Marilyn Monroe (moved from FF)

[davepinsker]

Hey guys! Im going to be studying illustration next year here in the UK and am just working on my portfolio, this was done on A3 paper in pencil.
I've just got a Wacom Intuos5 and plan to start doing some digital environment paintings



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[enkithrice]

Maybe I'm just looking at it oddly, but the sharp shadow below the cheek makes me think she's wearing some kind of half mask that could be removed by lifting at the nose...

[Black Spot]

Her nose is wonky and her eyes are not the same size. Her left (our right) side of the face looks odd just above the eye. This looks like pencil taken into photoshop to 'improve' it. Take a good long look at it as if you weren't the artist. Does it appear to be 'painted' by numbers? What did you learn from this. Next time try to capture Marilyn Monroe in her early years by using form and not being a slave to the photo.

[Hexokinase]

There's no hierarchy to your highlights. Read this: http://nathanfowkes.blogspot.com/200...wing-demo.html

[Kiera]

The drawing is alright.
But illustration portfolio?
You want to apply for classical illustration in the UK? Or was it just a typo and you want to apply for a scholarship in some fine art studio?
If it's really illustration, I fear you might've chosen the completely wrong approach for a portfolio piece and you might even be on the wrong website.
If you already showed this to a teacher at the school of your choice and they approved, or if it's a private school with really high likeness that they will take you, then I guess it's alright and you don't need to read further .

But if you haven't checked out what other illustration students at your favorite school do, if you haven't asked a teacher from that school for a quick look and a crit, then I guess you are heading in the wrong direction.
Lemme explain..

Illustration (and Design) in Europe usually focuses on high creative-conceptual thinking, which is about the complete opposite of what is visible in this picture.
Most schools with illu don't take students who are using clicheed art styles or focus on craft, because there's a high likeness that these students will stick to that style until the end of the studies. They will always get in a conflict with the goals of the teachers and the education will be pretty much useless.

Clichee art is considered everything that is just way too common in portfolios f.e. to copy photos, fantasy art, portraits of famous persons, Graffiti, acrylic flower paintings, crying angels, photoshop filters over landscapes, selective color on your black and white photography, manga style, flyers for your befriended DJ/pub/event, furries and drawing your shoes with ballpoint pen.
We are probably all guilty of dabbling into all of those things at least once, the trick is to know that it's not portfolio material .
What is preferred is creative thinking and a playful-scientific approach to pictures.
I wish I could link you to some english speaking websites about portfolios in the UK, but all I have is this fantastic website in German.
Visiting a school and having a good talk with the students and teachers will also give you lot's of ideas what a portfolio is about .
Good luck!

I'm sure some people will have opposite opinions about how art should be approached and studied,
this is just a tip how to not make the most common mistake when it comes to portfolios for an art school (in Europe).

[dpaint]

My biggest problem is, it doesn't look like Marilyn Monroe at all, it just looks like some generic blonde starlet.

[blueyesopn]

so it took me a while to find the source image



if you look, she has very organic shading with some hard shadows. (I hate hard shadows). there is no where where the image is true white. In your image, you have a lot of true white, and your gradients move too fast from dark to light. i know that will be boring, but you need to make those changes more gradually then you have. Your cheeks forhead and chin are all near the same value, and very close to white. Further more, the shadows very much more then you have placed them. think "anti highlights" like under the nose.

They eyes are clearly stylized, and I dont blame you too much... Mis. Monroe had a lazy eye. Where the problem comes in is where most of the ires is the same value as the whites of the eyes. You could go fix that right now, and it would look more human. (right now it is kind of like she is wearing costume contacts.)

enkithrice - i agree with the mouth comment

try drawing some one less famous?
Or redraw it from scratch?

I know that sounds harsh and time consuming, but i will redraw some thing 4-5 times some times in study. + practice is practice.

also she did have strate teeth

(edit: image size)

[Star Eater]

Thats a good post blue, but if you could resize the picture to a smaller version we'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

[blueyesopn]

better?