Work In Progress

Sharon_Hearts_PJ · December 2004

My final drawing for class this semester is due in about 11.5 hours...and this is what I've got so far:

Comments or suggestions?

Completed work to be posted...eventually...

Sharon_Hearts_PJ · December 2004

Oh well. Guess this forum doesn't get much traffic this time of night. Here's the finished product....wish me luck

V V · December 2004

Thats great and I liked both as different pics.

sorry @ 6:30 am I was sleepin.

Sharon_Hearts_PJ · December 2004

no love for my art? :(

AndyManderson · December 2004

That's nice. It turned out very good.

Kat · December 2004

Very nice and it's proportional.

I think that must be the hardest part about doing portraits.

Love,
Kat

Sharon_Hearts_PJ · December 2004

Lol. Pathetic and fishing for compliments

I do appreciate them, though.

And yes Kat, proportion is my biggest obstacle in portraits. The eyes are actually a bit big, and I think the face in general is stretched out...but it does resemble me at least. I also really like how the color itself. Pastels are fun!

FinsburyParkCarrots · December 2004

I just saw this. I like the angular use of shadow and you've a good sense of colour and contrast. Given that you're drawing from a mirror, proportionality is going to be different and subjective; I like the way you've angled the subject to be seemingly looking at an angle away from the viewer's focus. If I were being picky I would say that the right eye should be fractionally lower but really, I think it's a strong picture and the eyes have vibrancy and soul. The directionality of the shading brings out the form and your strong and confident use of tone and contour in pastel is evident.

As I say, the colouring of the eyes themselves is sensitively rendered and strikingly vibrant. I'm very impressed. I'm always excited by the talents of people here on this board! Well done.

FinsburyParkCarrots · December 2004

Edits split infinitive in last post, replaces it with "seemingly to be looking..."

dreamncolor · December 2004

FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:

Edits split infinitive in last post, replaces it with "seemingly to be looking..."

hahahaha - you kill me fins.

anyway - i was going to comment on how MUCH i love the eyes in particular in the portrait!!! bigger or not - who cares??? a portrait is so much more than merely an accurate depiction of a physical form. i say the eyes add so much to the work b/c of it. well done. also beautiful color work.

Sharon_Hearts_PJ · December 2004

Yay. Critiquing is fun! Thank you for your kind words, folks (and Ms. Art Teacher, ma'am

).

It's funny the things you all noticed, and how my professor specifically picked on them as the weak points. He claimed the eye color was too white (although a digital photo could've subdued them in this case) and that they were too large as well.
I actually didn't realize it at the time, but when I drew this I was wearing glasses. I did not include them in the drawing, and I wonder if perhaps that is why the eyes turned out as they did.
He also said the lighting seemed off; Some darks not dark enough, some lights too bright; The hair on the left of the picture should have been darker... What bugs me about this is the fact that he was not here to see me at work. He had no idea what the lighting was in my living room! There WAS a glint on my chin and nose that looked that way. The light from above kept my hair looking almost exactly as depicted.
I'm definitely not bitching (just a slight rant). I am pretty sure I wouldn't have given this piece anything higher than a B either. It just bugs me that his points to pick on were ones that didn't deserve the picking that was done.
I did quite enjoy the lesson in pastels. This semester was my first time working with them in several years, since high school I believe. We hadn't done a lot of work with them in class, but I decided to take a plunge and I'm glad I did. His words weren't all negative. He said he suspects I'd do fairly well at painting, and that gave me hope as I'm signed up for a class next semester. Should be fun!

Thanks again all, for looking at my work and giving honest opinions. It never makes or breaks the work, but it does help the artist along!

dreamncolor · December 2004

well - as you know...art is SO subjective. also keep in mind..it's your professors job to critique...help you improve your craft. as you get to higher levels of education....the more tritical the critiques get....and rightly so. you are paying good $$$ for an education....and working towards a career....thus it is important for pofs to really look critically.

so many think of art as *fun and easy*...which it can be. but it also can be such an absolute torment. i actually always found my academic classes so much easier to guage, b/c you knew exactly what was expected and what you had to do. so much easier to score an A. with art - so much comes down to subjectivity - so makes it harder to judge. anyway - just do what feels right and enjoy your work.

dreamncolor · December 2004

damnnit...i guess i shgould really preview my posts...but can't be bothered. lol. i just can't stand the fact that there is no edit button in the art forum...forever must face my typos!!! yikes. :eek: hahaha.

Sharon_Hearts_PJ · December 2004

dreamncolor wrote:

damnnit...i guess i shgould really preview my posts...but can't be bothered. lol. i just can't stand the fact that there is no edit button in the art forum...forever must face my typos!!! yikes. :eek: hahaha.

I am definitely in agreement with you on the lack of editing. It's either right away, or never. Guh.

And about the critiquing...I know you're right. It's just the things he could've called me on, he kinda skimmed over. The parts that WERE subjective is what he focused on. I was just frustrated.
More frustration to come in my painting class. I love the prof (had her a few times in the past), but she's a flaky nutcase (as are most art teachers

) and will undoubtedly cause craziness throughout next semester.

dreamncolor · December 2004

13PJ13 wrote:

I am definitely in agreement with you on the lack of editing. It's either right away, or never. Guh.

And about the critiquing...I know you're right. It's just the things he could've called me on, he kinda skimmed over. The parts that WERE subjective is what he focused on. I was just frustrated.
More frustration to come in my painting class. I love the prof (had her a few times in the past), but she's a flaky nutcase (as are most art teachers ) and will undoubtedly cause craziness throughout next semester.

heeeeeyyyyyyyyy!!!! :mad: i am not flaky. lol. i may be more laid back then the rest of the teachers...but flaky...never.

i come from a design/photography background....so i am a lot less *artsy* - damn i hate that term - than the average art teacher. lol.

well - as far as the critiques....even the subjective things should be addressed....and we all have differing styles/ideas...so hopefully he just said what he found most important to comment on...and hopefully you got something from it. as you well know - teachers are far from infallable. but keep on doing what your doing....and best of luck with all your studies!!!

Sharon_Hearts_PJ · December 2004

I honestly didn't mean you specifically were flaky. I've just encountered so many at UCF that are. But yes, given your background, I would imagine you're more grounded than someone who started out mainly to produce pieces of artwork. And you work in middle school, correct? That requires more balls than I'll ever have!
And yes, aside from yesterday's critique, I've picked up quite a lot from him and am greatful that there are at least a few decent profs at a school that doesn't specialize in art. The program (and the school) is expanding quicker then they can handle!