[Leo Di Fraia]

Definitely captured a sense of motion with these. I enjoy your last one the most. Feels like an animation in between because of the missing hands and feet.

[Leo Di Fraia]

Lovely rendering particularly in the legs.
Perhaps a bit too much reflected light in the calves? The breast also seems a bit too light. I would like to see it handled more like you did the hips.

Finally something strange is happening with the facial features. The mouth appears smaller than the width of the nose and the eye might be too far from the nose?

Am I nitpicking? Yes, but I think you earned it.

[Leo Di Fraia]

Woof woof. I think you got a good likeness ;->

Kidding aside, the head and paws are phenomenal.

What I’d like to ask you is…

If you know you’re afraid of the dark (and that there are no monsters in the dark,) isn’t it time you started to use your rational mind and darken the areas that need darkening? (Cough Cough…the shadow sides of the form)

When it comes to light/white objects:

1. A good rule of thumb… a dark object in the light is brighter than a light object in the shadow. A good reminder of that is looking at the moon. That is an example of a light object getting completely swallowed by the shadow.
2. The white of the paper is a given. By expanding the scale toward the dark side, you will gain many more levels in between allowing you to easily separate the light and shadow sides of the white fur.

May I suggest you look at photographs by Ansel Adams. He designed/invented a whole system of developing photos so that he was able to reach the darkest darks and brightest lights in each print. The consequence is that each photograph is a symphony in itself.

Another suggestion is to start using compressed charcoal sticks… a 6B will do nicely to help you confront your fears. :-> Try working out a value scale first.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Leo Di Fraia.

[Leo Di Fraia]

Coming along well. I particularly like the bottom plane of the nose. The values and marks work to create just enough reflected light there. You could work on strengthening the shadows, but maybe that’s just a problem with the photo. If you’re looking for ideas about what to focus on next, I would work to create more consistency in your crosshatching particularly in the light values.

[Leo Di Fraia]

I agree. You do nice portraits.

[Leo Di Fraia]

Hi Tanmay.
Nice overall proportions and good use of the toned paper.
I’d like to suggest a clearer definition of the highlight shapes. They seem for the most part to end too abruptly and in many cases, they have offshoots that do not reflect the underlying form.

[Leo Di Fraia]

Who said art had to be beautiful? :-> Well done.

[Leo Di Fraia]

Great mark-making. Are you using vine or compressed charcoal? Have you thought about putting a tone in the background? The fingerprints are distracting. I do like the smudging behind the hair of the bottom portrait. Maybe more of that would attractive.

[Leo Di Fraia]

Nice shapes, good brushwork. Somehow you lost confidence on the face. This may sound harsh, but I would wipe and re-paint the face. Don’t think of it as your father, think only of the shapes you’re painting. Keep it loose like the rest of the image.

[Leo Di Fraia]

Hi Tim,

Check your reference image for this, but I feel the sky and shadows are too alike in value.

[Leo Di Fraia]

Short beards are tough. Try laying some skin color first and then dry brushing (maybe with a fan or splayed brush) the hair in. Also, use less white and more gray. Reserve the white for highlights/accents. Don’t use it for the local hair color.

The likeness is quite good.

[Leo Di Fraia]

Hi Roman,

My two cents would be to:

• Decrease the saturation and texture in the sky. Keep the focus on the cougar.
• Work on increasing the effect of the light on the cougar. The form is pretty flat in the light.
• Introduce some bluish reflected light in the shadow.
• The texture of the canvas is really fighting you. What caused the gouges? (Work larger or on smoother surface next time?)
• Loving the cougar’s face – particularly the sense of warm light reflecting from the rock surface and cools from the sky. Maybe that’s what the body needs.

[Author]

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