What's wrong with Abraham? Ink and Wash

[Chris V++]

Hey This is acrylic ink and wash. If you step back he looks ok from a distance but up close something seems off, (I already know its not the prominent ear It was that big in real life) I have to make this as good as possible so its ok to be brutal. He was on track in the earlier steps but something went South. Does he look a little simple minded maybe? In reality based on the Victorian photos he looked like a clever guy. I need to figure it out before adding any layers.
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[GOD Shines Forth!]

I like the oddness of it as is.

 

[Lost4words]

Disproportionate lower half of face i would say, and yes, the ear looks REALLY overpowering.

 

[bèlla]

The face bunches. Everything gathers in the center. The weightiness of the brows, eyes, and cheeks aren’t proportionate. It throws off the symmetry.

I think the brows and eyes are too low. He had a long face but the length is diminished.

 

[Chris V++]

I should upload the reference I'm working from. Should be public domain Even his eyebrows are inconsistent.

 

[d taylor]

Hey This is acrylic ink and wash. If you step back he looks ok from a distance but up close something seems off, (I already know its not the prominent ear It was that big in real life) I have to make this as good as possible so its ok to be brutal. He was on track in the earlier steps but something went South. Does he look a little simple minded maybe? In reality based on the Victorian photos he looked like a clever guy. I need to figure it out before adding any layers.
. View attachment 292176 View attachment 292175 View attachment 292174 View attachment 292173 View attachment 292172

Take your drawing and the source you drew this from and turn them both upside down and look at them. That may show up, where you feel you are off.

 

[NerdGirl]

For me, the eyes are a bit too wide-open and round, giving him a slightly surprised, innocent, childlike expression, which is definitely not what you're going for, lol. If you look at the photo, his eyelids are actually quite heavy and give him a more relaxed, wise expression.

 

[tall73]

Portraits are hard enough in digital, I would hate to try one in ink! I think you have most of the feel.

The things that caught my attention right away are marked. The eyebrow on his right eye (on our left) seems too low, giving the impression his eyes are not on the same plane.

The left corner of his lips (our right, do not seem to extend far enough over, giving an odd appearance.

Additionally, his left jaw line was omitted in yours, and I think that is why the head looks a bit off as that line forms a lot of the impression of the long head.

 

[tall73]

This is a quick digital cut and paste of what the adjustments could look like. I am not sure if it is possible with ink, but perhaps with your scraping method you could pull it off.

 

[speciala]

I think it looks incredible! Great job! The only thing I can see when I look very closely is that his left eye (the right eye when facing him) looks a little different than the original you uploaded, like the pupil looks in a slightly different position. Everything else to me looks amazing! Well done.

 

[Chris V++]

I like the oddness of it as is.

Disproportionate lower half of face i would say, and yes, the ear looks REALLY overpowering.

The face bunches. Everything gathers in the center. The weightiness of the brows, eyes, and cheeks aren’t proportionate. It throws off the symmetry.

I think the brows and eyes are too low. He had a long face but the length is diminished.

Take your drawing and the source you drew this from and turn them both upside down and look at them. That may show up, where you feel you are off.

For me, the eyes are a bit too wide-open and round, giving him a slightly surprised, innocent, childlike expression, which is definitely not what you're going for, lol. If you look at the photo, his eyelids are actually quite heavy and give him a more relaxed, wise expression.

View attachment 292203

Portraits are hard enough in digital, I would hate to try one in ink! I think you have most of the feel.

The things that caught my attention right away are marked. The eyebrow on his right eye (on our left) seems too low, giving the impression his eyes are not on the same plane.

The left corner of his lips (our right, do not seem to extend far enough over, giving an odd appearance.

Additionally, his left jaw line was omitted in yours, and I think that is why the head looks a bit off as that line forms a lot of the impression of the long head.

I think it looks incredible! Great job! The only thing I can see when I look very closely is that his left eye (the right eye when facing him) looks a little different than the original you uploaded, like the pupil looks in a slightly different position. Everything else to me looks amazing! Well done.

Thank you everyone for your nice comments and constructive suggestions. I've started implementing. I haven't really touched the left eyebrow or eyes as of yet but will make them less round and will add weight to the lids. I did widen the mouth so the corner lines up with his left eye and corrected the shadow under the nose and tried to widen the lower jaw with more wiskers. I may lighten the nose and the left side of the forehead. The eyes and eyebrow, (his right especially needs more work, then i can try to even out flesh and add pores. etc hopefully. Thanks again and Happy New Year! Here's the update:

 

[NerdGirl]

Better!

 

[Chris V++]

I worked on the eyes a little.

 

[tall73]

I worked on the eyes a little.

Great improvement! I am impressed how you can work that after the fact. What size is this one?

 

[Chris V++]

Great improvement! I am impressed how you can work that after the fact. What size is this one?

Thank you! And thanks for the side by side with the guidelines and the digital correction. The ink is correctible using alcohol, or sandpaper or even a pen knife to scratch away the ink , so its more forgiving than it seems. This is 8.5x11 Happy New Year!

 

[d taylor]

Chris if you are still working on this, one step you can do is take a few proportion measurements of the face (on your photo source).

Example take a measurement from top of eyes to a place above the eyes. Then take that measurement to check other ares of your drawing like check the space from the nose base to the eyes. Then check your drawing to see if those space sections match up.

do you have a divider or a compass to measure with

 

[d taylor]

Go to 12:30 of this video he goes over how to check a drawing done just by site drawing.

 

[Chris V++]

Chris if you are still working on this, one step you can do is take a few proportion measurements of the face (on your photo source).

Example take a measurement from top of eyes to a place above the eyes. Then take that measurement to check other ares of your drawing like check the space from the nose base to the eyes. Then check your drawing to see if those space sections match up.

do you have a divider or a compass to measure with

That's great advice! Thanks for the link. I don't have a divider but i have used a compass in the past for measurements. One of my painting mentors, Mark Carder, built his 'Carder Method' around using a divider exclusively for the drawing stage. He has students plot out reference dots with the divider and then to connect the dots to complete the drawing. (No grid system) Thanks for the JD Hillberry Link. He's a wizard with his penils

 

[Chris V++]

Not sure if I should narrow the eyes even more? The face feels closer to be being done? Thanks for all your help and suggestions!