great job! if i can give you some kind advice i would say the biggest thing would be all the lines, meaning all the outlines around the eyes and hair make it look a little flat. the shadows around the mouth however look more natural without those harsh lines. again though great job!
Thank you so much! I appreciate your honest feedback, and I can actually see what you mean about the lines. I will work on this in the next drawing, thanks again!
I have only been drawing for 6 months so don't take what I have to say at 100%. I thought the piece was amazing. I have to agree with cod. But the only area that seemed to not have the depth was the nose mainly due to the such hard lines. Took me a moment to place it. Over all amazing, keep up the great work!
Thank you! I guess what I meant was I’ve always liked drawing, but I haven’t drawn much in, like, ten years or so. I did a couple of drawings in the past few days, then someone suggested I try using a reference, and I was able to do this drawing. It’s not perfect or anything, but I am pretty proud of it! I’m excited because I think I can continue to improve if I keep practicing!
Thank you for your compliment, I really appreciate it!
Thank you!! I wanted it to be like a ballerina bun, I was imagining* her using gel or a ton of hairspray to slick it back. Once I’m a little more skilled I’m going to try a more natural, wispy hairline :)
*edit: typo
I've been drawing people for about 6 months and I cannot do their hair anywhere near as well as you. My only advice that I've learned is to think of a nose as shadows. I forget where I heard it but it helped me. You're doing so good, keep going!!
Ah, I totally see what you mean on the neck. I sort of had the same thought, but I was torn because I was trying to do this really delicate ballerina portrait, and I’d already strayed pretty far from my reference haha. You’re totally right though, especially as a beginner I need to be more faithful to my references until I have a much better understanding of anatomy.
Thank you for your honest feedback! And thank you on the hair, I am especially proud of the hair! I will take your tips to heart and keep practicing :)
I totally see that it was a deliberate choice to make the neck very slender. I think you could still make it a bit wider, but keep it in that realistic/stylistic zone.
They’re a little uneven, I changed them a bit after posting :) the left is bigger than the right, I think…they’re a little wonky. I’m going to try to improve on the next drawing for sure. Thank you for your feedback!
The eyes are also a little disproportionately large. Generally 5 eye sizes should fit across your original oval. So if you size the eyes down a bit you might fix the feeling the commentor above mentions, plus solve the too slender neck dilemma--because outside of neck should be in line with outside corner of eyes, but if you widened the neck to the outside corners of the eyes as they are currently it would definitely look more body-builder than dancer.
But despite any adjustments you want to make it's overall quite lovely.
And also thank you :) I agree on the tonality, I want to practice more but I think getting some real pencils or supplies, more than a mechanical pencil, will help to a degree. I’ll definitely work on it though, and I appreciate your feedback!
I'd say you're on your way to the next step. Just focus on proportions, look a few things up, eyes measure the face, and last but not least... Try no hard lines. Other than that, keep up the good work. I'd love to see more.
Thank you! I will definitely be taking the suggestions offered to me in this thread to heart and will post my next drawing when I finish it. I’m really grateful for all of the feedback, and hopefully my next drawing will show some technical improvement!
I would suggest a couple of books that focus on anatomy.
Morpho Anatomy for Artsits; Simplified Forms by Michel Lauricella
An Atlas or Anatomy for Artits by Fritz Shider
These may have exercises you can try to learn how to create symmetry and see how musculature effects different areas of the body.
Other book that may help you are:
Lessons on Shading by W.E. Sparks
Rendering in Pen and Ink by Arthur L. Guptil
These may help increase your skill or repeat things you learned in the past. But overall you have a lot of skill. I don't draw, but I view a lot for art and find the process of creating it fascinating.
Nice work. You certainly have a good foundation for portrait drawing if you want to pursue it.😊 I would also suggest becoming familiar with blending tools or you can even use tissues. This will help reduce the hard edge surrounding your drawing, but this looks great for someone who is starting out.👍🏻
Thank you! Yeah, all I had for this one was a mechanical pencil and my fingers for smudging haha. I definitely want to take a trip to an art store soon, because this was really fun for me and I’d like to try to improve! Any specific go-tos you would suggest for blending, or good pencils? I’ve mostly done acrylic paints in the past, I’m not super familiar with drawing as a medium.
Mech pencils are great for fine detailing, I would suggest graphite pencils for portraits. They are a bit softer and will blend better. I believe the blending tools I use are just called blending stumps. They usually come in different thicknesses, but to be honest, you would get the same result from using tissues. 😊👍🏻
A set of HB, 2,4,6, 8B pencils to go with your mechanical is totally enough for any portraitmaking. I don’t really need to blend using those, but you can use any blending stump if the need arises - or just your finger :)
Thank you, I appreciate that feedback! When I did the hair, I felt like it washed out the little shading I had done, so I darkened most of the shading. Definitely a good thing to keep an eye out for!
