comments on this portrait please

[michelleholzschuh]

I would really appreciate some comments on this portrait. I haven't had any formal training and live in a really rural area so feedback is hard to find. This was done earlier this month using chalk pastels, It took roughly 6 hours
http://witchinghrorigart.com/img00229.jpg

[sve]

I like the melancholic mood of the pastel. Is it consistent with a personality of the girl? Interesting expression of her face. Like how you did her face and softness of her skin.
Post more Sveta

[haribubba]

i really like the colors!

my only crit is that the eyes are a bit high and dont follow the same line.

[michelleholzschuh]

Thankyou for the comments!!!! -Not nearly as painful as I thought it was going to be. :^^:
I really like the colors of this one too. They (the colors) seem occur in alot of the stuff I do. Eyes give me alot of trouble, I don't think I've ever gotten them right. Well I guess it's back to the drawing board for more practice, practice, Practice!
Thanks again for the great comments.

[big keith]

Your piece looks a bit muddy. To improve this you can try increasing the contrast in photoshop or you can push the the values in your original drawing. Try to get a full value range from a true white in only a few highlights through midtones to a true black in only a few creases. If you need to you can convert your image to grayscale in photoshop to see which values need to be pushed more.

This is a quickly rendered example of what I'm talking about.

http://tn3-1.deviantart.com/300W/fs6.deviantart.com/i/2005/032/3/f/self_portrait_by_big_keith.jpg

[michelleholzschuh]

[QUOTE=big keith]Your piece looks a bit muddy. To improve this you can try increasing the contrast in photoshop or you can push the the values in your original drawing. Try to get a full value range from a true white in only a few highlights through midtones to a true black in only a few creases. If you need to you can convert your image to grayscale in photoshop to see which values need to be pushed more.
[QUOTE]

I'm really not sure what you mean. The piece is supposed to have a very soft, quiet, almost melancholy look to it. The lighting is very soft and relaxed. I wanted the piece to reflect the quiet disposition of the model and the milky hour of the morning that she had posed for me. -that is why I chose to use chalk pastels for this piece and not oil pastels which give a much harder and defined look.

[thebluepuppy]

i think the piece is amazing. colors arent muddy . their is no such thing as muddy colors. its all relative.(words of j.f. :P). only crit is that i would work on the back area a little

[Mr_S_14]

[QUOTE=big keith]Your piece looks a bit muddy. To improve this you can try increasing the contrast in photoshop or you can push the the values in your original drawing. Try to get a full value range from a true white in only a few highlights through midtones to a true black in only a few creases. If you need to you can convert your image to grayscale in photoshop to see which values need to be pushed more.

This is a quickly rendered example of what I'm talking about.
QUOTE]

....^ Backseat driver anyone... ^

~Mr_S_14 , the colors, lighting and contrasts are decent I will agree that the eyes seem relatively off, however all the details of the painting are all very well done , May I ask what size your canvas was ?

[michelleholzschuh]

This piece is 18x20.5 inches on medium weight (80lb) drawing paper.

[Steinmetz]

the eyes seem a bit too small compared to the rest of the face to me

[Magic Man]

I really like the mood of the piece - I feel the eyes are small, but hey, there are plenty of people with smaller eyes and it doesn't nessesarily take aaway from the picture - I personally feel it give a beautiful stylistic feel to it, intentional or not. Although, if not intentional, then keep it in mind for follow up pieces.

The onl crit is that their lines do not fall on the same trajectory, otherwise it is a beautiful piece.