Thank you for your report!
We have received your report and it is currently under investigation by a forum moderator.
Hi everyone, this is my first post as a new member and would appreciate critique on this painting - good or not so good - need to know how to improve!
Welcome to the forum.
Here you can discuss all things art with like-minded artists, join regular painting challenges, ask questions, buy and sell art materials and much more.
Make sure you sign in or register to join the discussions.
Hang on Studio Wall
This is a Studio member-only feature!
Join our Studio membership and save your favourite Painters Online content, from gallery artwork to step-by-step guides, to your own online mood boards. Create your go-to place for inspiration and learning. Plus, members can also enjoy a range of exciting features including monthly art videos and a digital magazine library.
If you are already a Studio member, simply login to your account.
Not a Studio member? Why not try our free 30-day trial - no commitment, no credit card required
Message
This is my painting of a Sadhu. It is in acrylics but wonder whether another medium could work better. Alegre
Posted
It is quite difficult to get the tonal values right with dark skinned portraits such as this. However, this is basically all one tone, or pretty close. Have a look at other similar studies from professional portrait painters, you will see that there are many variations to be achieved with such a skin colour, even greens believe it or not can work really well. This will help create more interest and bring his face to life somewhat, it's just flat as it stands.
The shock of white hair is difficult. If you were working from a sitter, which presumably you are not, you would have some lighting effects to create shadows and so on. If you are copying from a photograph, this is what you will get, unless you add your own input to it.
Frankly, it's a terribly difficult one to get right, I would tend to move on with a different figure study and progress from there!
Posted
Acrylics are OK - as good as any other medium; you could try watercolour, though it would be quite difficult to achieve a better result than this unless you were skilled as a watercolour painter. You could try oil, or gouache. And you're probably right that your subject would benefit from more careful attention to his wrinkles, the shape of his hair, the individual touches that make him distinctive.
But just changing the medium is only going to be of benefit if you find it easier to paint in one medium than in another. You can keep working on an acrylic, so if I were you I should stick with that, and gradually build up the forms; and introduce some lighter and darker variations in the skin tone: so far, you've got a basic brown mixed with white here and there, and whatever colour you're using to show the shadows; try mixing a few more interesting colours into the skin (take a look at Edward Ofosu's paintings on the gallery: he's particularly good at that).
What I think you need is just practice - paint more and more. I quite like the hair and beard, and the movement in the painting - but I agree with Sylvia that it needs some more work. Or leave this one, and start another - experiment a bit more. It's quite a strong painting, it has impact, so you're off to a good start.
Posted
Snap! I only just saw Alan's reply, and I think we're all thinking on much the same lines. The one obvious thing - it needs a bit more colour, and variation in the tones. Your Sadhu needs bringing a bit more to life - but he does have life; you could improve him, or move on to another painting. The more you do, the better you'll tend to get.
Posted
This is a typical example which relates to my earlier post. Lot's of good constructive information, not just from myself, but quite a few of us. What do we get in return - Nothing!
It's quite obvious by the standard of this work that they are a beginner, and that much help and advice was needed to put them on the right track, or were they just looking for praise? Either way, they go down as just another time-waster.
Posted
On the other hand, this person did send me a personal message, to which I responded, and then thanked me (again, privately) for the response.
We can't know why people don't respond to specific things, and it's likely to be different in each case. Real life can get in the way sometimes. Advice is never wasted - so long as it's good - because others looking in may benefit from it, even if the original questioner doesn't.
Ah - hang on; as you were ..... no he/she didn't! That was someone else - I got the names mixed up. God, it's a bugger getting old! Still, SOME of the above applies.........
Edited
by RobertJones
Posted
The one to which you refer Robert, is the question on watercolour. As this came through a third party, ie. yourself, I didn't expect any communication. Obviously they are happier channelling their question through yourself, unusual but there we are.
I accept that there can be many circumstances where the poster is unable to respond, but I can't accept that so many of them have either died or been so debilitated in some form that they are unable to. In the majority of cases they just can't be bothered, that is shear ignorance in my opinion and unacceptable. I know that I'm not the most tolerant man on the planet, but I have to say it as see it. However, I do take your point that our answers could conceivably be helpful to other reader's, even if only in some small way.
Posted
Well, I can only agree with that - not that you're not the most tolerant person on the planet, obviously! Oh dear me no.... But if we offer advice, it would be polite - and helpful - to know if it was of any use to the person requesting it. I think I've more or less given up on expecting manners these days, though - it's a wonderful surprise when you find evidence of them, but sadly predictable when you don't. We're sometimes asked some quite daft and obvious questions, usually of the 'wotsitworfthen?' school - and those annoy me a bit, because this isn't a valuation site and none of us is an auctioneer - I sold antiques, paintings, and objets d'art long, long ago, so can hazard a guess now and then, at least that an artifact has value: but I certainly can't pin a contemporary price to it. And if you're on the internet at all, some people will regard you as a potential source of free information. I understand that: I don't mind it. But a brief 'thanks' now and then would NOT come amiss. I don't know why we should be regarded as a branch of Wikipedia.
Still - it's not very high up on my list of irritations. It's not that I'm especially tolerant - ask anyone .... - but it's the nature of the internet; people seek instant answers wherever they can find them; it beats genuine research, making an effort, thinking for oneself: and that seems to be just about where we are these days. Perhaps this generation will learn, one of these days, that if you want an authoritative answer, you need to do just a bit more work than to throw your question indiscriminately at the internet. Much can be found there, but it's not the Holy Grail.