Pastel sisters

[Carrie Virusso]

This is my first attempt to use pastels in a portrait. As this was my maiden voyage into smudging and smearing, I'd like to know what I could do to improve my technique. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Linda Ciallelo]

I think you have done a wonderful job. I can't see anything I would change. They are just delightful, and you have caught their expressions beautifully.

[Mike McCarty]

All I see is goodness here. What size, paper, ref. source? Is this a crop or the whole enchilada?

[Carrie Virusso]

Thank you, Linda and Mike, for your positive responses. I was extremely nervous about putting this in front of so many eyes, but your comments are really motivating.

P.S. This is an 18" x 24" drawing of a friend's two little girls. He's recently divorced and misses his girls tremendously, so as a Christmas present, I dug out this picture from his closet and tried my hand at it. This is the whole enchilada, I'm not at all handy at cropping and the like so I take really close close-ups.

Thanks again!

[Mike McCarty]

This is wonderful work. I think you can call this more than a drawing. I would call this a fine painted portrait.

[Jim Riley]

Nice pastel. I changed a few things for your consideration. The long continuous highlight on the hair of the older girl is now broken, and the hard outline of the chin is softened as it meets the hair, which makes the the face and head appear less cut-out. I also tried to soften the cheek for the same reason (to avoid the strong/hard outline). I have some problem with the younger girl's eyes and without any reference will assume that they are as big and dark as we see here. I did, however, move the highlights so that they are not so much in the center of the eye. Maybe they should be to the left but the light source on her face comes from the right. I also softened the hard outline of the shoulder between the girls.

I reduced the ear to our right which might have been a little large. Otherwise, make it fade into the hair to underplay its size.

[Gene Snyder]

Carrie,

Excellent work! Great rendering and control of light on the faces and clothing. I love the reflective light under the younger girl's chin. Very nice. Wonderful detail in the hair too. Question - The younger girl looks rather worried or a little camera shy. Is this her actual expression in the photo or a mis-alignment of her right eyebrow? This, in addition to her appearing very wide-eyed, give that impression.

I agree with many of the suggestions that Jim presented however I'd move the highlights on the younger girl's eyes to the right and up, not left, to match the highlights of the older girl's eyes. In addition, I would also recheck the shape of her left eye's iris (the one on our right) so it matches the shape of her other eye. I posted a photo reference below. Hope this helps you. Very strong start in using pastels in a portrait!

Good Luck!

[Carrie Virusso]

Thank you for your constructive advice, Jim. The changes you made are good ones. I have to laugh a bit at the definite improvement of the smaller girl's ear. I probably should have done this myself to make it look more dainty, but in reality her ears are dramatically large. Genetics, go figure. I'm sure she would have appreciated the smaller version...maybe I'll be able to make the correction on the original.

Thanks!

[Carrie Virusso]

Thanks Gene,

Yes, the smallest girl hates having her picture taken. From what I was told, she had gone on a crying jag just minutes before the shot was taken. And I'll take your suggestion and look more closely at the shape of her eyes. It helps to have another person's opinion (you know how it is when you look at something too long, it skews your judgement). Thanks!

[Mike McCarty]

I personally like the apprehensive look on the girl's face. It's a nice contrast to the perfect composure of the girl on the left. Kids do kid-like stuff and sometimes you can catch them in the act like you did. What I like is that she looks perfectly apprehensive.