Ann 03 Jan 2010

Victoria, I think you did a very good job of him. You nailed the softness of his hat. I think his placement is good, and I don't think you would want a background competing with this nice portrait. One thing I'd like to see is more of his jacket coming down just a little lower to fill in the empty area at the bottom. (either that, or crop it off a little) Ann

W. James Taylor 03 Jan 2010

very nice drawing ...good composition , you could finish a little more of the shoulder on the left side and no back ground is needed...i like the texture very much ..... great job

WESTERN ARTWORK By Denny Karchner 04 Jan 2010

Hi Victoria.

First, I think you did a fantastic job!

I do agree with Ann and James on their suggestions but I have a couple of suggestions too. I have had others ask me how I get my pencils to look like the reference. I feel the main reason for that is, many artists won't address the contrast. They draw very lightly without the commitment to take the chance of ruining a piece because an eraser won't pick it up. If I see an area that looks black or very dark, I draw it that way. I use a 6B and 8B almost exclusively which is real soft and you don't need to press as hard to achieve blacks but I can still get my lights with the same pencils. I also use the white of the board for many of my highlights. Speaking of board, I always use an illustration board, never paper. My reasoning is, if I am going to spend the time to do a drawing, I want it to be more permanent than paper. Most papers will yellow eventually, the "Crescent" heavyweight illustration boards do not. BTW, they are not that expensive. Another thing, you aren't trying to to rest your hand on those spiral ring binders.

One more thing, this is more of a technique that I use. If you look at my pencils you will see that I use a tremendous amount of blending. I use blending tortillons, kleenex and even my fingers to smooth out many surfaces like the skin or shiny metal surfaces. If you are looking for a photorealistic effect, this will help, but if you want more of the hand drawn look, you are doing fine.

http://www.karchnerwesternart.com/

But don't be afraid to "push harder" to get more contrast.

Good luck Victoria!

Denny

Victoria Rowan 08 Jan 2010

Hi Ann, Thank you! Working on his jacket to bring it down lower is something I definitely will do now. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it. Victoria

Victoria Rowan 08 Jan 2010

Hi James, I would like to thank you for your encouraging comments, it's such a help. I appreciate your suggestion of how I may make this drawing better! Victoria

Victoria Rowan 08 Jan 2010

Hi Denny, ...what can I say! I was overwhelmed by the kindness and thoughtfulness of your critique. You have given me an abundance of information here, thank you for giving me so much to think about. My interest in pencil drawing has gone up quite a few notches now! That little spark that got me drawing Pete Duel, well I can believe it is going to grow. Thank you so much! BTW I went to view drawings in your gallery here and I think they're so great ... I'm planning to look some more, and want to see the tutorials too. Victoria

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