Screen Withdrawal, Portrait of Brother- Aadhya Ramineni
“Screen Withdrawal,” Processed with VSCO with b5 preset
One thought on “Screen Withdrawal, Portrait of Brother- Aadhya Ramineni”
My favorite piece this semester was my flower piece and then my couch with a shawl on it. Flowers are forgiving, couches are forgiving, but faces are not forgiving…
When I started the drawing I approached it in the same way I approached my (seemingly) most realistic drawing this semester my flower line contour. I was trying to develop the thumbnail, but, after reaching out to Professor Wethli, I realized I couldn’t approach this like all my previous drawings by simply observing. I needed to figure out the relationship to each facial feature in three dimensional space. I tried to do this by drawing in a frame that was the same size as my reference, and measuring out the general location of key features. Using a ruler felt like cheating, but I was determined to have accurate results after all my failed studies.
I enjoyed trying my best with this piece, and I agree with my classmates that it was a great culmination to the course, showing me how much I have to learn and where my skill stands now. After photographing and editing the piece (for the second time) I see more changes that I could make to improve the drawing: a little more shading under the eye to our right, fewer areas of highlights on the hair, and evening out the shade of the shirt. The subtler changes in the rendering of the face are harder for me to pinpoint. Somehow the eyes don’t look lively like the master portraits did, but I don’t know how to fix them.
As for the back story on this reference photo… my mom has been trying to limit my brother’s screen time. He low key has withdrawal symptoms such as lashing out, and he didn’t sleep much the night before I took the photo. He very reluctantly sat for the photos, complaining the whole time. His insidious irritation in this photo caught my eye. I wanted to portray my brother with a more complex emotion than what we generally associate with kids (happiness and sadness).
My favorite piece this semester was my flower piece and then my couch with a shawl on it. Flowers are forgiving, couches are forgiving, but faces are not forgiving…
When I started the drawing I approached it in the same way I approached my (seemingly) most realistic drawing this semester my flower line contour. I was trying to develop the thumbnail, but, after reaching out to Professor Wethli, I realized I couldn’t approach this like all my previous drawings by simply observing. I needed to figure out the relationship to each facial feature in three dimensional space. I tried to do this by drawing in a frame that was the same size as my reference, and measuring out the general location of key features. Using a ruler felt like cheating, but I was determined to have accurate results after all my failed studies.
I enjoyed trying my best with this piece, and I agree with my classmates that it was a great culmination to the course, showing me how much I have to learn and where my skill stands now. After photographing and editing the piece (for the second time) I see more changes that I could make to improve the drawing: a little more shading under the eye to our right, fewer areas of highlights on the hair, and evening out the shade of the shirt. The subtler changes in the rendering of the face are harder for me to pinpoint. Somehow the eyes don’t look lively like the master portraits did, but I don’t know how to fix them.
As for the back story on this reference photo… my mom has been trying to limit my brother’s screen time. He low key has withdrawal symptoms such as lashing out, and he didn’t sleep much the night before I took the photo. He very reluctantly sat for the photos, complaining the whole time. His insidious irritation in this photo caught my eye. I wanted to portray my brother with a more complex emotion than what we generally associate with kids (happiness and sadness).