[Iliya Mirochnik]

Hello Abdullah,

The Cad Red question has been one I, too, have been trying to figure out since my days at the Academy. I always preferred Cad Red Light although it does lean a little orange. Keep in mind that different brands of Cad Red Light are different so it’s worth experimenting with them. We actually had something called Cad Red Medium which was a little duller than Light, but not as dark as Dark. It really will depend on you and what you’re after in your paintings or in a particular painting. Something that is also worth trying is something called Primary Red, which some of my former classmates got really intense results with. I don’t remember who makes it, but I think it’s available in a few brands.

As for Yellow Ochre, I wouldn’t go for the Light or any variation of it unless you find something called Gold(en) Ochre, which is something between Raw Siena and Yellow Ochre. You could just have those 2 and you’re good. The thing that’s important is to try to spend a little extra on a real nice Yellow Ochre with some serious tinting power.

I hope this helps. Write any questions you still might have and we’ll try to get to them!

Best,

Iliya

 

[Iliya Mirochnik]

Hello Kristof,

Good job on this portrait, it’s got lots of life! I did a draw over where I changed a few minor things. The only major things I recommend are keeping the background flatter with less variation to bring attention to the head. And don’t forget the reflections in the shadows which you can pull directly from the local color of the face and the background.

Keep up the great work!

Iliya

[Iliya Mirochnik]

Hi Tom!

I’m a huge fan of your work! I don’t remember if I’ve commented on your thread before, although I’ve certainly seen it. If I said that I’m a big fan of your stuff than I’ll say it again, and if I haven’t then I’m saying it now. I don’t want to critique anything really, because I think there is a definite stylistic unity, or at least direction that I’m seeing in all of your work and I’m hesitant to break that up with something I might say. However, I do want to recommend some artists, some of whom you might know, and others not. I think you’ll see why I chose them. The Russian ones I’ll write both in English and in Russian so you could google them by copying and pasting their names in Russian as you might get better results.

Hope you enjoy!

Iliya

Albert Marquet

 

Anatoliy Zaslavskiy (Анатолий Заславский)

 

Aaron Zinshteyn (Арон Зинштейн)

 

Vladimir Shinkarev (Владимир Шинкарев)

[Iliya Mirochnik]

Hi Gabriel,

I’m liking the figures you’re drawing. I did a draw-over of the most recent post with some corrections of the muscles. I recommend being a little more direct with the lines, not so sketchy, and maybe experiment with drawing individual areas paying particular attention to muscular overlaps. The drawing above the one I critiques is quite good but also, can be much more direct, although I’m a big fan of the way you’re handling the external obliques. As for the rib cage, try to treat the skeletal mass as primary, and then add a couple of details, but don’t let it get lost in the serratus, obliques, and rectus abdominis.

Good luck and keep up the great work!

Iliya

[Iliya Mirochnik]

Hey Yun-Ting,

As always I have to commend the anatomy practice. I did a draw-over showing a couple of things I, personally, would do differently. This involves the initial structural block in you’re using, which I think is too generic and not anatomically specific. Everything else I think is rather clear, but feel free to leave questions here and I’ll check in on them. Also, I would make each of the figures the same size side by side. I think it would be easier to compare them and make corrections to all of them at once.

Keep up the great work!

Best,

Iliya

[Iliya Mirochnik]

Hey iamjakeroo,

Congrats on getting to this part of my course! That’s a lot of hours invested! Good job on the figure, but I thought I’d do a draw-over if you’re still thinking of working a little more on it. First of all, the head is too big, but as are the hands and feet (the ones I drew in the video are also actually just a tad too big). The abdomen needs more modeling with the light closer to the top of the Rectus Abdominis. The Rib Cage always extends lower than you think. And then in terms of accents I placed some main darks to show where one can accent to create a good rhythm in the figure. (I showed the line of accents with the green line).

Good luck moving forwards and write any questions you might have, I’ll be checking in.

Best,

Iliya

[Iliya Mirochnik]

Hi Alex,

The profile view is the most difficult because it is the easiest to draw in terms of likeness, but considerably harder to turn the forms than a 3/4 view. I know the left-facing view of the ecorche face isn’t finished yet, but I did a draw-over to help differentiate the big planes of the face, which should always take precedence over any of the little anatomical details. On the left are the plane demarcations in red, some bone demarcations in blue, and then on the right are the planes marked with tone.

Also, as for the cephalometric points, I’m with you. I have to sort of re-learn their names every time I teach a class on them, but the idea is to remember the points themselves, and how else do you teach them, if not refer to them by name. I think they’re too important not to include, as they give a much more complex and nuanced head schematic than I’ve regularly encountered in other drawing systems.

 

Keep up the great work!
Iliya

[Iliya Mirochnik]

Hi Bryan,

Firstly, really great that you’re using crayons! I’m a big fan! And it’s surprising what you can do with them!

Looking at your progress on this piece I think that you worked, as I tend to call it, “from one spot”, essentially, laying down a very local tone/color and then building out from there. Uglow might have worked like this to some degree but if you look at this work you can easily break the entire image into a couple of big tonal/color spots, each with it’s own clear value and color. Those I know who have seen his work in person, have told me that his paintings practically glow. This is achieved not only from the intensity of chroma, but from the flatness of the big relationships. I feel that in your copy, you could really push those big relationships. Make sure the shapes of the face read clearly lighter than the background. Also, feel free to press harder on those crayons! They can take it!

