Isabel in graphite.

[Terri Ficenec]

James - Hi! This is beautifully and very sensitively rendered.

This is critiques, though so. . . there are two areas that I'm wondering about. The first is along the eastern edge of her neck, there's a fairly sharp, too sharp? angle there that is also where some relatively strong shadows meet and form an X of sorts... I'm wondering if this is correct?
The other area that draws my attention is the top of her hair/head. It appears that her hair is bulging upward there. . . This may very well be how it was, but I'm wondering if it might read better if it wasn't so pronounced?

Anyhow, her features, especially those eyes, are beautifully done. Thanks for sharing this!

P.S. You might also want to check the value of that necklace where it moves into the shadow side of her neck. . .

[James McDowell]

Terri,
Thanks for feedback. Looking at it again, I can see that I need to adjust the shadows on the neck, the transition into the medium tone is not quite smooth enough, and I think that may be why it looks off. The top of the hair... I agree I probably should have made that less pronounced. It's hard to see in the picture but her hair is pulled up into some sort of bow/ribbon thingie. Bad thing is there is no way to fix that now You are right about the shadow side of the necklace, I will correct that too! Thanks again!
-James

[Patricia Joyce]

James,
This is a beautiful drawing. I hope you post it after your adjust the shadow on the neck as I believe it will help improve the overall look. But you rendering of the features is so delicate and so beautiful. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

From a fellow graphite artist!