Critique #3: Adam T.

Lauryn Welch, Teaching Assisstant

So the first thing that I notice about this drawing is that the proportions on it are actually pretty good, the major proportions on the face. The eyes are centered in the head, and the nose is properly centered, and the ear and the mouth are placed pretty well. The left ear on our left is a little bit crooked, a little bit higher up.

The thing that I think the artist could work on a little bit is the shading of the piece. The contrast is very very high, I see one light being the white of the paper, one really really dark, and then one grey. But in reality, if you’re looking at someone’s face, there are a ton of shades from light to dark, and the artist could benefit from doing some practicing of picking out as many grays as possible between white and black. And then consciously using those grays within the piece.

The other thing the artist could work on is getting the shading right on the proportions. They’re really well drawn in, but the shading makes them confusing to look at. For instance, on the nose, the dark area doesn’t really correspond to the shape of the nose. So blocking off the face in two different shapes, basic shapes, and then shading those shapes based on how light would hit those basic shapes would improve the structural quality of the piece.

But overall, I think that it is a great start, and the improvements would be easy to make.