I think the nose is a bit too long and the eyes not deep set enough. I’m including the original here (although of course you’ve been looking at it) just to illustrate my point.

 

 

 

Best,

Iliya

 

[Iliya Mirochnik]

Hi Elizabeth,

For most everything on this page, I really have to commend the structural analysis, especially the rib cage, pelvis, and clavicles. I think the torso from the front is also quite good, although the halftones in places are too even, preventing the big planes from standing out as much as they should.

The most substantial issues are found in the torso from the back directly above. I feel that there is too much of what my teachers called “geography” instead of “topography,” which simply means a lack of form with lots of lines encasing shapes instead of delineating said kinds. I do think that the scapula and deltoid are looking good. The structures of the back itself are a bit flat. I would start by simplifying as always the light and shadows, which I know can get confusing, but also making sure that when you find yourself encasing a form (turned shape) with too many lines, begin by reconsidering the edges of the line/value around that form. Everything in your drawing is a bit too sharp.

As for the structure, I think the rib age on the right side is too high, and almost completely lost on the left. Indeed, it isn’t easy to finds on the back, but it needs to be exaggerated. And finally, the important thing is to always consider the significant plane changes:

Horizontally on top: scapula, rhomboids, rhomboids, scapula.

Horizontally on the ribs: Angle of the Rib to Angle of the Rib on the other side

Vertically down the back: Upper Trapezius, Scapulas, Ribcage, Lumbar Spine, Sacrum.

I hope this helps, the work is excellent.

Best,
Iliya

[Iliya Mirochnik]

Hey Andre,

I’m really liking the paint handling and colors in this last portrait. I also quite like the face and head. I just wanted to do a draw-over for some important corrections that need to be done in the figure. They’re mainly just about nudging some stuff into place but I think with these changes made, this could really become a solid figure painting. Now I did these changes without the reference, so it’s just from my own understanding of proportions and anatomy. But do check my corrections against the reference you’re using.

Good luck! And I’ll be checking in!

Iliya

[Iliya Mirochnik]

Hi Beth,

 

It’s Iliya again! This portrait is not as bad as you think, and I totally agree with Erik, give yourself a break and just keep practicing. The thing to try is to work on some quicker portraits where you’re only trying to get the essentials. By that I mean the big light and shadow tonal relationship, and the fundamental planar structures. I did a little draw over showing how I would have simplified your drawing. This way, you don’t have to get caught in a lot of the specifics too soon, like the neck ,eyes etc. I’m not saying that’s not important, but it’ll only make sense within the big forms and relationships.

Just keep at it!

Best,

Iliya

Also, I’d recommend checking out my course on NMA.

[Iliya Mirochnik]

Hi Andres,

Good job marching through the Bargue plates! I want to recommend a slightly different procedure to situations where there are a lot variations in the shadows. Basically, it’s very easy to get caught up in those variations and have them affect the halftones later. So as a rule, either in the Bargue plates, or something a bit more academic, French, Italian, Russian, or whatever, is to get the general tone of the reflected lights blocked in first (as the flat value of the shadow) and then gradually push the darks where they need to be pushed. That way you’ll never have to erase, and you’ll be much more in control of the value relationships.

Keep up the great work,

Iliya

[Iliya Mirochnik]

Hi Shazad,

I’m a really big fan of the rendering on these legs, but this drawing would be better if the proportions were more carefully considered at an earlier stage of the drawing. A lot of the small proportions, the placement of the muscles, are quite good, but the legs are too wide overall. All you needed to do here is to make sure to take the bones’ width in the main bony landmark areas and transfer them onto the ecorche. For example, in the front view of the ecorche, the ankle is as wide as the gastrocnemius’ widest point, which just can’t happen.

The proportions of the ankles and the knees are much more correct in the bones you drew on the left, although the tibia is a bit. A nice measurement to remember is that the tibia and calcaneus are as long as the femur (condyles to greater trochanter).

In general, as I said, I quite like the rendering of the legs as a whole, as well as the individual muscles in relation to their groups and the full leg, but spend a little longer measuring and making sure the proportions are accurate.

I’ll be checking in to see more of your great work!
Iliya

[Iliya Mirochnik]

Hi Elizabeth,

The work ethic and progress so clearly on display here is incredible. I think you’re doing a great job with my course. The portrait of Mark is looking quite good but do check the length of the nose and the bridge (nasion-glabella area). The mouth seems a bit too wide as well. I do like how you handled the values there, as, due to the medium (as well as the subject matter), it is difficult to get those soft transitions while still showing the form. The clavicle is well defined, but make sure to figure out where you are to it. We’re looking at it straight on, or even slightly from below, so that the S-curve is harder to spot or is reversed. In the pencil studies, do everything you’re doing, but try to slightly bring your shadows together and then pull your halftones apart. The drawings are a little fragmentary for that reason.

Keep up the great work, and I can’t wait to see your further progress on my course. I’ll be checking in with comments and draw-overs as always.

Best,
Iliya

[Iliya Mirochnik]

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