Kaylon at Ole Miss
 

I'm stuck. I can not decide where to go next. Whether or not to add a background, complete the bricks or add a touch of color (my husband's suggestion!). I have played around in Photoshop to no avail. The piece is 15" x 21" and is prisma pencil on toned paper. The face is perfect. I ran out a transparency sheet and laid it on top to check it. She makes that expression all of the time. A slight tilt of the chin downward and a "I don't feel like posing" attitude.

Help!

Rebecca

Reference Photo

My husband thinks it is a shame not to emphasize those ice blue eyes. As her mother I can assure you they are gorgeous!

Rebecca,

Well done on a darling little girl! I don't think you need to add color to this drawing because her eyes shine the way they are. Think about adding the tree. Even though it changes the triangle compostition, it will add a layer of darkness and I like the way it frames her. You may want to soften the edges between your daughter and the wall/background so she will look like "part" of the scene and not cut and pasted.

Excellent drawing!

Good luck,
Renee Price

Thanks, Renee. It always help to have another "artistic" opinion. Not that I don't trust my husband's. Here is a detail of her face.

Rebecca Willoughby

You might try a simple cracked stucco wall effect in one or three scattered spots behind her just to give her some backing. You could even show a brick or two through the cracked stucco. Just an idea. I like keeping it simple and focused on the girl. I does sort of beg for some sort of reference behind her. Great drawing.

Nice careful work Rebecca.

Maybe, a bit too careful. You could afford to have a little more fun with your pencil so that your lines would show up a bit. It seems a bit stiff, or rigid. Look at the legs and the bench. They are just a bit woody, or flat.

Sometime you should just let your hands cut loose and make some lines without worrying too much about them. You have a lot of ability. You just need to relax and let your lines come out with a little flamboyance.

It is a matter of style, I guess. A drawing can afford to have a little texture and lines. If you work the lines away, it is like overcooking the soup. You lose the individual flavors.

Maybe seeing the piece with some foliage in the background will take away the overcooked soup idea. Personally, I enjoy seeing great care and detail in a work of art.

No, Rochelle, you seem to have missed the point of everyone's comments. In essence, you have done an excellent job in copying a photograph (a two-dimensional picture). In doing a drawing, the artist is attempting to perform the task of making the two-dimensional object to look three-dimensional. It is your edges and values in the drawing that do this. When two surfaces appear to overlap each other, they form an edge. Based on the values of those surfaces, the edge will appear to be hard, soft or non-existent. When the values and tones of the surfaces are the same, the edge blends in with them.

So, the drawing is near perfect as far as producing a copy. However, if you wish to give it some volume, you will have to make some of the edges darker, lighter or even disappear where the values call for it. You can add some background. I would suggest just a hint by doing a light outline of something in the background. I wouldn't overdo it.

This is a rough of what my comment mean. I hope that it helps.

Well, Mr. Martinez, If I've photocopied a paragraph I really wasn't aware of that, I thought my paragraph was original.

Additionally, it seems that you have taken the liberty to go over someone else's work with, what is to me, a rough hand. I still prefer to look at the first presentation and wait anxiously to see what this capable artist will come up with.

Thank you for your effort, I'm sure you mean well.

I think Mr. Martinez meant to direct his comment to Rebecca, the artist, mistaking Rochelle for the artist.

Tom, your critique is in line with mine. We are of the old school, where line technique was more the focus. Perhaps the old school is for the old students. Critiques are only as good as the value placed on them.

In some way, the modernists were right, who complained if you copy a photo, you just have a copy of a photo, not art. In my view, it is the line that makes the art. Otherwise, your work is just like everybody else's who copies for photorealism.

OK, I owe you girls an apology. I'm sorry I got the names confused. Please forgive me, no malice intended. It's a bitch to get old.

Anyway, I'm not trying to change Rebecca's drawing. Just trying to illustrate my comments.

Thanks to all of you for the suggestions and artistic conversation about my work. I was just reading a post by Peggy Baumgaertner under the Paints, Mediums, Techniques and Composition section. The original thread was "Pencil drawing technique question" by Matt Terhune. She discusses her sauce and charcoal works. I believe that discussion is relevent here because it describes my aim with my colored pencil techniques. I am aiming to paint with the pencils instead of just drawing with them. Perhaps I should start using the word "painting" instead of "drawing" to describe this work? I have noticed that Ann Kullberg, whose work appears on this site, uses the same materials as I do and she call her works paintings. Of course I do not claim to be near as proficient with the medium as she, but I am working on it.

Thanks again for all of the great conversation. I will post the final product when it is finished. Until then it is great to hear the input from professionals like yourselves and I would greatly appreciate further comments!

Rebecca

Just to throw in an extra two cents, I wasn't advocating a straight copy of the photo. It is clear, at least to me, that Rebecca's drawing is NOT an exact copy but a careful, delicate interperation of what she was seeing. A strong, quick man's hand has a different style than a loving (and talented) mother's touch.

Rebecca, I'm really looking forward to seeing the work.

Missing links
 

The two top images are not coming through at all for me.

The detail is delightful, and I think the Photoshop version shows a good direction to take softly into the background. I would make those "edge decisions" first, and work the background to suit.

The light source is evidently from the left side of paper. The backgound could support that. You may decide to dramatize the shadows on your subject a tad more also.

I would NOT add color! This has a life of its own. Perhaps you could try the same subject with pastels for a different look?

Tom,

I do greatly appreciate your input into my work. I am open to all opinions and critiques. Please continue to offer your two cents or twenty thousand cents whenever you want! There is definitely an ear that is listening!

Lon,

Old school, new school or any school, I will gladly take your advice any day. "Experience is never cast casually aside without consequence". That quote came from Rosa Mae Kinchen, my great greandmother! Thank you!

Rochelle and Jeanine,

Thank you for the compliments and the suggestions. I will definitely take them under advisement as I forge ahead with this piece. I will post the final (or close to it) product soon.

Rebecca