Christiane und Laura

[Eva Alberternst]

Hello, I am new here and would like to present the two portraits I have done until now.
At the first one (Christiane 2011) I tried to copy the photo as exactly as possible. At the second (Laura 2012) I changed the photo in mind in order to make it seem three-dimentional.
Please comment, in hope to improve in doing portraits!

[Eva Alberternst]

sorry, I forgot the images.

[Michele Rushworth]

Nice work, though as you seem to have discovered, it's not about "copying the photo as exactly as possible". We don't want to be just a human version of a photocopy machine.

The one of the younger girl is well done though the harsh shadow cast by the nose is a bit too strong, to my mind, anyway. Also the eyebrow nearest to us should be softened. I find all the folds in her shirt and the large foreground shape of the arm below the sleeve somewhat distracting.

I have some additional concerns about the older woman. Since we want to improve on the photo reference, I would normally soften all the lines around the eyes and mouth, the frown shapes on the forehead, etc. They seem to be over-modeled in any case (too great a range between lights and darks in a small area), even more than what would be seen in a photo. It gives the face a harsh and pinched look. The rendering of the woman's hair might be handled more softly too, especially around the outer edges.

Portrait painting is about creating something unique unto itself, not just copying a photo, and also in posing and lighting the figure to tell something about the person. Working from life will also give you practice with skintones.

Hope that helps!

[Eva Alberternst]

Thank you very much! Your comments are very helpful!!!
In following portraits I will try unify the composition in order to let the face be the center of importance. But I am afraid that then the painting will be very void/empty (I don't know the right word in this context).

I have just visited your website. Your paintings are so fantastic, absolutely fabulous!!! I can't express that in words. The smoothness and harmony in color and composition is so great! I can't remeber to have seen it so well done. I would love to participate at one of your workshops, but be afraid it would be to far away from me. You don't plan to do a workshop in Europe, do you?

[Alexandra Tyng]

Eva,

I agree with Michele's very astute critique. I just want to add a few more thoughts.

In working from photos I think there is often a fear that the likeness won't be good unless every detail is painted exactly and to the nth degree. In actuality, the likeness is captured in the very first stage with accurate "drawing," i.e. proportions of the forms, features, and mapping of the light and shadow areas. If these things are "drawn" accurately, the painting will look like the person right away and you, the artist, can choose to soften and edit details. It often works to paint the contrast in values as much weaker than it appears in the photo (if you are using photo references), then working into it, checking often with a hand mirror or standing back from your work.

The other thing I notice is that your use of color (in the skin tones especially) seems too uniform, and lacking in variation. It would be a good idea for you to take a workshop in painting heads or figures from life, or simply going to open studio sessions in your area on a regular basis. Try to place the color you are seeing where you see it, even if it seems strange at first. It's an eye-opener and a lot of fun.

Alex

[Richard Budig]

I paint fallen soldiers for families, so I do a lot of work from photos since my subjects are no longer here. Working from photos is very difficult for reasons mentioned in the comments, above. One thing that seems to help me is to enlarge the head to around 8 inches (more or less), and place it several feet away. It isn't perfect, but accomplishes some of the things previously mentioned in this thread . . . softens contrast, generalizes. I also scan in the photos from which I'm working and tweak them in Photoshop. It's not perfect by any means, but it helps make it look less photolike.

[Eva Alberternst]

Alexandra, thanks a lot for your valuable comments.

You may be right, that the likness can be captured by a very accurate "drawing" right at the beginning. I am struggling with the likness during the whole painting process. Perhaps its better now to do a lot drawing portraits from life. I have just not enough trained it.

I think varying the skin color will change a lot. Thank you! So, is it right, that the camera, while making a picture, indeed does unify the motiv?

[Eva Alberternst]

Thank you, Richard, for delivering an insight into your working process!