After a long break .....

[victorvector]

Hello everyone.

It`s been a while since I have done any drawing , and you don`t realize just how rusty you get from lack of practice.

The medium is Derwent Artist`s Pencils , on black wet and dry paper . I like this ground because it can hold a lot of the pencil`s pigment.

I would like to invite some constructive criticism .

I apologize for the poor pictures , I only have a cheap phone camera at present.

Portrait attempt :

[Tegan_Lake]

I like step three the most - so much, I thought you were almost done!

Since you said you wanted "constructive criticism", I did a quick paint over for you to illustrate what all the rambling below is supposed to mean. It is based off step three ( I just love using colorful shadows - probably why it called out to me!).

Critique:

The proportions are good. I only did minor tweaks to structure. The nose is still slightly crooked, but people rarely have perfectly symmetrical faces. The forehead is a bit on the short side but not unrealistic.

The main issue is tone - the light and shadow. One trick to make the tones easier to see (especially if you've been staring at your drawing all day!) is to turn it black and white. Since you are using pencils (and don't have a handy "desaturate" button to press!) you can try wearing tinted glasses or putting tinted plastic wrap over the work to make everything appear to be one tone when ever you'd like to check. Or, possibly your phone has an option to snap black and white photos (though it might be a small screen for details)...

When you check the tones on this piece, you can see the main issues: the bridge of the nose has become pinched, the shadow on the forehead has too much contrast and the direction of the light is muddled - mostly on the right cheek.

Overall:

You're doing a great job, you just want to work on those tones a bit more. The closer you get to photorealism, the more every little ridiculously tiny tonal inconsistency will stick out - especially on a face!

I hope these tips will help you - keep up the good work!

[victorvector]

Your comments are greatly appreciated , it`s very helpful to have " another eye " look over something .
I think you are right about everything you have said here , and I can now see see the issue with the light. .
The nose needs more symmetry as you say , and the forehead does look a little short.
You did a great job with the paint over. I think I have learned more from your comments than I could have from weeks of practice.

Thank you so much Tegan , its all very helpful..

[Tegan_Lake]

Thank you. I'm just glad you found it helpful.