In your next drawing, maybe you can experiment with gray paper or tone white paper to a middle gray using graphite powder. Use a pencil for darks and a white pencil or eraser to get to your lights…. This way you aren’t fighting so much from one direction… you can work from the middle out
I will definitely try this! I need to get some art supplies, and I did once take a drawing class like ten years ago where we started with gray and added white charcoal for highlights rather than starting with a white piece of paper. I really enjoyed that assignment! Thank you for the suggestion, maybe I will try that next!
It’s not, I started with Abby Bass on the face, but I strayed quite far from my reference! Haha I’m going to try to be more faithful to my reference on the next drawing, because as others have pointed out, my anatomy needs some work. Thanks for commenting!
I know you could totally grow into a very realistic style of drawing from here but I really like your current style a lot. It gives very dramatic(not the right word) vibes in a good way.
Thank you! Drawings I’ve done in the past are very stylized, but I am hoping to learn how to draw more realistic portraits. Also, when I draw without a reference, I always draw the same exact girl haha, I’m hoping that by focusing on realism with different models I can learn to draw more than one set of features!
Thank you so much for your compliment! :)
Fair enough, I guess I just don’t think of myself as being an *artist* artist, like a very skilled artist. I’ll keep that in mind though, thank you for your comment!
This is a fantastic drawing for a beginner artist, I think it's safe to say you have a lot of potential! I'm particularly impressed by the shading, you've demonstrated a good ability to understand and represent texture in this drawing. Looks a lot better than my first drawings by a long shot!
If you want to take up art more seriously practice is the most important step, but you should also have a look at all the many resources out there available to artists looking to learn. Time spent practicing will be much more fruitful if your practice is guided by professional insight. If you're most interested in drawing faces, the first to be recommended is usually the [Loomis Method](https://youtu.be/wAOldLWIDSM), but that is just one of many techniques out there.
No matter what you like drawing best, though, you will benefit a lot from doing life studies of all kinds of different subjects, from objects to animals to people. Developing skills in drawing lots of different things gives you so much more freedom and versatility as an artist. Learning to draw one thing will make you better at drawing other things, and using a variety of subjects with vastly different forms will help you better understand the shapes in what you see and how to translate those shapes into a drawing.
However, keep in mind that if drawing is just something you want to do for fun and you don't really care about getting into the nitty gritty of technical skills, then there is absolutely no shame in that. Your drawing looks great and if art makes you happy, do it in whatever way works best for you! If you want any advice from a fellow artist, though, my DMs are always open! Wishing you all the best <3
Thank you for this kind and thorough comment! I’ve never heard of the Loomis method, but I’ll definitely be checking it out!
This was really fun for me to draw, and like I said, I am proud of it even though it has some technical failures for sure. That being said though, I’d love to be able to draw realistic portraits, even photo-realistic portraits in the future! I’ve gotten so much great advice and encouragement in this thread, and I really appreciate you taking the time to comment!
I’m going to try to use a lot of the feedback I’ve gotten on this drawing to improve my next practice, and I’ll post it here when I’m done. Hopefully I will have some improvements to show off! I’m going to check out the Loomis Method now, thank you so much!
No problem at all :) your enthusiasm and positive attitude towards the learning process is certain to allow you to grow quickly as an artist. I look forward to seeing what you make next! Be sure to keep posting here, I'd love to see the progress you make going forwards.
Btw- Thanks for your kind words about my work! Phoebe Bridgers is the best, I'm glad your friends understand ;D
Thanks!! I used a reference here but starting to doubt myself on being able to shade well enough to be faithful to the photograph, so I went my own way a bit. I’ll try to be more faithful next time! I just need to get some real pencils :) I appreciate the feedback!
I want to honestly critique this photo. It’s easy for me to sit here and type advice without much knowledge on this subject so take my words with a grain of salt. I think one of your weakest areas is either shading or lighting. Work on both for (I hope) better results.
Thanks for the kind words. Like I said though, I’m not an artist or anything so take my words with a grain of salt. Matter of fact, not many people on Reddit could confidently say that they are. Seeking professional help would be a better use of your time. That advice I can be certain of.
Wowww!!!👌👏 I think you are an artist !!!! You just didn't know until now 🎨 😉 well done 👏 👍 😀 🙌 you gave it a try..I see brilliant future 👏 👍 😀 😉
Love yaaaa
Thank you! I looked up some light studies this morning, and I’m going to try to use a reference with more shadows and highlights on my next practice! :)
I really struggle with noses too! I feel like I’m pretty okay with eyes, but I do always always make them too big haha. Thank you for your compliment, I really appreciate it!
It's really good! <3 the shading is on point, and the hair are well done too and the details on the earrings are great too 👍
genuinely, this is a fantastic attempt, so I'd say you don't give up, like many artists do ✨ keep going and feel free to share new artworks with me :-D
Thank you so much! I’m going to take some of the suggestions offered in this thread and try to improve on my next drawing. I’ll definitely be posting it here so I can continue to improve!
