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Hi Gordan,
your recent portraits all look really good and I especially like the lighting/shading, is that chiaroscuro?
Likeness wise I think you can definitely see who it is supposed to be so I think you are on the right way. How do you find getting a likeness working with a construction method rather than just measuring?
And have you made the switch from the polychromos to the conte’? It’s hard to tell if you did switch because the colors would look to similar 😅. I personally really like the polychromos but I can imagine how difficult it might be to fill a larger area of tone since they tend to be really light and grainy while using the side and you can’t really smudge them to even out the tone. But I think for smaller or more linear work they are pretty good 👋
Hi Christopher, Thanks for your comment!
Yes, most portraits in NMA library are chiaroscuro. With regards to portrait likeness I am actually not measuring at all. I started with head construction approach of S.Huston and G.Villpu, but then when I got to Charles Hu I learned that you can’t rely just on standard proportions to achieve portrait likeness. You have to accurately capture all major shapes, specific for portrait you are working on. So now I always start with Steve’s sail shape to capture the gesture, define the head angle, rotation and to find the centre line. Right after, by intuition and observation I roughly draw around the head shape. Next I check the anatomy landmarks and all proportions following with dividing the light and shadow shapes. During all of this I keep adjusting my shapes making them closer to what they should be. Finally I carefully draw all facial features following with the shading. That is roughly my process.
I tried to work with Conte but quickly gave up on it. I draw on 14″x17″ block, on both sides of the sheets. That does not work well with Conte, which is essentially fancy charcoal. Everything gets stained and dirty. So I will leave Conte aside, perhaps for individual sheet works. I got used to polychromos pencil and I really like it. I will just have to discipline myself not to finish every head I draw, but instead to focus on structure, form, features and portrait likeness. Shading takes a long time and for the most part I am doing it by observation and a gut feel. I will have to study that part in more depth later on.
I hope this answers your question.
I don’t have anything to post tonight. My father passed away today and I didn’t have what it takes to do anything today. Tomorrow is a new day, I will try then.
I saw your post about your father and wanted to say how sorry I am. I lost my father as well and know how difficult it is. Congratulations on finishing your self-portrait for the November Discord challenge. I finally posted mine last night in time for the deadline. I have to agree with many others that it was extremely challenging to draw while looking in a mirror! I don’t love the way mine turned out, but I learned a lot from the exercise. I’ve been using a similar method to the approach you described for drawing portraits. You explained it well! Finding the angle, getting the structure right, and then adjusting to capture the likeness is a logical process that has really made a difference for me. I look forward to seeing the remainder of your challenge!
Hi Gordon. I’m so sorry to hear that you have lost your dad. May you have peace and comfort amidst your grief. Your portrait is wonderful! You seem to have picked up head drawing very quickly!
Day 70
Thank you Jan and Deborah.
I find these times very difficult to bear and could not produce any art work. All I could do during last few weeks was just various dexterity drawing exercises. That somehow put me at peace and I didn’t mind doing it. This is my first day back with something more meaningful.
Day 71
Started working on this portrait, will finish off tomorrow. When it comes to value modelling relaying mostly on my intuition and little bit of knowledge. I will have to take some courses to learn in more depth about form modeling.
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