Critique me. Thanks in advanced.

file:///tmp/mozilla_visionary0/20160209_050153.jpg
file:///tmp/mozilla_visionary0/20160213_055703.jpg

I'm new to this site so if this doesn't show up about right sorry. My goal has been primarily portraits and after doing a lot of research and watching hours of Youtube videos I found a few methods that helped me out a lot. (Loomis method and the Reilly abstraction). I've been working on this for while now I think like 6 months and just wanted to get whatever tips I can far as speed goes. Cause right now it take me forever. The baby took about a hour and the girl a lot longer but I didn't really care about speed during that one. I've seen some people do sketches with twice the detail of these and it taking them about 20 minutes. And so I don't get into a rant here could you tell me what you think and any tips for improving speed without losing accuracy.

Hi Eros!

I'm afraid the images don't show up to me because you're trying to link to the files straight on your computer. They need to be uploaded to a host first before we can see them.

I recommend http://www.imgur.com -- just drag and drop your images to Imgur and upload, then make sure to grab the "Direct Link" URL and copy and paste it into your post. :) You don't need an account on Imgur (although it might be useful to keep track of your uploads).

I will be looking into the method you mentioned shortly, and hopefully we'll be able to view your work soon!

http://i.imgur.com/2YGtt1M.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/UHdOoGT.jpg?1

Ran into a few issue getting these images up but I think I finally got the hang of it now. Sorry for the hiccups.

Welcoming any and all advice. These both are really rough sketches. Accuracy is my main focus but I can't help to think of speed as it takes me forever. The baby about 45m and the girl over an hour I didn't really care about the time then.

Hey Eros! I merged the topics for you and deleted the post with the broken images so we can keep things neat in one place. :)

The sketches turned out quite well! I looked up the Loomis Method, and it looks very solid. I've never used it myself though, so I'm not sure how much I can offer in terms of advice on that method, but the results so far look promising.

The shading on the baby's face looks a little too sharp to me, turning what should be a soft baby face into an almost old man's face. I get the impression that his head is also too oval, and would look more baby-like if it was more rounded like the original photo.

While sharp eyebrows work out very well for women who wear makeup, I recommend focusing on eyebrows by avoiding outlines. The baby's eyebrows are blond and not very obvious, so drawing them so sharply contrasted on the face doesn't look quite right.

https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ST3W8A3Kum8HlwddNHoF07WWrhk=/0x0:1920x1080/1600x900/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46147742/cute-success-kid-1920x1080.0.0.jpg

For higher accuracy, use your pencil to draw 'feathery strokes' to shape the eyebrows, like drawing each hair individually. They'll appear softer and more natural on people who don't use makeup. :)

On the woman's sketch, the only thing that stands out to me is her left eye (our right). I don't think I'm familiar with the original so I can't compare, but it looks to me like the corner of her eye is too squinted compared to the other.

I know this was a lot, but I can tell you put a lot of effort into it and you did well! I hope my critique was useful to you.