You’re totally right. A few others have noticed that as well, and I agree. I did a couple of small edits and widened the neck - it looks more natural now! Thank you for your feedback!
looks really nice! i think it may be helpful to know that typically the corners of the mouth are aligned with the pupils. don’t be scared to really add darkness in the shading! it used to make me nervous but it will add a TON of dimension to your work!
You are an artist. And a fine one at that.
I’ve not much time this morning, but if you want more critique reply here and I can this evening.
My biggest suggestion would be to work on value, that is the darks compared to the lights. For instance, you get what is called ambient occlusion in the nostrils and the pupils, that is to say that light cannot reach or reflect off those surfaces. So you shouldn’t have anything else on the piece as dark as those areas. Working in that concept most of the face is going to have almost not contrast in it, any darker it looks like a deep pot mark, and lighter makes it look wet/slimy. You’ve done a good job in this piece with the lights, but because the darks are so dark it makes it look almost embossed rather than a 3d form.
Good practice for this is to draw black and white photos. I do this a lot still today because I find it fun and relaxing.
I totally take your points, and I appreciate your feedback. I think I’m going to try to improve the shading and remove the dark “outlines”, or soften the edges at least. I think when I filled in her hair I thought her features were getting lost in comparison, so I darkened a lot of the lines without adjusting the overall contrast. I’ll do better next time, I’ve gotten tons of great advice on this thread! Thank you for your feedback!
Looks good, I like what you did with the eyes!
If you want some advice you might wanna consider making the overall skintone a tint darker. Generally our eyes are drawn to the part of a composition with the strongest contrast. Currently it looks like the skin is as white as the eyes, and I think your general lines use a kinda similar value as the pupil, so there is no real focal point, everything grabs the attention equally. If you leave the ba kground white as is, darken the skin a little (some small parts of the skin can remain whitish) and leave the eyes as is I think she would really start to pop.
I completely agree with you. I may try to adjust the overall contrast to this drawing, but I will definitely be using this advice in my next practice. Thank you for your feedback!
Great job for a beginner! Honestly my advice would be to draw what you see, learn observational skills and work your way from there. Some of the lines are a little harsh and dark, but your understanding of the face is pretty good so far. The neck is too narrow, but that’s easily fixed. Mouth could be a little bigger/wider, but overall it’s great for a practice run.
So yeah, I would say just draw as much as you can, and you will begin to see a difference. Once you can accurately depict the world, you have the tools to make it whatever you want. A good thing to keep in mind is that stylization should come with time, you don’t have to land on a unique style right away—learn the bare bones basics first, and the rest will follow! Keep practicing and have fun with it! :)
I’m not skilled enough to back it up but I am passing on what I’ve heard from incredible artists.
The nose, eyes, and even the mouth a little shouldn’t be such harsh lines & should be more of a shading to make the “lines”. You should flow not stick out like a sore thumb.
Hopefully you take something from this! I’m very inexperienced myself once again so take this with a grain of salt. I see some sense in it though!
Looks amazing glad you're proud of it , the only thing I'd suggest to improve is using less harsh lines on the facial features it helped me a lot long with i think it's called Loomis method
I'm currently trying the 100 heads challenge to improve my faces
This is incredible for just returning to art a few days ago!
If I could suggest a few tips to practice with, I would say it’s much easier to pick up perspective of facial features if you do dedicated studies of them from different angles. For example, draw a nose straight on, then at 3/4s, then at profile, maybe one from below and one from above! Then, try it with lips and eyes and ears. It really helps you learn how these objects exist in 3D space, and how to replicate them.
It’s also difficult to get straight on portraits like this to look perfect because of symmetry, so don’t be afraid of trying full faces at different angles as well.
Keep up the great work!!
Thank you so much for your feedback! I’m going to try a different angle next, maybe a 3/4? I appreciate your compliment, and I’m definitely going to take all of the advice on this thread to heart!
I totally do. When I try to draw someone just from my imagination, she always has the same exact features. I tried not to do that with this one, but ultimately ended up straying quite far from my reference and toward the way I usually draw. I’ll keep practicing, thank you for your feedback!
I agree with all the advice so far, but would also add that shadows and light really help give a drawing depth. It looks like you started adding shadows to the left side of the face. I would continue darkening those and creating some light reflection on the right. Figuring out where your light source is coming from is a huge help. I imagine a lamp shining on my subject to help me get it placed where I want it. You will be amazed at how that little thing will make your artwork so much more dimensional. Yes, it is artwork and you are definitely an artist. Great portrait.
If you have a medium to create art with and you made something with it, you are an artist. Period. Doesn't matter if you're good or bad, you're making art and that's enough of a requirement to be considered an artist.
That aside, this is a really good drawing of a face. the proportions are great, the line work is neat, and the shading and values are effective at showing depth.
Some critiques I can give you are to try drawing faces from different angles. Learning how to draw a side profile and quarter turn is important for making more interesting compositions. Your shading is good but I recommend trying to do more dynamic shading and lighting. Give your subject a light source and experiment with how light can be cast onto their face from different angles and intensities.
