[Laura Ramsden]

This is so good!! I think maybe the highlight on her left eye is a little too bright? I wonder if moving her slightly to the right would make any difference? But it really is awesome! I love the atmosphere of the piece, and the subtle blues and orange. Kind of want to know what she’s thinking about.

[Laura Ramsden]

Very cool painting, and creative composition!

I noticed a couple of design elements that could maybe be clarified or slightly adjusted. The top of the picture lines up with the horizontal line in the background, maybe make the whole background one colour, or make the blue extend lower (or vice versa)? Her ear seems a little unclear, and a bit hard to tell where the bottom of her ear lobe is lining up. Maybe it would read a bit clearer to push the photo to the right a bit, or design a clear shape in between the photo and the side of her face. You are probably still working on her arm, but right now looks a bit like her hand is floating.

Can’t wait to see the finished piece!

[Laura Ramsden]

Nice! There are many more videos of Glenn demonstrating this technique in the Renaissance figure drawing class. I would say, don’t forget to work through all of the steps starting with the gesture (or as Glenn says, “feel the flow”), drawing over the form (using sphere, cylinder, and box), then containing the form. I think with the pen technique this is even more import to try not to copy the outside contour, because as you said there is no option to erase.

Note on materials, if you can manage to get a water soluble ink that might help, because you can first draw the gesture and forms, move to the wash (which “erases” some of the construction lines), then move back to the pen to add in the darker values.

Hope this is slightly helpful!

[Laura Ramsden]

Wow, I love the emotion your drawing is conveying, really beautiful.

My comments would be the creases on the forehead look a bit harsh to me, and give the impression of almost cracks. Maybe softening these would not pull so much focus from the eyes. The other thing would be some of the hair wisps, especially around the ear are a bit distracting. One thing I’ve really noticed from watching the masters critique videos, is thinking about how elements in the drawing contribute or take away from the overall design of the piece. So, even if the hair looks like that in the reference, we don’t have to copy that element if it doesn’t make the drawing better.

Hope this is helpful!

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