Face studies 2/1/22

by Nere Kapiteni, February 2nd 2022 © 2022 Nere Kapiteni
Two 10 minute face studies. Spent most time on getting the placement of features and expressions right, so didn't quite get to the hair. Admittedly, I'm more into expressing the essence of the face than an exact rendering. BUT I do need to improve on accurately setting key points of the face.
Kritzel
(my first critique ever, so critique on critique is appreciated ;-) )

I do not know the references, but I think that you captured the orientation and the basic proportions pretty well. Though I tend to say that the right eye of the right portrait is a bit too big and a bit too close to the nose (I am quite receptive to this because it frequently happens to me as well)

It may be worth a try to sacrifice a few outlines for a bit more value. Not only because the sketches would look more "finished" then but also because it makes it easier to judge whether you got the proportions and placements right. The pupil, a little shadow under the nose, the upper lip and the eyesocket. That does not have to be too accurate but it gives you a valuable feedback of how you did.

Also, I would recommend to force yourself to a faster pace. I also found it hard to accept all the errors that happen when I started with that and it can be daunting to draw very faulty sketches over and over. It takes maaany very bad sketches to become better at that but the good thing is that you do not spend much time on a single sketch and it is a great training for learning to grasp the proportions more intuitively. I'm saying so because there is not that much conveyed by your sketches considering that it took ten minutes to draw each of them. It happens to me frequently when I am allowing myself for too much time to revise and correct rather than moving forward. To me it turned out that 5 minute sketches were not significantly worse than 15 minute sketches. They were just wrong in a different way. But doing three instead helped me to learn faster.

But again, overall these orientations are difficult to grasp and I think you did a pretty good job on that. They look like plausible faces and especially the right one with the nose superposing the cheek is well done. I find that angle very difficult to draw because every millimeter counts in that.

Hope it helps a bit.
Nere Kapiteni
Hi Krtizel! Thank you for your critique ⭐

I've only recently really pushed to work on face studies and it's been a real (beautiful-wonderful-frustrating) challenge, especially eyes. I think that's where my time gets eaten up most when doing face studies. Not very confident in working in values so I tend to stick to pencil outlines, but that is definitely something to work into sketches as I develop my value skills too.

You're totally right on working at a faster pace instead of nitpicking so much. Been looking at eye drawing videos and probably best to leave that for more detailed studies than trying to force it upon these sketches.

Thank you again for your critique (10/10!). Going to jump into a 30 minute class right now and keep your pointers in mind.

Cheers and happy drawing ✌
Kritzel
Thanks for your kind feedback on my critique. Just one addition because you are mentioning the eyes. By doing 3 / 5 minute portraits, I figured out that even eyes allow for a lot of simplification, and unless being really good at rendering them it turned out to be "the less the better" for me. Surprisingly, a triangle-like shape for the outline and a black spot for the iris/pupil sometimes work quite nice - to me the placement and proportions seem to be much more important than the exact shape (of course in the context of being part of a sketch).

E.g. I love Gilbert Hernandez' work, and sometimes he just draws a half-circle for the upper eyelid and a circle for the iris/pupil, and that's it. Still his work looks great (to me). Admittedly this much simpliciation needs excellent skills to work that convincing, but a similar approach works for me quite well
Nere Kapiteni
Hi Kritzel!

You are absolutely correct about simplifying the eye shape. That's been how I've usually rendered the eye, but beginning this "skill-upgrade" journey I've been obsessing over rendering it RIGHT (ugh, perfectionism). Like you said, a sketch doesn't need all those bells 'n' whistles. Maybe it's ok to go back to that simplified feel, which I actually really like.
Checked out some of Hernandez' work. Really like how the eye is handled. Simple shapes which varying and lively. Thanks for introducing his stuff 😃

Thanks tons for more super helpful feedback and providing a different perspective on approaching studies⭐✌
Idragosani
Very good expressions! Good head structure, can't go wrong with the Loomis methid
Nere Kapiteni
Thanks Idragosani! Yeah, Loomis method is the best. Been mostly referring to Michael Hampton's book "Figure Drawing Design & Invention" which nicely expands on it.
Mars028
great sense of structure! Do try softening up strokes and tapering lines. For delicate features like the eyes bold hard strokes causes it to fall flat and appear 2D. With more practice you can definitely figure out how to improve those strokes and minor errors of proportion. Plus its super helpful to draw the overall form of parts like eyebrows rather than drawing all the little details (basically avoid drawing strokes for hair).
Nere Kapiteni
Thank you for the feedback Mars!

Yeah, been pretty heavy-handed with those lines 😅 For sure trying to work in unnecessary details is also my favorite no-no. With the confidence that comes with practicing face studies, it'll be nice to do away with obsessing over details and concentrate on the whole.



Thank you again for your feedback and advice. Cheers ✌
Anime Beginner Acct
I think you got the basic proportions correct. They both look good

Biggest critique I have is the eyes. I'll focus on the right drawing because I think it'll provide a better teaching tool

When drawing the eyes we should remember that they are essentially spheres inside of the head. Their placement is important otherwise you get a situation such as on the right where it looks as if the left eyeball sits further towards the center of the face than it would otherwise. A short study on eyes and eye placement should help if you find yourself struggling with eye placement

If you can, get a magazine or a newspaper and a brightly colored pen or pencil. Then simply outline where you think the entire sphere lay. You'll need to look up anatomy of the eye shortly before and after but I think it would help going forward

A quick overview of eye placement with respect to anatomy

https://imgur.com/a/eyl8dUI From the book Gray's Anatomy (Sadly with much less drama)
Polyvios Animations
Good evening, Nere Kapiteni, how are you? Great work and job on your design, gestures and shapes of the head you've slowly sculpted out. These craniums all look very good indeed. Keep them up.

What bothers me is that, not to be a bit too jerky, but I'm here to help you out, but, the right face doesn't have a pair of eyes believably look directly at us enough yet. Would you please free up your dominant shoulder and arm with 6 minutes of 2 minute faces and expressions, all flipped vertically, and all fully centered on eyes and their directions. The reason is because, they are one of the necessary tools for the facial expressions,action, and action, in emphasis and exaggeration and satire. If you really want to make a goofy wall-eyed expression, then I'd suggest you'll go for that. Look, Good luck to you, and I hope these have helped you out and encouraged you very much.
Polyvios Animations
Good evening, Nere Kapiteni, how are you? Great work and job on your design, gestures and shapes of the head you've slowly sculpted out. These craniums all look very good indeed. Keep them up.

What bothers me is that, not to be a bit too jerky, but I'm here to help you out, but, the right face doesn't have a pair of eyes believably look directly at us enough yet. Would you please free up your dominant shoulder and arm with 6 minutes of 2 minute faces and expressions, all flipped vertically, and all fully centered on eyes and their directions. The reason is because, they are one of the necessary tools for the facial expressions,action, and action, in emphasis and exaggeration and satire. If you really want to make a goofy wall-eyed expression, then I'd suggest you'll go for that. Look, Good luck to you, and I hope these have helped you out and encouraged you very much.

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