my hardest yet, Portrait

you are definitely trying to challenge yourself, aren’t you? !!!

the centre girl is especially well done.. it seems that you have done more shading in her face than the others.
with the first one, maybe a little more shading in the cheek area and around her nose? I’m not sure..

for the girl on the right.. her eyes seem rounder than what you have them.. maybe more shading in the eyelid ??

Overall.. holy cow… well done. I tried doing a pix of my granddaughter .. and it’s really hard to do a picture portrait.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

I used to draw, Earl and portraits are one of the hardest things to do, I think you did a great job. Mike

-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com

Great Job Jim.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

I have to laugh, Jim. Only because you have an ability to take on the hardest project for that art form. Really nice, brother.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Jim you’ve done a great job of capturing the three girls in the photo, which I must say isn’t the best in the world to work from. You continue to amaze me in the fact that there is no limit to what you can do.

-- Jesus is Lord!

Well done, Jim. Keep at it. The improvements in your craft are evident with every picture you do. I have to agree – this one is a real challenge – I would be pleased with the result.

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.canterburybaptist.org/

yah.. sure puts the one that I did to shame. Mine never came out of the work shop..

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

You nailed it!

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Well done Jim. Keep growing your skills.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Great job! My wood burning ends up in the fire pit. One day, maybe.

Drawing was a past time of mine and while I was on a peacekeeping tour in Bosnia I did a portrait of my children. Other soldiers seeing what I was working on were impressed and I was asked to do others for people. As artists we are our own worst critics and when we look at our own finished products all we see are the mistakes and where we could improve. You need to get a friend’s advise and at the same time someone that will give a brutally honest response when asked for it. If your client’s face brightens up when they see it that is all the gratification you need. The larger the piece the easier it is to get those details you want to achieve the look you are trying for. Is it just me or do you find it feels a little awkward doing a portrait of a person that you have never met? It was for me the first time.

You are doing pretty damn good at something that I would not even attempt, and the more experienced you get the better they will turn out. I look forward to seeing what you do in the future and how you progress. Did you draw it out on the wood first or just go right at it? Either way very well done.

-- Ed, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

great job! I recently started drawing charcoal drawings myself. I am doing fairly well with it. Several weeks ago a friend asked me if I would woodburn a photo of her grandmother,....I considered it until she came and said she wanted her grandfather on it too. Not to be harsh but these two elderly people had many wrinkles,....it was a chore just to charcoal draw them,.....which I did,....but there is no way possible she could have afforded for me to woodburn the portrait. And there is no way I could have done it for free.

I have been wanting to woodburn a portrait,....Just don’t know of whom yet :)
Excellent work you do,....I just can only hope that one day I will be as good as you.
Got a question how much does a heat control system cost? As I need to invest in one I am working with a cheap $15 woodburned and there is no way to control the heat. Any help is appreciated :)

-- Dana,Texas