Portrait of a friend
 

A dear friend of my family is turning 75 soon and his daughter has come up with a brilliant idea for a gift: each member of his family and close friends are all given a couple of A4-sized papers on which they'll each write their fondest memory of him which will all be gathered and made into a book.

My father has written four pages himself and thought that he'd leave the last two to us kids (me and my brothers). He's the one who came up with the idea that I should draw H. because it would make an extra personal and special gift. So I sat down yesterday and started on the first lines and then finished it this morning. I'm fairly pleased about it but I realize that I really have to start practicing my skills more.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...t/hermann2.jpg


Hi. res. for those who're into the small details:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...st/hermann.jpg

Nice!
I love the shading. A+

Wow, that's a great idea. I wish I could draw with mad skillz. Looks great. :)

thats so good!!

I wish I were your friend, I want dave to have one of me so bad lol

^^ Lol! Don't be silly! :D If you really want me to then I'll make a portrait of you sweetie. Just be aware that I'm not nearly as good at it as some of the other artists here hehe.

excellent! You are so talented!! :icare:

Sweetpea

Wow thats really good Nancy. I'm sure he's gonna love it.

Asta!!

He looks like a friendly guy. I'm sure he's going to enjoy it.

holy poop! that's really amazing. you seem too well adjusted to be this talented. i thought talented artists were supposed to be CRAZY people. ummm, wait... maybe... ah, never mind.

the picture is awesome. and i agree, he does look like a very nice old man. i'd hang out and knock back a few with him.

Very nice picture, I like the idea you guys have going.


"it took me like three hours to finish the shading on the upper lip" [/badquote]

Oh I think he will considering he knows that I can draw, but not how good I am at it. Boy is he in for a surprise :D

I know that it appears like I'm sane and all but I'm really not. Ask anybody I know or even better; come hang out with me and see for yourself :lol:

H. really is a very nice old man. Don't let his age fool you though: he'd be able to drink you under the table any day because he's a Swiss. The Swiss really know how to hold their drink :crazy:

The letter:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...st/letter2.jpg

Dizzet is the one who came up with the idea for the illustration at the bottom: Swiss mountains. After living in Denmark for 30 years I'm sure H. would appreciate a touch of his homeland in this gift :)

That's very nice Nancy. :)

I like the way you've got the smudgings revealing the differnet planes of face, it gives him a very soft, warm character. :)

Hey the letter looks great :)

Asta!!

I'm no expert, far from it.. but that looks fantastic, i particulary appreciate the detail of the shading!
I'm sure he'll love it

and here i was thinking your artistic skills were reflected by your avatar

one thing i notice is way too many solid hard lines, makes it look cartoony, also the blending in of the jacket isn't well enough because you can still see the pencil lines..

my advice would be to lighten all your hard lines in the future, and blend those into the skin. use more contrast so it stands out-the picture fades to the back as it is.

the porportions look correct though.

^^ His lines are that hard in the original picture because of the light from behind and as for the shading of his jacket goes I kinda like how it looks :)

very nice portrait. Well done... as usual.

Excellent stuff.

I especially like the front of his collar. Too often I have trouble getting it to lay right when I draw portraits, but you did a fantastic job.

nice job nancy

Nancy - He looks like my guy's Besta Fa in Randers...very nice drawing!

Skol! And Toosen Tak,
hunnychile