New ET portrait...

[Vanthoff]

I did this ET for a friend of mine. I don’t do that many portraits and this one was more of a trial and error work. I experimented with different glazing techniques in the shadows. The subject has very tan skin and I had to compensate for it. The portrait is a little conservative for my tastes but that’s how he is. It is 18" x 26"

http://www.eggtempera.com/forumimages/derekbond.jpg

[Bert Congdon]

Just great, but I think your teeth are too white. If you made your collar gray, then you could add highlights by adding white.

[PhilS]

Great job, Vanthoff! The expression is natural and the skin tones beautifully rendered.
I would like to see a more gradual transition from dark to light in the background to eliminate that stripe running down into the top of his head. Beyond that, I can't see anything else I would change.
Thanks for sharing it with us.
Phil

[maplebrush]

I'm with Phil on your technique. Your friend is beautifully rendered. I think I would like to embelish on his suggestion about the dark to light. Not only does it come right down the middle of his head, but compositionally, it divides the plane almst perfectly in half, a compositional no-no in alot of circles. Perhaps arching and angling that shadow down from right to left so it's at a 30 degree angle and doesn't come out of the top of his head may work. It may add a little tension, draw the eye to the portrait rather than up and away from the portrait and really empahisize all that beautiful ET technique.

-M

[extraordinegg]

Nice! I like the tonal quality. It somehow reminds me of Hockney meets Wyeth. I would keep the collar white for value punch.

[Dimitris C. Milionis]

Excellent !

[JanMoore]

Critique should include helpful criticism. Therefore, I must mention that this portrait looks too much like it was done from a photograph -- it includes all of the distortion and "flattening" of a photo. The proportions of the shoulders to the head bother me immensely.

My suggestion is to practice with still lifes until you can make the transition from photo to real life. Set up a still life with objects of different shapes - cubes, spheres, etc. Take a photo of it, but leave the set-up in front of you while you paint. Make your measurements from both the photo and the live set-up and analize the differences.

Another tip: when painting rounded shapes, think about the shape in real life and mentally paint that shape by having your strokes follow the contours around. Remember that the edges extend to the back and are not sharp.

Hope this helps.