first self portrait in pastel

[April Phillips]

Here's a self-portrait I did from life, one of my first in pastel. There's problems with drawing, form and color that I can't pinpoint. I want to put it in a self portrait show, so any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

[Linda Brandon]

Hi April,

Good for you for drawing a self portrait from life! I really admire that. I'm not an expert in pastel but I do have a few thoughts about this work.

You've set it up so that you don't have a strong shadow pattern to work with on the face. When I squint it looks like there is not much difference in value between the lit side and the shadow side, so you are having to do close modeling using color. It would have been easier to show form if you had a slightly darker value on your shadow.

Another alternative would have been to set this up with not much shadow at all on your face. Lots of portraits are done this way, especially in paintings of women and children - they are set up with less dramatic shadow as well as less shadow area.

You did a nice job foreshortening on the three-quarter face angle, not easy to do. I also like the way you've put the highlights in the hair which helps to show the shape of the head as it faces the light.

I think the eastern nostril looks incomplete. I think if you really model the nose - find the cast shadow, the underplanes of the nose, the warm darkness of the nostrils, the terminator line of the shadow where the nose turns, the color of the nose bulb and the highlight - that does a lot to establish the solidity of the face.

I usually leave out or de-emphasize the neck muscles in women which is I guess an aesthetic decision not shared by everybody.

I hope the show goes well and let us know how it goes for you. Again, I'm proud of you for putting this in a show!

[Mischa Milosevic]

April, well done. I find self portraits quite difficult to do. I also find that pastel work is not as simple as it looks but I do love working in pastel.

There is just a few things that I would suggest you think on regarding your portrait. First, the space from the eye to the ear could be a touch to wide. Next, the iris of the eye in shadow, I would consider moving away from the corner just a hair. The light part under the iris, the lid, seems to light for the shadow side. I also think the orange on the shadow side is to high chroma maybe aliz or purplish red with a hint of cad red mite look better, even on the chin. I would think on introducing more light on the tip of the nose which would suggest the nose to move more towards us which would be good. Lips, the softest part of the face and so there should be no sharp, hard edges. Here form is achieved by value or temperature. One more thing. The design of the black robe on the shadow side, the cut does not compliment the other side.

I hope I was able to give you some constructive suggestions.

All the best at the show

[Alexandra Tyng]

April,

It's is exciting to see you working in color, though I also love your monochromatic paintings. To me the color seems very pleasing and interesting. You've put in variations without breaking apart the vlue massing. I would agree with most of the above comments, except I do like that your sweater is draped unevenly on you shoulders. (I like the way you've indicated the light and shadow on your sweater, too.) The one thing that stands out for me is the nose; the bottom plane seems to be on a different angle than the head (tilted up from L to R), so that we see no nostril, whereas one would see some of both nostrils if the nose were tilted the same way as the head (down from L to R).

[April Phillips]

Thank you all for the wonderfully constructive comments. I'm going to print them out and take them to my studio and try to work out these suggestions. What a great resource this web site is! I'll post the next round.

[April Phillips]

The deadline for the self-portrait show is fast approaching. I made some revisions and took a better exposed photo. The eyes, nose and mouth look better to me, but I'm seeing some overall shape issues. As always, suggestions appreciated.

[Alexandra Tyng]

April, it looks like you have addressed all the problems and it is a wonderful self-portrait, very expressive.

[Thomasin Dewhurst]

Hello April

I think you have done a lovely job. I think your handling of pastels is confident and your drawing is strong. The eyes especially are alive and beautifully handled.

Just something I would work on myself if it was my work and which I think is the real problem with the neck (rather than the muscles being too strongly defined):

Compare the tones of the different parts of the face with each other. In other words, look at the whites on the neck's nearest points with the whites on the chin, for example. And then looks at the whites on the neck with those on the forehead. You'll be quite surprised at the differences in types of whites. My feeling is that you'll find the whites on the neck are more subdued than those on the face itself, because of not getting as much light from the light source as the face does.

Also compare the red on the cheek at the side near the ear with the red on the highest point of the cheekbone. You've started to work that well, but the red nearer the ear probably needs to be more purplish - duller because it also is not receiving the same intensity of light at the highest point of the cheekbone.

One last thing is look at the edges at the back of the head compared with the background. There is always next to each dark edge something next to it of equal intensity but lit not dark. In other words next to the lightest of edges you get the darkest of darks. So I think that you'll find that once you are aware of the the light or dark of the background it will start to define the roundness of the head.

And again look at the far side of the head - the hair is probably a duller brown than at the front, giving it feeling of roundness and three-dimensionality.

I've posted a Lucien Freud self-portrait who is a master at tonal relationships. You'll find with his work there is always a peak of white highlight in the most prominent part of the head or figure and which every other light and tone related to and is submissive to. This balancing of lights and tones is the key to convincing realism.

Look at the shoulder and chest on the right. There is a minute difference in light and warmth of tone from the top of the shoulder to the chest area which is just showing above the bottom of the canvas. It is these almost invisible differences that are the most powerful in creating form.

I would not rework this one because what you have already done here will hinder you in trying new things out. And also it is finished as is. I would do another one looking and comparing more totally at the tonal relationships.

[April Phillips]

Thank you all for your well thought out comments and suggestions. I did my best to incorporate them. Here's the final that I turned in to the self-portrait show. Thanks again. I always so pleased and learn so much from the posts I receive!

[Thomasin Dewhurst]

Beautifully and successfully finished, April!