Welcome to my second competition...the:


PORTRAIT BUDDY COMPETITION
by [allenp]


This is basically an extension of my last Photo Realistic Portrait Contest but takes the opportunity to create even more portraits of the local artists and such here in Elftown. Additionaly, for those who participated in the last comp., it will allow an outlet to apply those skills you improved on or developed in drawing realistic pencil portraits.

Soooo....here's the deal:

1. A minimum of 5 teams of artist pairs (1 male and 1 female) and a maximum of 10 teams. Deadline for artist application is July 6th. On July 7th the competition will begin. The contest will close on August 7th 9PM Pacific Standard Time.

2. Subject matter: The person you pair up with.....is your subject for the portrait :)...so choose wisely :P. Head and shoulder portraits only....so no body or torso shots. THIS MUST BE NEW ART!!! No previously completed work. Please refrain from beginning your work until July 1st!!

3. Entry must, obviously, be your own work and must be illustrated in black and white pencil/graphite. While scans may be evened out using a computer program, so as to more accurately represent the original piece, no other editing or touching is permitted. Realisitically this will be difficult to tell for those who are good at that sort of thing so I am counting on your integrity.


4. The original reference pic must be posted (only 300pixels wide please) by June 31st for both portrait buddys. As the contest progresses...at least one in progress scan (only 300pixels wide as well) of your work must be provided. The finished work may be loaded at 400 pixels wide)

5. And people....dont forget...this is an excercise in realism...so make it so :)


6. This contest will be judged by myself and 3 others (will not be disclosed). A poll will be available and counted as a 5th judge. Each art piece will be evaluated individually and the pair whose peices account for the most points will win. Individual artists will also be recognized for the best portraits at the end of the competition. Scores and scoring will be made available after the winner is announced.


7. Finally!...the prize :P. Well...this time I offer a "Draw Real People" book by the fabulous Lee Hammond for each artist in the pair that takes first place. Second, third and individual placings will be recognized by acknowledgement only.

YAY!!!  It has begun....please start posting your originals and in progress pics (only 300 pixels wide please) :).

Thanks :P ,

[allenp]

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And heres how the voting turned out (critiques are posted beneath each piece):

****TEAM COMPETITION****
FIRST PLACE: Team 3 (41pts)
SECOND PLACE: Team 2 (26pts)
THIRD PLACE: Team 1 (17pts)

****INDIVIDUAL COMPETITION****
1st: [May-lea]
2nd:[Malnu][
3rd: [Gundwane] thats Gundwane...not sure why it wont post right
4th: [hji]
5th: Tie [Luthien Ancalime] and [top gun]
7th: [Almerin]
8th: [Relfrome]



Team 1  a. [Relfrome]



J1: I like the aggressive use of graphite. Blending and attention to detail and accuracy needs some work. This piece appears to be unfinished.
J2: When looking at the work in progress... I said, "WOW, this is going to be GREAT." Then what happened?!? She has a strong start on the left and then, I suspect from lack of confidence in herself, she totally cops out on the right side of his face. Keep that momentum! It's like two different people did this portrait. I have a lot of faith in this artist. She just needs to carry through on her projects. Patience ;) Also, practice doing hair.
J3: Hair detail is good, but the shading is a tad unbalanced

b.[hji]

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J1: Accuracy is great. Loses a little something in the realism department because of shading technique. More thorough blending would push this piece higher into the rankings.
J2: A very good likeness of his buddy! Good start on the shading, good start on the hair... if only they had kept on going and polished it up. Blend, blend, blend!
J3:Wonderfully realistic rendering and a great attention to details! A little more blending/evening out of pencil strokes would be good though.

Team 2  c. [Luthien Ancalime]

Original:
J1: The shading is lovely…very well done. The overall accuracy is very good as well. Finish the dog-gone picture!!! Lol…sorry….is just so promising. Some other noticeable things would be the contrast of the teeth…too dark…and some facial lines not penciled in.
J2: This is a realistic portrait, but not a great likeness of his buddy. Had he used a grid to get the size and placement of her features, the shape of her face... he might have contended for second place. He knows how to do hair, demonstrated by what is done. I took not finishing that into a lot of consideration. While I kinda like the unfinished look, it's not what this contest was asking for.
J3: Great realism, would love to see the finished product!

d.[bo2]
Original:

J1: I enjoy the aggressive use of graphite…overall accuracy. Eyes are not looking where they are supposed to. Blending needs some attention….it appears far to blotchy…uneven
J2: Really nice job on the shading and she did pretty good with the placement of his features. I noticed the inclusion of the slight tension in his chin. Nice little detail. One complaint is the image size. I think it would have been even more impressive had it been larger *insert smarmy comment here* har har.
J3: Good detail on the shirt and good blending on the face. Face angle is just slightly off.

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Team 3   e. [May-lea] 


J1:Very well done. Excellent shading…very subtle making for a very realistic look. Accuracy is very good as well and your pencil marks are clean and precise. Overall cleanliness of the picture could use some work….seeing the corrected ear lines takes a way from an overall superb rendering. The smudges are excessive around the pic. You should really use a template for the iris and pupil.
J2: Outstanding attention to detail - each hair, the crease in his bottom lip, even the maniacal look in his eye. Well done. The outline of the ear could have been blended a little more. As Allen would say, "Kill that line!" Heavier application of graphite wouldn't hurt either. Just keep doing what you're doing as far as the shading, taking it a bit deeper and richer.
J3: Again, good realism - all the details are great, like the beard and mustache.

f. [Malnu]

J1: Accuracy and pencil lines are very nice with this rendering…excellent angle. Blending…there isn’t enough of it nor is their enough shading to blend for that matter. Some skin tone on this one would have gone a long way in the realism department.
J2: I feel like the artist could have gone a bit farther on this one. All the parts are in the right place, but why didn't he bother to shade? It would have given contour to her face, made the image more three dimensional. Had Malnu done this, it would have been an even tougher decision between him and his buddy.
J3: Good job on the hair,facial details, and shirt design!

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And for single contributions (only to be judged for the all around best portrait)

Single 1   g. Artist [top gun] subject [Sunrose]

J1: Accuracy and feel of the pic is great. Blending needs some attention….I like the heavy use of graphite/charcoal?....but more thorough blending would have improved this pic.
J2: The individual features are pretty good (though the eye could use a lid) but are all slightly misplaced. The subject is looking down her nose, chin slightly up. The artist has portrayed her looking straight on. The chin is too big and the cheek distorted. Kinda looks like she took a pummeling.
J3: Shading is bit dark and could maybe be evened out a little more, but good work with face proportions, etc.

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Single 2   h. Artist [Almerin] subject [Fantasy S.]

J1: Accuracy and pencil lines are very good. There is no shading in this picture which makes it difficult to achieve photo realism.
J2: Cute likeness - for a sketch. Not realistic. Unfinished. But very cute for a sketch.
J3: What is there is a great start, but I think some more shading, etc is necessary. The realism is good, you got her facial expression just right.

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