through experiment, but try making a small zig-zag down the area where the shapes come together and then with a clean brush, lightly pull it down the zig-zag to gently blend the colour. [The paint on both shapes must be wet in order for this to work.] Also, consider a common optical quality where two different value areas meet, that a dark area tends to lighten ever so slightly just as it approaches the light area, and the light area tends to darken ever so slightly just as it approaches the dark area. (This helps create the appearance that one shape is slipping in behind the other, rather than just meeting it and stopping.) I do think that you would also benefit considerably by getting some more colour into this piece, but I'll leave that to folks with a better eye for that than I have. No need to feel shy about posting early work. Every artist here has been through the sometimes frustrating work of mastering the fundamentals. But even a three-chord guitarist can sing around the campfire, while beginning to steal licks from others who just have been pickin' longer. Best wishes, Steven __________________ Steven Sweeney [email protected] "You must be present to win."