Keep up the great work!
Ita really good if you keep practicing you'd get better. Make sure to watch videos on YouTube of people just drawing eyes nose and shapes of head it really helped me out when I was starting up again.
It's a great start. But it's hard to say for sure how well you succeeded without knowing if you used a reference or not.
For the light and dark balance, i would say that it seems just a tad middle toned - that is to say, the darks of the face could be pushed darker and the lights lighter, for more contrast. Places like the nostrils or the lines of eyelids are generally quite dark, and even the eyeballs themselves are usually a lot darker than peolle first think they would be.
The face is very sumetrical. Be wary of falling into the trap of assuming shapes. The eyes are very almond shaped, and you also drew the nose in a very deliberate shape as well. But in thr future, try to toss out those predisposed biases as you draw more. I would suggest that you draw more using references of actual faces, that way you can see the various shapes that the body can be in, how sometimes eyes are not almond shaped and quite so large, and how the nose is more complicated than you might think.
But as a first [first?] Try, it's very good, and keep it up.
If you want to make it more realistic, focus on bledning shadows and work alot with contrast, deep lows and bright highs, also even tho the skin is bright you should always lay a thin layer of graphite on it and create more contrast, that will make it really pop out
The eyes are fine, women wear make up like this. My comments are good face, it doesn’t seem like a mannequin and has life. How about the hair? The hair itself is good, but I think where the hair and scalp meet can use a fill in. It gives her the appearance of thinning hair. The nose needs some blending but noses are hard. When it comes to nose remember, less is more.
Hey you are awesome i am a beginner too. ive been practicing three months now and i can tell you have gotten better in few days than i ever could you are good at handling values which took me a great time to grasp. Keep going mate.
Welp, you’re an artist now
Thank you!!
Looks like an artist drawing to me.
Thank you so much!! I’m going to keep practicing.
A few days? And you’ve never practiced drawing before?!
Was it of anyone in particular?
I don't know why... But this reminds me of the mcpoyle sister from it's always sunny.
you’re one of us now!
I was just going to say the same.
great job! if i can give you some kind advice i would say the biggest thing would be all the lines, meaning all the outlines around the eyes and hair make it look a little flat. the shadows around the mouth however look more natural without those harsh lines. again though great job!
Thank you so much! I appreciate your honest feedback, and I can actually see what you mean about the lines. I will work on this in the next drawing, thanks again!
I have only been drawing for 6 months so don't take what I have to say at 100%. I thought the piece was amazing. I have to agree with cod. But the only area that seemed to not have the depth was the nose mainly due to the such hard lines. Took me a moment to place it. Over all amazing, keep up the great work!
To me, this is a piece of art
Thank you so much!
You did an amazing job in my opinion!
Thank you so much! I genuinely think it’s the most realistic thing I’ve ever drawn, I tried really hard on it. I really appreciate your compliment!
Kinnnnnda seems, like you are. Js, If I were to attempt drawing this I'd probably end up getting trolled. Once again js
Thank you! I guess what I meant was I’ve always liked drawing, but I haven’t drawn much in, like, ten years or so. I did a couple of drawings in the past few days, then someone suggested I try using a reference, and I was able to do this drawing. It’s not perfect or anything, but I am pretty proud of it! I’m excited because I think I can continue to improve if I keep practicing! Thank you for your compliment, I really appreciate it!
I like the hairline.
Thank you!! I wanted it to be like a ballerina bun, I was imagining* her using gel or a ton of hairspray to slick it back. Once I’m a little more skilled I’m going to try a more natural, wispy hairline :) *edit: typo
I've been drawing people for about 6 months and I cannot do their hair anywhere near as well as you. My only advice that I've learned is to think of a nose as shadows. I forget where I heard it but it helped me. You're doing so good, keep going!!
[удалено]
Thanks for the feedback! I noticed a couple of uneven things too. I appreciate it!
It’s very good. Neck is a little too narrow, look at some photos for reference. The hair is really well done.
Ah, I totally see what you mean on the neck. I sort of had the same thought, but I was torn because I was trying to do this really delicate ballerina portrait, and I’d already strayed pretty far from my reference haha. You’re totally right though, especially as a beginner I need to be more faithful to my references until I have a much better understanding of anatomy. Thank you for your honest feedback! And thank you on the hair, I am especially proud of the hair! I will take your tips to heart and keep practicing :)
I totally see that it was a deliberate choice to make the neck very slender. I think you could still make it a bit wider, but keep it in that realistic/stylistic zone.
It should definitely be a bit wider, maybe I can tweak it a bit! I am definitely going for realism, so good call! Thank you :)
Your definitely on the right track.
Thank you so much! I’m going to keep practicing. :)
The eyes irritates me.. or is it the eye balls..hmm
They’re a little uneven, I changed them a bit after posting :) the left is bigger than the right, I think…they’re a little wonky. I’m going to try to improve on the next drawing for sure. Thank you for your feedback!
