EASEL OF Michael Rea
You must be logged in to critique
CRITFeedback for Image 2
-
Abbi on August 2, 2018 at 2:24 pm
Overall, if you like a certain “look,” I generally say go for it, even if it’s not what most other artists do. That said, as a matter of personal taste, there are some darker, small marks on this portrait that grab my attention and detract a little bit from the subject. For instance, those couple of dark strokes under the left (our right) eye, around the bridge of the nose, and around the eyebrows. I think those marks might work better with the loose style if they were less pronounced; maybe lighter or less opaque.
Log in to Reply-
michaelrea on August 3, 2018 at 4:48 am
Thanks very much Abbi! You’re right about the marks – I painted this a while ago and I can see a lot of what you’re talking about. I’m primarily a pencil, mark-making sort of artist, and am having a hard time translating that into digital oils (specifically letting the under-drawing go and letting blended gradients take over from linework). This was my first go doing a painted portrait, so your comments are really helpful – and now I take another look at the hair I can see it’s nowhere near complete. 🙂
Log in to Reply
-
You must be logged in to critique
CRITFeedback for Image 1
-
Abbi on August 2, 2018 at 2:26 pm
To me, this is a great example of a minimalist, rough style that still looks intentional. It’s very studied and balanced; it feels like you omitted elements by design, rather than simply because you got tired of rendering.
Log in to Reply
Michael Rea
Illustrator from Farnham, UK. Published work by Marvel & Image Comics, and a variety of record labels.
I am open to critique
I WOULD LIKE HELP WITH
All crits appreciated! I think I seem to consider things 'finished' at a much earlier stage than some other artists here - I really enjoy working in pencil more than paints, and like the spontaneity of loose lines and the power of negative space, so things end up a little minimal. Am I leaving my pictures too soon?
Love the variety of styles and mediums! The paintings do feel a bit unfinished. It may be due to the edges and strokes not following the form enough and textures being in the wrong place. Maybe doing some Sargent studies can help build that minimalist feel yet still feel refined.
As for the portrait drawing, maybe using more variety in the thickness of your lines and values in the hair can make it look cleaner. Great job overall, keep up the great effort!
Thanks a lot for the comment! Really helpful about the edges – now I revisit the pics I can see there’s an uncertainty or an unwillingness to commit to a clear edge that could definitely be improved.
Quite right about the need for more variety in line thickness too – I’d added a little extra thickness at the very end to the curve of Billie Holiday’s collar, and that made that line sing – I’ll look out for more opportunities for that in the future. Thanks!