Final update on Drawing a portrait (Puck)
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Oh I did forget one tip, if you're painting this all digital, make sure you're not working on a pure white background. Since nothing is really pure white, using a background will help establish your mood, and your brighter tones will pop more than on an all white blank page.
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@Leontine I have only painted my own children and I am not a professional. The obvious are my inspirations: Zorn, Rembrandt, Sargent. Living artists I would have to go with Jeremy Lipking, Scott Burdick, and Michael Klein. As far as instruction, I think Stan Prokopenko's stuff on youtube is the best. He is Atelier trained and his videos are informative and entertaining. Search Proko on youtube. He has portrait and figure drawing videos that can be helpful.
I am not sure that tracing is going to get you where you want to go unless you want to be a slave to your reference. Tracing is a valid study method, but I would not suggest it for a final work.
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One other thing I'd like to mention here. Unless you are already very proficient at painting portraits, using this particular reference is going to be really tough. The reason I say this is that back lighting is the hardest to pull off out off all the lighting setups. I don't even give it to my students until they are at an advanced level. The thing you want in learning to do portraits is good lighting that casts very clear form shadows. Those shadows become easy shapes to see and add the light and dark value pattern that makes drawing someone easy. In this image, all the important details are completely in shadow, which is very tough to pull off.
If they are family and you can shoot more images, I'd recommend 3/4 lighting from the front (high angle lighting like the sun). That will make your life SO much easier. : )
Good luck!
-LSVS Faculty Instructor
www.leewhiteillustration.com -
Here's an example of good 3/4 lighting pattern. This creates an easy to see value pattern where the light meets the dark. Hope that helps some. : )
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The purpose of that exercise isn't to trace, it's to teach your brain shapes and lines to define your subject. Stan Prokopenko is teaching the Andrew Loomis books of anatomy and portraiture, a great reference, but you should know his free videos are short, he sells a more thorough lesson for $39 as a download, or DVD sent by mail. I would pick up the Loomis books on portraiture from your local library or download that here. if you can find one.
Your photo is a hard reference, not just for the light, but for it size and resolution. If you could take better lighted references I would do it, or work from life. The advice I gave you was based just on your current photo, and earlier attempts. I'm not suggesting you use tracing as a replacement for drawing from life or a final piece. But one artist's study is another artist's masterpiece. How far you want your piece to go, I don't know...
I'm only trying to help based on the information you gave. I could rifle off artists I love to influence you, but that would only make you emulate them, and not yourself. It's your decision as to what you want your work to be. Good luck.
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@Lee-White great drawing Lee! Is this one of yours? It has a Repin quality to it.
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@Bobby-Aquitania Hi Bobby Thank you for your kind effort that you v'e put in to helping me out.I really like the idea of painting upside down! Ill try that!
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@Lee-White Thank you Lee, I do have several references, but their all fronted. It is an assignment for an old classmate, who follows my work on Facebook. Social Media is so helpful for me in getting more assignments. (From the Last Hedgehog- critique painting I even got an invitation from a publisher. Yoehoee) Ill take your tips and go and nail this one!
@seanwelty I track your examples, and watch the youtube video! thanks for all the effort,Keep you guys posted!
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This week i am in Brazil visiting my sis, and while doing that, still have some inspiration to work on this one! The client choose this comp. and now I started adding some colors... I want to give it a painterly look but want to complete the polished one as wel. so thats it for now, lets go outsidefor some mountainsketching... -
@Leontine This looks good. I'm assuming you are going to add some harder edges?
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@Rob-Smith yes I will Rob!
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Here's the final.
It looks a bit darker than it is in real life... -
@Leontine Really nice! I like your treatment of the hair and the other textures. The back lighting is very nice as well, subtle yet there. I'm missing the finish on the eyes. I think with an iris the eyes would really come alive and bring soul to the character.
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Very sweet! Beautiful work, I know children's faces are tough, but you've done a great job. I agree with Rob that maybe the eyes would look better without so much softness there.
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@Rob-Smith Yep, thats a good gesture, the thing is that in real life her eyes are really this dark, and the irises are not visible. But I could have given her a gesture of, it might work, ill try some! Thanks.