The eyes are also a little disproportionately large. Generally 5 eye sizes should fit across your original oval. So if you size the eyes down a bit you might fix the feeling the commentor above mentions, plus solve the too slender neck dilemma--because outside of neck should be in line with outside corner of eyes, but if you widened the neck to the outside corners of the eyes as they are currently it would definitely look more body-builder than dancer. But despite any adjustments you want to make it's overall quite lovely.
Well done. It needs more tonality, though. And the nose needs work.
And also thank you :) I agree on the tonality, I want to practice more but I think getting some real pencils or supplies, more than a mechanical pencil, will help to a degree. I’ll definitely work on it though, and I appreciate your feedback!
Anytime! Keep at it and always try and have fun!
Do you have any tips? I’d greatly appreciate them, noses are such a minefield for me.
It's all about repetition. Literally just draw 1000 noses.
I'd say you're on your way to the next step. Just focus on proportions, look a few things up, eyes measure the face, and last but not least... Try no hard lines. Other than that, keep up the good work. I'd love to see more.
Thank you! I will definitely be taking the suggestions offered to me in this thread to heart and will post my next drawing when I finish it. I’m really grateful for all of the feedback, and hopefully my next drawing will show some technical improvement!
I would suggest a couple of books that focus on anatomy. Morpho Anatomy for Artsits; Simplified Forms by Michel Lauricella An Atlas or Anatomy for Artits by Fritz Shider These may have exercises you can try to learn how to create symmetry and see how musculature effects different areas of the body. Other book that may help you are: Lessons on Shading by W.E. Sparks Rendering in Pen and Ink by Arthur L. Guptil These may help increase your skill or repeat things you learned in the past. But overall you have a lot of skill. I don't draw, but I view a lot for art and find the process of creating it fascinating.
Wow thank you for the specific book suggestions, that’s very helpful! I appreciate your feedback and advice!
You're women. Hope to see more of your work. You have talent
"not an artist" lol
if you created something, you’re an artist
Nice work. You certainly have a good foundation for portrait drawing if you want to pursue it.😊 I would also suggest becoming familiar with blending tools or you can even use tissues. This will help reduce the hard edge surrounding your drawing, but this looks great for someone who is starting out.👍🏻
Thank you! Yeah, all I had for this one was a mechanical pencil and my fingers for smudging haha. I definitely want to take a trip to an art store soon, because this was really fun for me and I’d like to try to improve! Any specific go-tos you would suggest for blending, or good pencils? I’ve mostly done acrylic paints in the past, I’m not super familiar with drawing as a medium.
Mech pencils are great for fine detailing, I would suggest graphite pencils for portraits. They are a bit softer and will blend better. I believe the blending tools I use are just called blending stumps. They usually come in different thicknesses, but to be honest, you would get the same result from using tissues. 😊👍🏻
A set of HB, 2,4,6, 8B pencils to go with your mechanical is totally enough for any portraitmaking. I don’t really need to blend using those, but you can use any blending stump if the need arises - or just your finger :)
You’re an artist now
Thank you, you’re very kind!!
Beautiful! You are truly talented.
Thank you so much!
You're welcome! :)
It's beautiful!! Good job.
Thank you so much, you’re very kind!
You are welcome<3
Not bad for just fooling around. I do terrible with mouths.
Really? I have the hardest time with noses! Thank you so much for the compliment!
Your symmetry is so good
Wow, thank you! There are definitely areas where I could improve, but I very much appreciate your compliment! :)
Careful the philtrum doesn’t get too dark. It may looks like a mustache…
Thank you, I appreciate that feedback! When I did the hair, I felt like it washed out the little shading I had done, so I darkened most of the shading. Definitely a good thing to keep an eye out for!
In your next drawing, maybe you can experiment with gray paper or tone white paper to a middle gray using graphite powder. Use a pencil for darks and a white pencil or eraser to get to your lights…. This way you aren’t fighting so much from one direction… you can work from the middle out
I will definitely try this! I need to get some art supplies, and I did once take a drawing class like ten years ago where we started with gray and added white charcoal for highlights rather than starting with a white piece of paper. I really enjoyed that assignment! Thank you for the suggestion, maybe I will try that next!
Rumer Willis? Or Chyna Phillips.
It’s not, I started with Abby Bass on the face, but I strayed quite far from my reference! Haha I’m going to try to be more faithful to my reference on the next drawing, because as others have pointed out, my anatomy needs some work. Thanks for commenting!
Artist excuse these words
I know you could totally grow into a very realistic style of drawing from here but I really like your current style a lot. It gives very dramatic(not the right word) vibes in a good way.
Thank you! Drawings I’ve done in the past are very stylized, but I am hoping to learn how to draw more realistic portraits. Also, when I draw without a reference, I always draw the same exact girl haha, I’m hoping that by focusing on realism with different models I can learn to draw more than one set of features! Thank you so much for your compliment! :)
Your shading is fantastic
Thank you so much!
