Head of an old Woman – 79 years of life in her face.
Artwork by Johann Krammer, Drawing Academy graduate
This picture shows the face of a 79 year old lady. A very energetic and fun-loving woman, who are written her 79 years of life in her face. Her every wrinkle tells a new story.
I am always glad to discover new interesting details in your video course!
With kind regards,
Johann
Hi Johann,
Thank you very much for your drawing.
I really like the level of your attention to details and dedication to make this artwork very realistic.
Sometimes less is more. You may find that uniting areas of drawing might work as well as going into every smallest detail. Please do not take it in a wrong way; I like your drawing. At the same time, you may investigate how to expand your creative style and not to be trapped into a hyper-realism, which sometimes might be a bit “spooky” : )
Please check some portraits below. They are realistic yet have a certain degree of stylization.
Once again, thank you for your wonderful portrait.
Reply and Questions from Johann
Hi Vladimir,
Thank you for your answer!
It is very important for me to read your honest critique instead of a “good done” or other compliments.
You are right, I am often too deep in the details. But it is very difficult for me to abstract the pictures. (I am working as a tool designer and due to this education I learnt I have to work always very precise). This precision is now in some sense a barrier when drawing.
The target for me are the style of art as the pictures you sent me (Thank you!). “Hyper-realism” is only a question if I can draw such pictures or not. But it is not really art. Not the kind of art I would like to draw.
The first question appears at the beginning of a new drawing: Is it allowed to use a grid? Or is it a prerequisite to draw all sketches free-hand? I know a lot of “Artists” they are projecting their photographs onto the sheet of paper. For me it is cheating. But is it cheating too, if I use a 10cm grid?
Another question is the depth of detailing. I do not know when I have to stop.
The (very beautiful) picture from Nikolai Blokhin is not cross hatched. Is it drawn with graphite or is it charcoal?
Thank you very much for your kind support!
With kind regards,
Johann
Answers from Vladimir
Hi Johann,
Artists always were looking for ways to make their trade easier. Scaling with a grid has a very long history; of course this method is working fine today as it was 500 years ago.
Regarding “the depth of detailing”, there’s no one correct answer. It depends on your creative task.
Here’s a good tip to consider: start rendering drawing from big masses, them go for details and thereafter come back to big areas once again, uniting small details. This cycle can be repeated several times when working in layers. This way you will be in total control how detailed or stylized you want it to be.
Nikolai Blokhin used various mediums for this drawings, but he definitely didn’t strive for photo-details : )
Kind regards,
Natalie Richy and Vladimir London
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Dear Johann,
Many thanks for letting us see some other of your beautiful artworks !!!
I like this drawing very much (it seems you erased few times the rendering :)) . Beside the choice of the subject ( I also find myself that old faces have always many stories to tell ) I just love the “not finished” part and the background. Bravo!
Cheers,
Lucian