Here is my latest self-portrait.

[Judson Eneas]

What do you think? What critiques can you give this?

[Alexandra Tyng]

Are you trying to outdo Rembrandt? I don't know how many self-portraits he painted, but it was a lot.

I really like this one. There's a little more sensitivity in certain passages that contrasts very nicely with the bold strokes and patterns overall. I especially like the ear on our left, with the reflected light. Very nice passage! There are a couple of things that bother me: first, the place where the neck meets the jawline on our right needs a more definite, confident edge. Also, the shirt collar on our right is hard to read. Is the dark stroke meant to be the inside of the shirt, in shadow? Or is it a dark collar? I think it would benefit from a repainting. Sometimes, thinking out beforehand how you will approach a certain area will help. It could be a problem with the shape of the dark area, the softness of the edge on one side or other, or the color. (Is it a shadowy color, or is it a dark color in the light?)

[Claudemir Bonfim]

Hi Judson,

This is your best so far, I can see that your drawing here is much better than the other ones.
I already suggested you to read Loomis's books, I recommend you to pay special attention to the drawing of the eyes.
Keep on practicing.

[Julie Deane]

Judson,

I can see a lot of artistic growth - keep up the good work!

[Michele Rushworth]

Nice work Judson.

Tackling straightforward head and shoulders compositions like this is good practice before going after more complex poses, usually.

Another good thing for practice that will help you immesurably when it comes to modeling form, is to use just ONE source of light and try to minimize reflected light bouncing on the subject from different places.

Situate the subject a few feet from a small high window, block the light from any other windows and turn off the lights in the room. Then you will immediately see the specifics of every large and small form as the shapes turn up into the light.

Take a look at Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and you can see how strong a simply lighted head and shoulders portrait can be.