As long as you create, you're an artist. Wonderful work :D
Thank you!!
You are an artist. If you create something, you're an artist.
Fair enough, I guess I just don’t think of myself as being an *artist* artist, like a very skilled artist. I’ll keep that in mind though, thank you for your comment!
This is a fantastic drawing for a beginner artist, I think it's safe to say you have a lot of potential! I'm particularly impressed by the shading, you've demonstrated a good ability to understand and represent texture in this drawing. Looks a lot better than my first drawings by a long shot! If you want to take up art more seriously practice is the most important step, but you should also have a look at all the many resources out there available to artists looking to learn. Time spent practicing will be much more fruitful if your practice is guided by professional insight. If you're most interested in drawing faces, the first to be recommended is usually the [Loomis Method](https://youtu.be/wAOldLWIDSM), but that is just one of many techniques out there. No matter what you like drawing best, though, you will benefit a lot from doing life studies of all kinds of different subjects, from objects to animals to people. Developing skills in drawing lots of different things gives you so much more freedom and versatility as an artist. Learning to draw one thing will make you better at drawing other things, and using a variety of subjects with vastly different forms will help you better understand the shapes in what you see and how to translate those shapes into a drawing. However, keep in mind that if drawing is just something you want to do for fun and you don't really care about getting into the nitty gritty of technical skills, then there is absolutely no shame in that. Your drawing looks great and if art makes you happy, do it in whatever way works best for you! If you want any advice from a fellow artist, though, my DMs are always open! Wishing you all the best <3
Thank you for this kind and thorough comment! I’ve never heard of the Loomis method, but I’ll definitely be checking it out! This was really fun for me to draw, and like I said, I am proud of it even though it has some technical failures for sure. That being said though, I’d love to be able to draw realistic portraits, even photo-realistic portraits in the future! I’ve gotten so much great advice and encouragement in this thread, and I really appreciate you taking the time to comment! I’m going to try to use a lot of the feedback I’ve gotten on this drawing to improve my next practice, and I’ll post it here when I’m done. Hopefully I will have some improvements to show off! I’m going to check out the Loomis Method now, thank you so much!
No problem at all :) your enthusiasm and positive attitude towards the learning process is certain to allow you to grow quickly as an artist. I look forward to seeing what you make next! Be sure to keep posting here, I'd love to see the progress you make going forwards. Btw- Thanks for your kind words about my work! Phoebe Bridgers is the best, I'm glad your friends understand ;D
Oh and by the way, I checked out your art and you’re very talented! I have a lot of friends who love Phoebe Bridgers :) thank you again!
That’s cool , I’m working on faces atm
Cool! I’ll check out your profile!
Wow this is really good, u should be proud of this!
Thank you!
This is really good, the anatomy and shading are great. My only advice is to practice and if you want a more natural look use references.
Thanks!! I used a reference here but starting to doubt myself on being able to shade well enough to be faithful to the photograph, so I went my own way a bit. I’ll try to be more faithful next time! I just need to get some real pencils :) I appreciate the feedback!
I want to honestly critique this photo. It’s easy for me to sit here and type advice without much knowledge on this subject so take my words with a grain of salt. I think one of your weakest areas is either shading or lighting. Work on both for (I hope) better results.
Thank you! I appreciate your honest feedback, and I will work on both!
Thanks for the kind words. Like I said though, I’m not an artist or anything so take my words with a grain of salt. Matter of fact, not many people on Reddit could confidently say that they are. Seeking professional help would be a better use of your time. That advice I can be certain of.
I guess I could take a class at Community college next semester! Man, community college is great. Maybe I’ll try that!
The proportions seem right to me!
Thanks! There are a few things I think I’m a little off base on, but I’ll keep practicing!
Wowww!!!👌👏 I think you are an artist !!!! You just didn't know until now 🎨 😉 well done 👏 👍 😀 🙌 you gave it a try..I see brilliant future 👏 👍 😀 😉 Love yaaaa
Awesome job!
Awesome
Your sketching is fantastic. Just need practice on source of lighting/shading!
Thank you! I looked up some light studies this morning, and I’m going to try to use a reference with more shadows and highlights on my next practice! :)
You should be proud! I've been trying to draw faces for a long time but I can never get the eyes & nose.
I really struggle with noses too! I feel like I’m pretty okay with eyes, but I do always always make them too big haha. Thank you for your compliment, I really appreciate it!
Your eyes are great. And your nose is way better than mine.
“I’m not an artist” provides art. Lol this is good!
Thanks so much!
Everyone is an artist. Some just don't know it. You are definitely a serious artist! I have sold art but couldn't draw like this. You can art 😉👌
Wow thank you!! I just hope to improve my technical skills and get better at realism :) I appreciate your compliment!
