Hamlet in Modern Dress
 

Okay, John, swallow hard, take a few deep breaths, and hit the "submit" button. My first attachment. This is a student of mine, the title is self-explanatory. It was done from a series of sketches and life studies (the advantage of having acting students available to pose). It's 24" x "36, oil on canvas. I've struggled a bit with Photoshop to get the colors matching, and the difference between the whole and the head detail shows I've had only limited success. I consider this still a work in progress, and am going to continue to tinker and even make major revisions if necessary, so go ahead and have at it if you wish. -- John C.

Could you please post your reference photo (assuming this was not done from life)? That will make it a lot easier for someone to give you a meaningful critique.

John, this is a vey nice first post, a very haunting and hamletic expression indeed.

I suggest that you have a look at the followings:
The body looks a little flat, specially it looks as there is a part of the trousers missing from behind.

Maybe you could also soften the edges against the background, to give it more volume.

In the face I think the upper lip is too dark and sharp,it contrasts with the eyes that are very expressive instead.

Good luck, keep us updated.

Ilaria

No reference photo
 

Thanks, Ilaria, for the comments, they'll be useful.

Michele, as I mentioned in my original post, this was done from a number of quick gestural sketches and a couple of sittings, then finished without the model. There's no reference photo. I do have a headshot of David, the kind used by actors, but it wasn't a reference and only shows that the likeness is pretty good.

A quick note about the title. I didn't intend that it is literally David playing Hamlet. I like to think of a portrait metaphorically as a "frame" from an imaginary film or play that is the subject's life, with the subject, of course, playing him or herself and me as an out-of-frame character (though it doesn't require the subject to be looking at me). In this case, I see a lot of Hamlet in David, rather than David in the role of Hamlet, if that makes sense.

John C.

Sorry, I missed that in your original post.