Den VS Jair! = COLLEGE FRESHMANS!!!

[Denart]

So me and Jair are both attending CCAD now and they forced us to create these self portraits so we can 'connect' with the other students...right



JAIR:
I finished mine two and a half weeks prior to the due date (unlike denart)... i did the initial portrait from life... the picture was a little small for my taste but... so i took advantage of the "be as creative as you want" line... so it became a doodle page for the week... on the right are my favorite mediums all from life... above that is some stuff from imagination and the rest is imagination... i put in some things or symbols that define the sources of my inspiration... (abandoned buildings, spiders, broken glass, graveyards... etc.)...





DENART:
I finished mine the night I arrived. All my other self portraits were all dark and depressed Time for a little change! (and also because there's too many emo posers at college)

I went for a grayed out look by first covering the entire paper with willow charcoal and then used 2H and HB. heheh

Done with a mirror with Jair behind on my bed, sketching something, making me nervous...

EDIT: oh yeah, we would love some crits!

[CaptainInsano]

lookin good guys.

My vote went to Denart. I feel that it technically was more thorougly executed portrait. Though, it lacks highlights, but has good anatomy and porportions.

I also like the other one because of the creativity and symbolic representational objects. There was more thought and effort but into it.

But being a lover of traditionaly representational art, I voted for Denart.

[modern]

i debated with a team of judges for 3 hours to finally decide that i pick........ eh........jair. den im proud of you.

[klid]

salutes both of you. den shulda put some highlights in there to make it pop. jair 's is maad cluttered to i dig the thought and time put into it, it mighta been sexier if it was a vignette.

i did my sp in orientation, lol

[Denart]

TIE! thanks for the votes guys


I actually used chalk pastels to increase the highlight value on the nose and glasses. a bit on the lips but it just did not look 'right' because the other values (greys and darks) aren't that dark to begin with. It wasn't harmonious no more! So I decresed the highlight.

I was trying something new by going for a washed-out effect after all!
Willow charcoal and 2H gets you that

[theincredibleandy]

yo Denart! I think the washed-out look is competing with the rough/scratchy rendering on the face. Careful with that. Also I woulda used a kneaded eraser to pull out any lights since white pastels usually look like crap on a toned surface like this (because of the different color temperatures). The kneaded eraser avoids that problem nicely! YAY!

That said, it looks better than the one I did my freshman year. I'd show it, but for all I know it could be in a landfill right now.

Jair, I usually frown on the heavy-handed "expressive" pieces that we all learn to do in high school, but I like yours so it's all good. You'll both do well if you just work harder and smarter than everyone else while finding time to take in plenty of inspiring life you can put back into your art. Good luck with CCAD, and in about 5 weeks you should be hurting from the workload. Have fun!

[Victor B]

voted for Denart's

[P E N Ricklund]

Nice. As always JAIR does some freaky rendering that makes me go wookobooko.
But when I just looked at the faces I kinda fell for Dens sp.
I second what theincredibleandy said about kneaded eraser. Try it next time.

kick ass and chew bubblegum!

hugS!

[JAIR428]

thanx all for the comments and votes and LOVE!!!

---klid--- thanx for that crit... maad clutter thats very true i kinda went a little too far and drove up the crazy rendering and forgeting about flow and focal point .......next time it'll be diferent! ....when are we gunna have a sketch night!?!

modern and pencilator thanx for the great comments!


....the perameters of this challenge was a bit vague next time will be more descriptive... next time...

=peace

[Hanuka]

hard decision but i went for jair because i feel like he put more effort into this one. both pieces are good, and i like the style and looseness of dan's portrait more than that of jair - but oh well, i had to decide

[Denart]

it's Den!

Heheh.
Thanks for participating in our thunderdome guys! Thanks for the votes *hugs*

I should've spent more time on mine...


TheIncredibleAndy - you make so much sense. I'm learning, I'm learning--Soft pencil strokes goes with soft values, harsh pencil work goes with "harsh" values. and yeah, I agree the conte charcoal is much more cooler in temperature than the graphite. thanks

[ArtbyWard]

I found this very hard to vote for, but in the end I voted for denarts piece. Although it could use more contrast, I like the pose (just out of bed? ) and the feeling/looselessnes. Jair's is a bit to stiff I think, but also a very nice piece, esp on the background part.