David Rawlins
David Rawlins
Indianapolis
High School Art Teacher
David Rawlins
The last two(bottom right) feel a little over lit to me, but looks like a fun exercise. I really like the dark room one with the phone.
Write reply...
Drop images here to attach them to the message
David Rawlins
Looks like you’ve got a wide range of drawing exercises and studies. Is there anything in particular that you are looking for feedback on? You appear to have a great control of tones and gesture.
Write reply...
Drop images here to attach them to the message
Al
Hi David, Apologies if I repeat anything previously said. Not trying to beat a dead horse, I just try not to read other criticism so it won't influence what I'm about to say. As far as the actual construction of the drawing, I took the reference photo and overlaid it on top of your charcoal. The results are included in the first picture. Typically, if I do a photo study, I will do the sketch, do a trace of the photo, overlay it on top of the drawing and see what I did, then I will redraw the sketch with the notes I have in mind. One of the things this does is lets you know errors you consistently make; for example, I also draw noses too long and eyes too big very often, so it's something I know to keep in mind when I do my next study. This may be helpful for you. Next, I moved the facial features around in accordance where they are on the overlay, and proceeded to do a paint-over to correct some values. I think when you were in the process of making your piece, you really wanted to display the forms on the face. Which is great, and you did a great job of that! Unfortunately, this picture is really washed out on one side, so the effort to show the forms compromised the values in the reference photo. There's not really anything wrong with that, but if you want it to look exactly like the photo, the values do need to be lighter on the right side of the face. Overall I think you did a good job. Keep up the good work!
Write reply...
Drop images here to attach them to the message
David Rawlins
Wow, thanks for all the work you put into that. Some really helpful information.
Reply
James Doane
Nice work, David. For one thing I think you are trying to make everything too vertical. The original all has a slight angle to it that I don't think you really have. I also think you have the face too short or the eyes too big... hard to tell. I like your style though!
Write reply...
Drop images here to attach them to the message
David Rawlins
Thanks James, I can see that the chin definitely needs to be moved down more
Reply
Amanda Rutledge
Depending on how quick you’re working (I personally find) there will be things that aren’t so important for you in the study to obtain. I guess what’s important to ask is what you are trying to achieve most with the quick study? Is it proportions? Sense of light? Form? For example, with a 20 minute pose I can try to achieve a few things like proportions and sense of form, but I will for sure sacrifice things like details or shading since doing all that at once in such a short time might be to much to focus on. What I decide to achieve with that 20 minutes would be much different than what I decide to achieve with a full 2 week pose with 24+ hours worked on. Based on the reference what sticks out to me most is the angles of the eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth don’t quite match that of the reference. It looks like in the reference his head is just slightly angled up with a small turn and with a tilt and in your drawing it’s looking more straight on. However, if I just look at your drawing you did really well lining up those points to one another. Also the proportions are a bit off if you’re trying to replicate the reference. He has a rather long and thin looking face, I think the jaw line can be pushed down a bit to give more space there. That aside I think your drawing is really solid for a quick study. The values are easily distinguishable, the darks are pushed well in contrast to the lightest lights and there is a good sense of form.
Write reply...
Drop images here to attach them to the message
David Rawlins
Good point, I guess my intent was to practice proportions and tones without investing too much time, i'd say that I have a good 3 hours working on it intermittently as my student work on their portraits. I've always struggled with likenesses and would like to get better at that. I don't spend as much time measuring and often tend to overwork the life out of drawings.
Reply
David Rawlins
I really like the control and thoughtfulness of the line weight on the outer edges. Maybe darken the forehead as it wraps around to the right. Overall I think you've done really nice work.
Write reply...
Drop images here to attach them to the message
David Rawlins
3yr
Here's a quick charcoal of a young John Lennon. I am having a hard time putting my finger on what is off, any thoughts?
Help!
Browse the FAQs or our more detailed Documentation. If you still need help or to contact us for any reason, drop us a line and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
Your name
Email
Message