Please Critique

[Joseph Brzycki]

Pencil/Charcoal/Conte Drawing. Any comments will be welcomed.

[Karin Wells]

WOW!

One thing...the point of the chin is a tad too far left and doesn't quite align with the center of the face.

[Lon Haverly]

. . .mixing media! I like it!

I have a question for you. What kind of drawing table area did you use for this drawing? Was it done on a flat table? It appears that you drew it on a flat table top, as there seems to be slight distortion as if you had the pad off to your right, causing your view of it to be correctly proportioned as you viewed it while drawing it, but out of proportion when you lift it up and look at it straight on.

I paint at an easel, but I always draw with my pad on a drawing table which is about 40 or 45 degrees tilt, and the center of the pad is exactly perpendicular to my line of vision. I position myself directly in front of the pad, not off to the side. Do you follow? I will add a diagram. Distortion can also happen when your subject is off to one side. In this case, I will wager that it was off to your left, tempting you to move towards the left away from the center of your drawing pad.

I seldom draw backgrounds anymore in pencil or charcoal drawings. That is because I was once accused of covering up my little messes.

Pencil artwork is hard to post in a JPEG, as it often does not show the subtlties of the strokes as thick as they are. Your style of line technique is very soft here and blended. I see very few actual lines, except for the cross hatch type shade lines in the neck and perimeter. The softness works, especially since you are using mixed media. I use a blended technique for charcoal. I like to see lines when working with pencil. I like to see how an image is expressed by lines. If you blend them away, you lose something. It is so easy to overwork a drawing, and lose the expression of the line. The more time one spends on a drawing, the less unique and individual it is. The last post was quick. This one took a bit more time, I will bet. But it works. It brings out something in the girl that is inviting. It is appealing.

I could be wrong about your table, but you get the idea. You are very talented. Keep it up!

Lon

[Joseph Brzycki]

Lon, I was wondering why it was looking so funny on the screen. I must have been holding the camera at a funny angle and it stretched the face. This might clear up some things. Here it is.

[Steven Sweeney]

Reshooting that helped a lot, Joseph, but there's still a bit of a gooseneck to the right. However, just hold your finger up to cover that vertical stripe of near-black shadow on the right (viewer's) side of the neck, so your mind automatically makes the neck wider, and instantly everything drops into place. I think you need to substantially lighten that shadow stripe, in order to optically get the neck over "under" the head.

[Lon Haverly]

Interesting how the hair is shown as a soft impression.

I have to say, sometimes I give the viewers of my drawings special instructions. For instance, when viewing my drawing, they need to close one eye and squint the other. After all, that is what I did when I drew it!

[Joseph Brzycki]

Lon, when giving your viewers special instructions, having them squint their eyes makes sense. But, since the portrait is no longer in three dimensional form, no unusual perspectives can occur. Maybe you have a different purpose for having them close one eye?

[Peter Jochems]

hi, I like it!

Did you use a photograph or did you draw this from life?

Peter

[Morris Darby]

Joseph, I think you have a long and prosperous career ahead of you. Take the critiqes well and keep this quality of work up and you'll have no problem turning out wonderful work.

Lon, I have my viewers just close their eyes completely then imagine my work to be incredibly beautiful. It seems to work well! (grin)

[Peter Jochems]

Joseph, just wondering... Is she your girlfriend? Otherwise, you should ask her out immediately!

Beautiful girl, nice subject to make drawings of.

Peter