Recent portrait...

[Louise T. Dailey]

Hi all- I am pretty happy with this, but the area of her left (our right) jaw is bothering me as far as temperature. I tried several things and can't quite get it there. The temps are showing close to accurate here, maybe a tad cool. This subject has cool skin anyway, so posing her this way (backlit) may not have been the smartest way to go about it, but I loved the pose/light so much I did it anyway. Any suggestions?
Louise

[Sharon Knettell]

Louise,

This is very difficult lighting to pull off from a photo, because the photo rarely gives you the rich color of life. Unfortunately this piece has the feeling of being done from a photo studio shot.

Have you always done your work from photography? Have you done any work from life?

[Louise T. Dailey]

Sharon- Yes, I do make sure that I work from life from time to time, but almost all of my commission work is done from photos that I take. I took these reference shots out on a dock just before sunset and I made color notes while we were out there. What is your opinion on how I can fix that "studio shot" look, or is it just a case of moving on and doing things differently next time?
Louise

[Louise T. Dailey]

Here is my main reference photo...

[Allan Rahbek]

Louise,
Photo Shop can do wonders.
Allan

[Sharon Knettell]

Allan,

I think your photoshop work is too dark and would result in muddy skin-tones.

Louise, you have missed the light on the left that helps model the form, the light along her jaw and the highlight on her nose.

The color is a bit pasty for that time of day. Photographic reference is not reliable in matters of color.

Doing life work from time to time is not enough to give you the mastery you need for this career. I would suggest you take several workshops mentioned on the Art Renewal site. There also is a topic here by Bill Whitaker called "Profound drawing exercises" based on the Bargue methods. Get the book by Harold Speed called the "Practice and Science of Drawing" and his companion book on painting. Laura Carter Clark has a decent book on the basics called "How to Paint Living Portraits".

Learning from photos is not the best way to prepare for a very difficult and competitive career. How good and successful you will be is very much dependent on how much work you put into mastering your craft.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Louise,

I've been looking at this a while now. You've done a really competent job with the proportions and drawing. I think for me the harsh delineation and value transitions are what stand out as problems.

The reference photo makes this clear. Look at the eyebrow and eye area, for instance. In your pastel the edges of the eyebrows are too sharp and too different in value from the skin. The whites of her eyes are too light, they don't sit in shadow, close in value to the rest of her eye. If you don't like the way the shadow makes her eye all one value and hides the color of her iris, then this is a good reason not to pose her in shadow, but it's not good to make up the color. The main point is that you have delineated all the features to the point where everything reads as separate pieces, separate features, instead of as abstract areas of color and value. Edges may or may not be there, and there is no need to put them in everywhere. The head will "read" more realistically if you let the transitions happen as they do in life.

Alex

[Cynthia Daniel]

Allan, if you're on a Mac, Mac images usually show too dark for PCers.

[Allan Rahbek]

Cynthia,
I'm not on a Mac and I agree with Sharon that this shows a bit too dark. I was only trying to pick up the colors in the face. It would probably be easier with the original reference.
Somebody with more experience could maybe do it better.
Allan

[Simon Bland]

Louise -

In addition to Alex's great suggestions I think you could also try adding some of the flesh tones to the whites of her eyes as they look a little too white.

You could also make the portrait look a little more substantial by adding more of the sweater into the picture.

Simon