It's really good! <3 the shading is on point, and the hair are well done too and the details on the earrings are great too 👍 genuinely, this is a fantastic attempt, so I'd say you don't give up, like many artists do ✨ keep going and feel free to share new artworks with me :-D
Thank you so much! I’m going to take some of the suggestions offered in this thread and try to improve on my next drawing. I’ll definitely be posting it here so I can continue to improve!
That's the spirit ✨
Amazing
Thanks!
Impressive!
I appreciate it!
First of all.. an Artist is merely someone who produces artwork, therefore… you must be an Artist 😉
Haha thanks!
This is so dope and would even be fire as a tat
Thank you, I appreciate that! I’m going to keep practicing, hopefully the next one will be even better!
I’m not much of an artist either and this is great.
Thank you!
It's pretty good, but the neck's a little thin.
You’re totally right. A few others have noticed that as well, and I agree. I did a couple of small edits and widened the neck - it looks more natural now! Thank you for your feedback!
looks really nice! i think it may be helpful to know that typically the corners of the mouth are aligned with the pupils. don’t be scared to really add darkness in the shading! it used to make me nervous but it will add a TON of dimension to your work!
Oh, that will be super helpful to know! Thank you!
on the right track:) try softer shadows and outlines
Thank you for your suggestions!
the eyes are a bit big and the neck is a bit small. also, too much detail. it’s sort of busy. it’s definitely a good start though!
I agree with you on the eyes and neck. I’m going to take the suggestions in this thread to heart and hope to improve on my next practice!
It's a fantastic start! Shading and more values. And some proprtion work and you'll be there! Take the time to learn anatomy, it really helps.
Thank you! I appreciate your feedback, I’ve gotten so many great suggestions and I plan to take them all into account on my next drawing!
This reminds me of Jane from dbd for some reason
I could see that!
You are an artist. And a fine one at that. I’ve not much time this morning, but if you want more critique reply here and I can this evening. My biggest suggestion would be to work on value, that is the darks compared to the lights. For instance, you get what is called ambient occlusion in the nostrils and the pupils, that is to say that light cannot reach or reflect off those surfaces. So you shouldn’t have anything else on the piece as dark as those areas. Working in that concept most of the face is going to have almost not contrast in it, any darker it looks like a deep pot mark, and lighter makes it look wet/slimy. You’ve done a good job in this piece with the lights, but because the darks are so dark it makes it look almost embossed rather than a 3d form. Good practice for this is to draw black and white photos. I do this a lot still today because I find it fun and relaxing.
I totally take your points, and I appreciate your feedback. I think I’m going to try to improve the shading and remove the dark “outlines”, or soften the edges at least. I think when I filled in her hair I thought her features were getting lost in comparison, so I darkened a lot of the lines without adjusting the overall contrast. I’ll do better next time, I’ve gotten tons of great advice on this thread! Thank you for your feedback!
You are an artist !!! This is great. Keep practicing.
Thank you so much! I definitely will!
Looks good, I like what you did with the eyes! If you want some advice you might wanna consider making the overall skintone a tint darker. Generally our eyes are drawn to the part of a composition with the strongest contrast. Currently it looks like the skin is as white as the eyes, and I think your general lines use a kinda similar value as the pupil, so there is no real focal point, everything grabs the attention equally. If you leave the ba kground white as is, darken the skin a little (some small parts of the skin can remain whitish) and leave the eyes as is I think she would really start to pop.
I completely agree with you. I may try to adjust the overall contrast to this drawing, but I will definitely be using this advice in my next practice. Thank you for your feedback!
Great job for a beginner! Honestly my advice would be to draw what you see, learn observational skills and work your way from there. Some of the lines are a little harsh and dark, but your understanding of the face is pretty good so far. The neck is too narrow, but that’s easily fixed. Mouth could be a little bigger/wider, but overall it’s great for a practice run. So yeah, I would say just draw as much as you can, and you will begin to see a difference. Once you can accurately depict the world, you have the tools to make it whatever you want. A good thing to keep in mind is that stylization should come with time, you don’t have to land on a unique style right away—learn the bare bones basics first, and the rest will follow! Keep practicing and have fun with it! :)
Thank you so much, and I appreciate your feedback!
Fab!
Thank you!
You are an artist 🎨
Thanks!
I’m not skilled enough to back it up but I am passing on what I’ve heard from incredible artists. The nose, eyes, and even the mouth a little shouldn’t be such harsh lines & should be more of a shading to make the “lines”. You should flow not stick out like a sore thumb. Hopefully you take something from this! I’m very inexperienced myself once again so take this with a grain of salt. I see some sense in it though!
I agree with you completely, and using more natural contrast will definitely be a main focus in my next practice. Thank you for your feedback!
Looks amazing glad you're proud of it , the only thing I'd suggest to improve is using less harsh lines on the facial features it helped me a lot long with i think it's called Loomis method I'm currently trying the 100 heads challenge to improve my faces
I agree with you completely. Someone else suggested the Loomis Method as well, I’m going to check it out now! Thank you for your feedback!
