Critique Request Gift for my wife

[dcurrie911]

I am making a keepsake for my wife. It is an engraving of her late brother on the back of a silver quarter. As you might expect I want it to be the best that I can do and I would like some advice. what Am I missing? What needs work? odd that the right cheek is washed out on all the pics. I have dots there.

thanks, Dan

 

[John B.]

Daniel, a good likeness. Hope your wife treasures it.
And very sorry about the loss of your Bro-in-Law.

 

[monk]

no need for worry. this is an excellent portrayal of the gentleman.

 

[dcurrie911]

Thanks John and Monk. But then I reversed the image. Looks like I have some work to do still.

 

[monk]

my opinion-- you worry too much, or have too much self doubt. that would be a great gift, guaranteed !

 

[speeedy6]

Dan you've created the photo great ! The photo , because his right side is in the shadow makes his face look off a little. Maybe consider burnishing a little of the shadow on his right side to even out his face and maybe mirroring his ear from the left to the right. The pose is the problem not, your work. And I think the distant pic ( like most people would look at it) looks much better than the extreme closeup. If that's the photo your wife treasures then she'll recognize the pose and I wouldn't change anything except maybe a small, thin border around the edge. Nice work , Mark

 

[JJ Roberts]

Dan,It's not easy engraving or painting the human anatomy you really nail it keep up the good work. J.J.

 

[dcurrie911]

Thanks everyone.
Monk, yep guilty of both charges. Probably always will be.... I already changed the eyes a bit. Will require some re-shading but I think the mirror images are better now?

Speedy, thanks for the observation and suggestion. Is this better? The shadowed ear in the attached picture is drawn in on procreate. It is not a direct mirror of the other side but does seem to even out the head. I think you are right that without the context of the background in the original photo the heavy shadowing was too strong.

 

[Monica]

What a great likeness! I'm impressed. I'm sure your wife will love it.

 

[kraftrourke]

It looks great! I'm a lowly newb so I don't really have a right to critique... But just in case this is helpful, the one thing that jumps out to me is the teeth in the corners of the mouth. Since they are just as bright as the middle teeth, I don't perceive the curvature as much as the photo. It feels more like a flat row. On the far left, the last tooth is more in shadow. On the right the last three are more pink which could be darker grey. It's very picky and subtle, I know, but something I noticed right away.

I also wish there were brighter "catchlight" sparkles in the eyes like the photo. Maybe not right in the center though.

 

[dcurrie911]

Thanks Monica.

kraftrourke. That is great feed back, thanks

 

[dcurrie911]

Think I am about done...

 

[bamabubba]

Looks great, Dan! She's going to love it, and the fact that you took the time and effort to do this for her will make it mean that much more. Kudos!

 

[allan621]

The curve from the cheek bones under the eye, merging with the emerging protrusion of the outer flank of the nose. If you can see it, its done wrong. Its a pretty darn good cut. I could never get that right, which is why I don't do faces. Well done.

Allan

 

[Adder]

I think you have done a really good job Dan. Wish I could do something like that.

Jørn-Ove

 

[dcurrie911]

Thanks John-Ove.

Allan, are you referring to his right side As shown by the arrow? In the attached photo added some shading to that area in in Procreate as a test before I touch the coin. That much shading is probably only 25 dots but hard to remove if wrong.

 

[allan621]

Not wrong at all. What I was trying to say is how well it was done because it is so subtle. The problem I have seen from portraits done by other jewelry engravers is the nose is made too prominent because of the over shading of the area from right side of the left eye down the curve of the nose. It makes the nose looked stuck on instead of naturally occurring. You've done the opposite. The area above the arrow is where I was talking about.

For instance, look at the current face of Grant from the 50 US dollar. The left side of Grants nose closest to the eye socket is almost non-existent. Almost non-existent but if you look carefully, the area does have a tiny bit of shading, basically where the light plays heaviest on the face.

Managing the reflection of light is an important part of jewelry engraving. The letters must show properly without it either being so bright the dazzle makes it hard to read, or so dull it tends to blend into the background.

The most amazing control of light was shown recently by Brian Hochstrat on his Lohengring sculpture. Its an incredible piece of engraving artistry. But look at it in terms of the movement of light. The shield has light flowing in minuscule variations, the feathers on the back of the swan are separated by the merest amount of shading. The clouds at the top, the inside back of the boat, the edge of the right coastline. His play in the control of light is incredible. A masterwork.

Allan

 

[dcurrie911]

Due to many things including COVID my time table needed to pull in significantly and I had to give her the coin today. It was a complete surprise and she cried. . Thanks to everyone that provided suggestions and encouragement.

 

[papart1]

home run Dan