Conte drawing of young woman

[garyartista]

I usually get to the point where I have a pretty good drawing and as far as I can tell the proportions match the reference and the expression matches the as best as I can get it yet the drawing does not look quite like the reference.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to make this one closer I’d appreciate it.  I’ll post the reference too.

 

• This topic was modified 4 years, 7 months ago by garyartista.

[garyartista]

• This reply was modified 4 years, 7 months ago by garyartista.

[Impressions du Bord du Monde]

Hi there ! Nice work ! I think you can get frustrated because you mainly focus on the obvious features of the face (nose, eyes, mouth, ears), which you can place and draw fairly well in my opinion, but you forget to think of the 3dimensional shape of the head. We see correcly the eyes and they look well placed, but we can’t see the shadows implicated by the orbits, nor the shadows of the nose. Working on a more sculptural approach, as in the photograph below. I think drawing is a constant back-and-forth process between what I know and what I see. Here, I think you start to fairly well “get” the basic features of the face, but you can improve by training on 3 dimensional objects such as this. Then you will be able to include these subtle changes in lighting, because you will be trained in seeing them in your photo reference or subject.

Hope this helps ! Sanguine is one of my favorite tools too 🙂

[garyartista]

Thanks for the suggestion.  When the shadows made her look too old.  Must be something about how I did them.  Perhaps too roughly done?   Here is the previous draft of the same piece.

[Mengu Gungor]

Hi Gary, I think you did well with the youthful appearance in your first post. Deeper shadows can indeed make a model look older, and should be approached in a more delicate manner, identifying hard and sharp edges carefully, and making sure soft edges transition smoothly. I think your main challenge was the photo reference. Lighting in an overcast snow scenes is particularly challenging because not only is there a lot of diffuse light, but reflections from the snow can be brighter than the light from the sky. Add to this the challenge of blushed skin on a cold winter day, plus hair color that’s nearly the same value as skin, and your subject is about as difficult as can be. For studies, I would suggest indoor setting, lit through either a window or a single light source. These will provide you with much better shadow shapes to help you sculpt the planes of the head.  I think you’ve done a good job with the placement and shapes of the features. Perhaps eyes are a little large, but that is helpful if it was a stylistic choice for a younger appearance. Hope this helps. Keep on sketching.

[garyartista]

Great insights, thanks!  Your comments about the reference are extra helpful to my understanding of the challenges.  This is a relative and it is the best photo I have of her, which is why I chose it.  I will just have to overcome the obstacles.  It is going to become a painting.  I already have the face roughed in and it looks younger than the drawing.  Blending with Conte on sketch paper is difficult and not the best way to deal with that issue.  I am using acrylics, also offering its own challenges when it comes to gradual transitions.  Conte requires such a delicate touch so you can layer tone without imbedding it in the paper which it then in effect stains.

 

cheers

 

gary

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