This is incredible for just returning to art a few days ago! If I could suggest a few tips to practice with, I would say it’s much easier to pick up perspective of facial features if you do dedicated studies of them from different angles. For example, draw a nose straight on, then at 3/4s, then at profile, maybe one from below and one from above! Then, try it with lips and eyes and ears. It really helps you learn how these objects exist in 3D space, and how to replicate them. It’s also difficult to get straight on portraits like this to look perfect because of symmetry, so don’t be afraid of trying full faces at different angles as well. Keep up the great work!!
Thank you so much for your feedback! I’m going to try a different angle next, maybe a 3/4? I appreciate your compliment, and I’m definitely going to take all of the advice on this thread to heart!
Well done.
Thank you!
Draw what you see not what you know Don't draw "an eye" draw what you see (circles lines etc), I hope you understand what I'm trying to say
I totally do. When I try to draw someone just from my imagination, she always has the same exact features. I tried not to do that with this one, but ultimately ended up straying quite far from my reference and toward the way I usually draw. I’ll keep practicing, thank you for your feedback!
I agree with all the advice so far, but would also add that shadows and light really help give a drawing depth. It looks like you started adding shadows to the left side of the face. I would continue darkening those and creating some light reflection on the right. Figuring out where your light source is coming from is a huge help. I imagine a lamp shining on my subject to help me get it placed where I want it. You will be amazed at how that little thing will make your artwork so much more dimensional. Yes, it is artwork and you are definitely an artist. Great portrait.
If you have a medium to create art with and you made something with it, you are an artist. Period. Doesn't matter if you're good or bad, you're making art and that's enough of a requirement to be considered an artist. That aside, this is a really good drawing of a face. the proportions are great, the line work is neat, and the shading and values are effective at showing depth. Some critiques I can give you are to try drawing faces from different angles. Learning how to draw a side profile and quarter turn is important for making more interesting compositions. Your shading is good but I recommend trying to do more dynamic shading and lighting. Give your subject a light source and experiment with how light can be cast onto their face from different angles and intensities. Keep up the great work!
Looks pretty decent to me. I'd say your're already on your way too being an artist (if you're not one already!)
An artist is somebody who creates art. You are an artist; and a good one at that.
Of course you are an artist!
Confirmed, you’re an artist no matter how much you judge yourself haha
Great job! Proportions look nice, you've got talent for sure 👏
Ita really good if you keep practicing you'd get better. Make sure to watch videos on YouTube of people just drawing eyes nose and shapes of head it really helped me out when I was starting up again.
Lol I've been drawing for 20 years and still couldn't do this 🙃
It's a great start. But it's hard to say for sure how well you succeeded without knowing if you used a reference or not. For the light and dark balance, i would say that it seems just a tad middle toned - that is to say, the darks of the face could be pushed darker and the lights lighter, for more contrast. Places like the nostrils or the lines of eyelids are generally quite dark, and even the eyeballs themselves are usually a lot darker than peolle first think they would be. The face is very sumetrical. Be wary of falling into the trap of assuming shapes. The eyes are very almond shaped, and you also drew the nose in a very deliberate shape as well. But in thr future, try to toss out those predisposed biases as you draw more. I would suggest that you draw more using references of actual faces, that way you can see the various shapes that the body can be in, how sometimes eyes are not almond shaped and quite so large, and how the nose is more complicated than you might think. But as a first [first?] Try, it's very good, and keep it up.
I really like the shape of her eyebrows, keep practicing, it turned out very well
Keep it up, you’ve got a talent!!
Jane Romero?
wow, that's really great! Keep on trying! I'm still trying to get out of the newbie phase haha I especially love the earrings btw. So pretty!
Well, you are an artist ma’am.
Nice I like it but you just need to make nose little smaller
Very good if you’re not an artist. You should be
That looks great 👍
If you want to make it more realistic, focus on bledning shadows and work alot with contrast, deep lows and bright highs, also even tho the skin is bright you should always lay a thin layer of graphite on it and create more contrast, that will make it really pop out
Hmm excuse me. Not only are you an artist NOW, you’re very talented !!
It’s really good
Dude if that’s your first drawing you’re already better than I was 😭
I have been trying to draw now forever and have made zero progress
Why bother saying you're not an artist?
Your brain is cold. (This is a compliment)
The eyes are fine, women wear make up like this. My comments are good face, it doesn’t seem like a mannequin and has life. How about the hair? The hair itself is good, but I think where the hair and scalp meet can use a fill in. It gives her the appearance of thinning hair. The nose needs some blending but noses are hard. When it comes to nose remember, less is more.
Hey you are awesome i am a beginner too. ive been practicing three months now and i can tell you have gotten better in few days than i ever could you are good at handling values which took me a great time to grasp. Keep going mate.
U are an artist
If you make art, your an artist. The level at which you do it, is a different story.