Vignette for your thoughts-my first post here

Lisa Ober · 03-02-2005, 02:27 AM

Hello to all you talented artists! This is my very first post here of my work. I am nervous and intimidated by all the wonderful portraits here. I guess I should look forward to a good cry once I hear your thoughts but hey, that will motivate me to improve and I need a good cry. I'm joking about the crying. I won't weep uncontrollably. It'll probably be just tear or two.

I am looking forward to your thoughts even though I will not be able to follow up on your suggestions on this one as it has already been presented to my client. I will however, do my best to apply what I learn to my next commission so catch me now before I make a mistake on it.

This is a pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord. I really like the texture it provides. I used a combination of Nu-Pastels, Rembrandt's and a variety of pastel pencils. I worked mainly from my own relatively inadequate photo which is something else I plan to improve from browsing this site. I have cropped in a bit on the image because of an annoying shadow that crept in. The board size was 16" X 20". From the top of the head to the bottom of the chin was between 6 1/2" and 7". I have had difficulty photographing my work. The color isn't perfectly represented but as close as I seem to be able to get.

Thank you in advance for your input and suggestions. I look forward to applying what I learn here.

Mary Sparrow · 03-02-2005, 08:14 AM

Lisa, I don't know what you are so worried about, your work is beautiful. I'm no good at critiques, especially without a resource photo, so I will leave that to the others. But I wanted to comment, I'd like to know what you did to get that hair? It must have been with pencils, I have been using bigger sticks and get frustrated with the inability to capture fine detail. Nice job.

Terri Ficenec · 03-02-2005, 08:58 AM

Hi Lisa--
This is beautiful. I thought it was the reference photo until looking closer. The only thing that strikes me is on our left, where the hair overlaps the ear, that transition looks a abrupt, you might soften it a little--- or make it a little less straight? This is very much of a nitpick.

See... this isn't so hard

Jimmie Arroyo · 03-02-2005, 09:41 AM

I think it's a fantastic job also. Great handling of the freckles. Hope to see more of your work soon, and welcome to the forum.

Lisa Ober · 03-02-2005, 03:05 PM

Mary, it's good to see you too! Thank you for your kindness. For the hair I used the broken sharper edges of my Nu-Pastels. I found they are very good for sharper lines and are softer than the pencils. That makes it easier to layer them on top of the Rembrandt's.

Terri, I have been admiring your work. I love your recent one of the boy with the pinecones. Thank you for the suggestion on the hair. I think you are right. One of my problems is in adjusting my reference or veering from it in any way. It's hard to me to look at is with fresh eyes. Yes, so far the tissues aren't out. Thanks for being gentle.

Jimmie, thank you for your compliments. Freckles are fun to paint and draw. It always amazes me how important it is to get the true pattern of them on someone with lots of freckles. It actually changes the likeness if they are off. Thank you again for your observations as well as the warm welcome.

Thank you all for being gentle and for taking your time to look.

Kimberly Dow · 03-02-2005, 03:57 PM

It's just beautiful! Welcome to the forum.

David Draime · 03-02-2005, 04:22 PM

Ditto to what everyone has said and welcome!! Beautiful job and I'm sure the client(s) will be delighted. You have an expert command of the medium. The only thing I see which needs attention might be the reflected light in his lower left (our right) cheek. It seems a tad light and perhaps a bit too blue ( the blue part could just be my monitor). Really, only kind of a nit-picky thing.

But. wow! you sure do have some skills!! I can't wait to see every piece you post from now on..

Ngaire Winwood · 03-02-2005, 07:54 PM

Great Eyes Lisa, I love it.

Garth Herrick · 03-02-2005, 07:59 PM

Dear Lisa,

Ditto! Ditto! This is impressive and beautiful. One can just tell that the likeness is dead-on, by the credible workmanship. Please show us some more!

Oh, and Welcome!

Garth

Lisa Ober · 03-03-2005, 01:03 AM

Well you all have made my day and calmed my nerves about posting here. Whew! I was scared to death.

Thank you Garth for you kind comments.

Ngaire, thank you as well. I love painting eyes. I wish I could do portaits of only eyes. Hey, that's a thought. Maybe I will try that! I can call them GUESS WHO portraits.

David, I really appreciate your comments. You just might be right though I looked at a few of the other photos I took of the portrait and that light area seems a bit more consistent in some of the other photos. I had to use a flash to get the background color right. Maybe that intensified it. My other photos were blurry but had better color. I have GOT to learn to take better photos. I am going to watch what you said in the future for sure. I also noticed that the color in the one I posted is a bit cooler (especially the shadows) and a tiny bit more red than the original. It is so hard to get accurate color in photos. Maybe it's just me but I would love to blame my camera. Thank you for paying such close attention.

Kimberly, I love your work and I think we have crossed paths before. Thank you for the compliment. It means a lot to me.

Thanks again to all of you.