Patricia McCarty 05 Nov 2006

AWWWWWWW sooooo cute!!! Such a well done peice I haven't done a pencle like that in so long I fear I may have forgotten how, Lovely work!

JANIE THOMPSON-LIDE 05 Nov 2006

Sweet. I would just add the baby's right shoulder. Very well done.

Jill Kettles 05 Nov 2006

Very good rendering. I would continue the rest of the drawing, you have put alot of work in to already. The use of pencil is great!

tony murray 05 Nov 2006

Not really sure. The mothers arm would clearly be the object of second focus here since the baby is done with such perfection. I guess now that I look at it more I would try and make it an all encomposing arm withou any finger detail so as to envolope the child. More of a bosom than an arm feature might be best here. It is difficult to critique this since it is already so very good!

Linda Eades Blackburn 06 Nov 2006

I really like this and would just continue to add the right shoulder as suggested by Janie and let the side fade out. I would pretty much leave the hand as is. Render to the elbow and fade to hand. When I have trouble with something like this, I play with it in photoshop, or print out the pic and work on the print to get an idea of what it will look like. You can take it back on the puter, but not on the original. It's lovely, so don't over work it.

Steph Salt 06 Nov 2006

She is sweet, I love the expression Laura, it's beautifully drawn.

Why not add a soft toy? If you know the mother and child, then you could maybe ask if you could have a photo of her favourite toy, and draw that in under her hand. That way you will be adding a really personal item to the portrait, and that always improves them.

Laura Smith 06 Nov 2006

The toy is a great idea. I have emailed the mother to ask her to send me a photo of a favorite toy if possible. I don't think there was one in the photographs she sent me initially.

Thanks!

Jamie Atkinson 06 Nov 2006

Hi Laura, just stopped by to tell ya that this is a great drawing!

Nice soft tones and great job on the hat!

Laura Smith 06 Nov 2006

Thank you Jamie

I just heard back from Ella's mother. She has a little lamb that her grandparents gave her (this portrait is a gift for them) and she adores it. Her mother is gonna try to take some photos of the lamb. I think that would be perfect depending on how well I can fit it into the composition that is already there.

I think it *sounds* great! I hope I can pull it off! =/

Benjamin Sullivan 06 Nov 2006

This is my Baby!!!

Laura Smith 06 Nov 2006

Hahaha... Sully you nut!!!

jennifer blenkinsopp 06 Nov 2006

Laura what a lovely drawing she is adorable, the lamb will be a perfect addition, especially has her grandparents bought it and the drawing is for them, looking forward to seeing it done.

Laura Smith 06 Nov 2006

Well.. there's this one...

Laura Smith 06 Nov 2006

Or... This one.. hmmm...

Jeane Nevarez 06 Nov 2006

She is so beautiful! Your details are great, especially that hat. (It would drive me mad to work that all out) I can't wait to see the lamb in there, it's going to look really adorable.

Steph Salt 07 Nov 2006

That will be great Laura, I'll try and fit it in digitally for you

Steph Salt 07 Nov 2006

Heres the first one Laura

Steph Salt 07 Nov 2006

And the second one, see which one you prefer, and you can use as a reference, but just remember to bury her fingers in the lambs fleece or it will look wrong :).

JANIE THOMPSON-LIDE 07 Nov 2006

Oh Steph. I like your first suggestion with the lamb facing out. Laura, I think it would be perfect!

Laura Smith 07 Nov 2006

Ok.. here's what I got. I went with your first idea there Steph... this was a PERFECT solution I think...

Trying to avoid erasing areas I had already done... I positioned the lamb a little lower figuring she's just a baby and probably wouldn't be holding the lamb perfectly anyway. Her little hand is across his nose.. probably an easy area to grab and hold onto.

My hubby says I did a really shoddy job with the hair on the lamb.. IOW I got lazy with my detail so I will go back in and re-develop it later. I spent the whole evening helping the kids with homework tonight.

Howz it looking now?

I still have to finish her hand and shirt... and do something below the lamb to finish it out.