
gruvan
added comment inHelp with head abstraction for caricature
2mo
In your drawing you went with a very slanted forehead and the back of the skull pulled back. In the reference I see the opposite, a very vertical forehead and back of the head. I feel you'd capture the essence of the subject better if you tried it the other way around.

wickedtuna
2mo
I see what you mean with that. Thanks for the input
Hey Wickedtuna,
I don't use the Riley abstraction, I use the Loomis method to line up my features. One thing that they have in common is the center line. This helps us keep things lined up on the face properly. It also gives the sphere of the head a sense of 3 dimensionality.
So, I did a quick sketch to show you what I found, I hope it helps :)
added a new topic
Help with head abstraction for caricature2mo
Hello, I have some trouble getting the abstraction right in this drawing. I can't get the center line right and the mouth area troubles me most. Also the brow ridge I find hard. Any help on this is more than welcome, thanks.
Attached are my attempt, the rough sketch and the reference.
5mo
Asked for help
Hello! I would like to have some feedback on my exaggeration choices and on keeping a believable anatomy. I also attached pictures of the whole process. Feedback on that is also welcome! thx
8mo
Asked for help
Really enjoyed the course. Here is my final assignment.
9mo
Asked for help
This is my try of Nicolai. I noticed halfway the placement of the ear is to far from the eyes, I decided to continue and practice values. Further comments are welcome!
9mo
Good tips in designing the hair instead of doing a copy. My try
9mo
Great lesson and shapes are well explained. My attempt
Show all replies (1)
10mo
This model really helps understanding the head in different views. Here's my attempt.
Show all replies (3)
11mo
Hey wickedtuna,
Nice job on this drawing. Despite the proportion issues you already noticed, it is a pretty good likeness.
@Magnus Marshall touched on the value structure of your drawing, and I wanted to elaborate on that a little more.
First of all, the skin is almost never going to be the white of the paper (unless it's a high key image) so you need to make sure the skin has a local value that represents the skin in general. If you notice, her skin is mostly in shadow. If you compare the value on the top of the nose to the value of her cheek, you will see that the cheek is much darker. Comparing values is very important to get our rendering to feel like it represents the reference.
Also, keep in mind that there are hard and soft edges. Cast shadows tend to be hard and form shadows are soft edged. This helps sell the idea of form and is an important element to our rendering.
I did a quick paint over to show you some of what I'm talking about, I hope it helps :)
10mo
Hi Steve, thanks for taking your time and really clear explenation. The paintover helps a lot to understand, I will use this on my next drawings.
You definitely have nice looking lines and dynamic shapes, here's some things that might help.
You've spotted the issue with the jaw's proportions, I would add that it could be longer and rounder too. It might help you to imagine the overall mass in a box; your's is quite square whereas the reference is taller and more rectangular.
You're not far off but the hair/forehead could take up more room vertically too. The halfway point between the top of her head and bottom of her chin is roughly at her eyebrow or the top of her nose.
Finally, the value groups in your drawing could be improved. You've made a good start with the groups to the left and right of the face in the hair. Try blurring your eyes/squinting at he reference and you'll notice only a small part of her face is in light. The rest is in shadow including her neck. I've drawn on a couple of examples of how you can group values into shapes in the future.
I hope this helps and please ask if anything needs explaining better.
Well done, keep drawing!
11mo
Thanks so much for taking your time to answer. This helps a lot, seeing the modified image really shows what could be improved. For now I have no questions, your answer was really clear.
added a new topic
Critique asked for values lines and shapes11mo
I did this portrait from a Stephen Bauman video, I realised her jaw is to wide but further critique on values lines and shapes and other is welcome. Thanks