My grandmother

[Sophie Ploeg]

This is a pastel I did from an old black/white photo from around 1939. I would appreciate any comments. Do I need to add more colours - or does this 'work' too? More detail or not? Anything I haven't seen so far?

Thanks for looking!

Sophie

[Sophie Ploeg]

Here's the reference picture:

[Elizabeth Schott]

Sophie, you have really captured the nostalgia of the photograph.

I would like to see you keep these muted colors but give her a tad more dimension. In the photo she has such a lovely roundness to her jaw and neck on our left. I think you have made her features stronger and given the neck too much definition. Maybe you could soften the really dark shadow with more of a temperature change.

I thing you should do a little more detail on her top, too. Right now it looks like a v-neck sweater vs. the collar dress with string ties.

Give it a good squint of the eyes!

Is she still living? She would love it!

(I have stayed in Nuttsford and Alderly Edge (sp?) by the way, I love that part of England!)

[Sophie Ploeg]

Thanks Elizabeth, for your comments. You pointed out the exact things I was wondering or not sure about! Especially the jaw - yes, that needs a bit of softening up. That's also how I remember her - quite soft. (I was only a teenager when she died 14 years ago.)

Alderly Edge, Knutsford, now those ARE nice places. Yes, this is a pretty area of the world to live in. City nearby, and plenty of countryside to enjoy!

Sophie

[Josef Sy]

Very nice, Sophie. What bothers me though is the neck (smoothen a bit) and the top of the hair which I find is too flat. I really like the feel of looseness to the overall drawing.

[Leslie Ficcaglia]

Nice interpretation of an old photo. I like the colors you've used.

I would echo Joseph's comment about the top of the head; there is also too little volume at the back, as well, giving her a chopped off look.

One other comment: in the photo her skin has a dewy, soft appearance and that's not echoed in the pastel treatment. I think there's a bit too much texture so it makes her look older. Addressing the skull dimensions at top and back would also help.

If you do make changes, please post them. This will be a lovely memento for your family!

[Brad Utterstrom]

A couple people have touched on this, but I wanted to elaborate. In your drawing, the point at the back of the head to the forehead is basically a straight line. And then from the forehead to the chin is another almost straight line. This gives her head a very square look.

If you look at the photo, it's not nearly as squared off. Make the back of the head and top of the head a little more rounded, and also you could change a couple minor details along the edge of the face to keep that from being so straight. For instance, there should be a little bump above her eyebrow that will break up the straightness of that line.

It's so easy to overlook these types of problems in your own work because you stare at the thing for so long that you begin to see what you think is in front of you and not what actually is in front of you. So hopefully these comments are helpful to you. Overall I think it's a very nice portrait and with these minor adjustments can be that much better.

[Brad Utterstrom]

After re-reading my post and comparing to the drawing, I see a couple more things. You have a tendency to take areas that in the photo are rounded, and create them into a point. For instance, at the back of the head, tip of the nose, chin, and V collar, you've created a point in all of those spots, whereas in the photo all of those spots are more rounded.

Also a little bit of a highlight running from the tip of the nose to the nostril will give the nostril some volume.

[Sophie Ploeg]

Excellent advice - thank you.

Will look at it some more and probably finish up soon. I am afraid I might ruin it.

Thanks again, this has been really helpful!

Sophie