"Summer" in pastel

Mike McCarty · 03-22-2002, 08:51 AM

This was done with soft pastel on a heavy white paper. The image is 11 x 14. To my eye, Summer falls into the category of, not just beautiful, but a unique beauty. I was intrigued by her chisled face. Any comments or criticisms would be appreciated.

Karin Wells · 03-23-2002, 03:06 PM

This is one of the most interesting heads that I have seen in a long time...maybe it is her direct gaze that I like so much. Good job.

Mike McCarty · 03-27-2002, 01:00 PM

I think there may be a problem with the eyes, not looking to the same place. The one on the right seems a couple of degrees off? She looks so stern and yet she is actually the softest and most gentle person. In retrospect I think I unconsciously posed and painted her in a way that accentuated her unique angular features.

One thing I don't like about pastel is: once you commit to framing the piece you better be finished with it. Once it's buttoned up under glass, without the additional expense of reframing, you have to live with it. You say, Da... if it's not finished why button it up? All I can say is, a painting is finished only when it is out of my site. It's a little maddening to see a flaw and not be able to get your fingers in there. There's a pretty good subject: -when is a painting finished-. I say: there never finished, only abandoned.

Lon Haverly · 03-29-2002, 02:03 AM

Masterfully done, Mike. I see what you mean about the eye, however, it seems to work. Tell me something: which eye did you draw first - the eye on our left or the eye on our right? Do you frame the face before drawing the eyes?

Karin Wells · 03-29-2002, 09:28 AM

I just want to add another comment about the eye...

For starters, some people have eyes that aren't straight and if this sitter is depicted accurately...the pose is rather brilliant.

If there really is something wrong with the placement of the eye...I like it anyhow...as it is without "fixing" it. I can't really explain this, but I don't think that I would like it so much if it were changed.

Steven Sweeney · 03-29-2002, 10:54 AM

A couple cents' worth, since folks are focused on the eyes . . .

What's catching "my eye" is the tiny dark crescent on the viewer's left of the bridge of the nose, just inside the eye on our left. This crescent is doing two things: 1) making it appear that the inside corners of the eyes are at considerably different heights, respectively, and 2) making the bridge of the nose appear to be strongly angled off the centerline of the face, to our right. (That is, I get that feeling that if she turned to look straight at us, the nose would be tilted about 15 degrees to the right as it rose from nostril to brow. Also, it seems odd to be able to see the entire eye on the left, in a 3/4 view, and it seems to me that it's partly caused by this dislocation of the bridge of the nose). When I really squint down enough to make that little dark crescent disappear, everything suddenly looks more correctly situated, without affecting the exotic character of the face that people are finding interesting. Try it, see what you think.

Mike McCarty · 03-29-2002, 10:42 PM

Lon - I'm sorry to say that I don't remember which eye I drew first. As far as framing the face first? I'm really struggling to remember, I never thought about it. I believe that I begin with the eyes after establishing the top/ bottom/sides. Sorry, not much help.

Karin - You will win out in this regard. I no longer have the ability to alter this. Thanks for the kind words.

Steven - I think you may have got it right. I believe that I misinterpreted this dark aspect on the left of the bridge of the nose. You have a keen eye (no dark aspects).

Thank you all, where else can a guy get so much and pay so little?

Lon Haverly · 03-29-2002, 11:12 PM

I have observed that almost without exception: those who draw the eyes first draw the eye on the right, then the eye on the left, covering the eye they just drew, leading to the "crooked eye" syndrome. In any event, this is masterfully done, and I humbly submit this critique to someone who has a great deal of talent. However, check it out. Next time you draw, see if this is your pattern. You can correct this by drawing the eyes after building the framework of the face, (eyebrows, bridge of the nose, etc.) then draw the eye on your left (if you are left handed) and the eye on the right last, checking across more frequently. I learned this from watching my uncle (Renwick Haugland, a professional artist in Seattle) draw portraits. This was his only consistent incurable problem.

Mike McCarty · 03-29-2002, 11:29 PM

That's an interesting theory, I can see the logic. I am going to be attuned to that in the future. And thanks again for the kind words.

Chris Saper · 04-01-2002, 10:36 PM

Hi Lon,

I'm intrigued by the theory, although I think it works just the opposite for right handed pastel painters! As I started out painting in pastel, I learned to start top-down and left to right, so that I minimized the risk of smearing. When I began painting in oil, these habits never changed. And in fact I find it important, at every level of finish, to be able to look back and forth and compare. As I think about it, I probably, at least now in oil, tend to start with whichever eye I feel has stronger "landmarks" - that will help me place it more accurately, or paint it more clearly. Then the first eye becomes the landmark for the second eye.

I might add though that I never draw the eyes to any level of finish without first defining the relationships among all the feature, and then establishing the volume of the forms.

I have done a lot of research into the the left-right read, so this is a topic of great interest (sure to put many non-painters to sleep, no doubt).

Chris