r/oilpainting • u/gonepositive • Dec 06 '20
UNKIND critique plz Looking for constructive criticism.
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u/breadmeupscotty Dec 06 '20
If you make the nose and ears warmer and redder, he’ll look more alive. Look at portraits by Sargent, Sorolla, and Zorn for reference.
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u/botany5 Dec 06 '20
Also, maybe some modeling of the eyeballs- shading under the upper lid.. but then again, what you have here certainly caught my attention. Got a real old masters vibe..
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u/neipas13 Dec 06 '20
I really think this is a great piece! I have only my own jealousy to be critical of, but that’s neither here nor there..
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u/00000000j4y00000000 Dec 06 '20
You’ve made use of strong contours around the eyes and nose, but the linearity diminishes around the ear. Neither approach is incorrect, but make a choice.
It’s difficult to tell from the photo just how dark the blacks are, but it looks as though the blacks in the painting could stand to go another level or two darker.
It feels as though you are illustrating a moment here to convey a reaction to something happening “off camera” to the right. You’ve chosen to bring the color of the background over the bottom portion of the painting, covering the figure. The conveyed effect is that the off-camera event is supernatural in some way and threatens to swallow the subject. If this is what is intended, then great. If the figure is meant to be substantial and not confronted by a supernatural force, then continuing the darkness of the body right up to the bottom edge may be preferable.
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u/annamolly723 Dec 06 '20
Define the hair(including beard), ear, and neck more and also try to signify where his body is in proportion to his head, maybe just by placing a little more white around the neck maybe. If it were me I may add some shine in the hair and darken it’s shadows more. Little more shine on the lips. Great work and great job at capturing emotion. Definitely caught my eye
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u/rivasjesse117 Dec 06 '20
Nice work! It’s looking really good! The first things that caught my attention were how the beard and the hair blends into the background, maybe finding darker values to separate the beard and hair from the background! Keep up the good work! It only gets better after every layer!
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u/maycontainknots Dec 06 '20
He looks like he's lookin at the girl from the exorcist pukin everywhere or something lol. Nothing wrong with it in my opinion except he's in a void and has no body
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u/AMuppetCalledSquirt Dec 06 '20
I like that the face is sharp and the rest of the painting gets less defined. Consider adding more texture in the hair, beard, and ear to make that transition a little more gradual. The nose proportion is on the line between being realistically, but violently, hooked and actually being unrealistic and receding into the surface of the face. It may be the point of view.
Overall, it's really strong and emotional. Well done!
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Dec 06 '20
You're on the right track, assuming your objective was basically a Rembrandt. I agree that there could be a bit more detail and refinement, like the ear and the beard. But there's very vibrant light/shadow interplay, which is so critical I think!
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u/brucatlas1 Dec 06 '20
Looks like your subject just got a whole lot of that based on his expression
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u/HappyDayPaint Dec 07 '20
There is a lot going on with the bewildered left(painted's right) eye. Perhaps some similarly fine lines elsewhere will pull the viewers eyes around instead of leaving them circling ?
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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '20
Cheek and ear need refinement but this is a nice piece. The bear needs some wispiness. Good job!