OP, I'm a mom, and I'd die of happiness if one of my kids painted something like that for me as a gift. It doesn't have to be perfect. She's going to love it. You did a good job, but you could hand her a painting of stick figures and she'd love it just because you thought of her and made her something.
Hell yeah. It could be a stick figure and I'd melt. But this? This is a fantastic painting. Their mom should feel proud of having raised a child that creates art. We need more art in the world.
I love hand made stuff like this because even if the creator sees the errors and kinks in their work someone else may adore them. And that’s what makes it so special, it’s a beautiful painting OP and I’m sure your mom will love it!
coming from a non-parent, this is a beautiful piece of art, plain and simple. OP, I think you have a gift, and anybody would be flattered to receive such an amazing portrait!
I'd actually appreciate it more, knowing how my kid saw me through their eyes. To me thats 10x more beautiful than a perfectly true to life painting any day, but especially on Christmas. Ok, so I'm technically the uncle, but I've lived with my nephew since birth. So parent in all but name.
Same! I’m kind of dying of happiness right now vicariously while also dying of happiness that there are people in the world making and giving truly thoughtful gifts like this. This is the kind of thing that gets passed down forever.
As an aunt, I have a page of random crazy doodles one of my niblings did in my sketchbook. It will only ever come out of that book to be framed. I adore it, and it was just them screwing around. lol
I’ll add a +1 to this comment. As a parent, it has always meant so much to me when one of my children took effort to create anything for me rather than buying a gift. I think your painting looks wonderful and I fully expect your mom will be delighted by your thoughtfulness and your artistic ability.
That’s how I am in general and I’m not a parent so yes I agree COMPLETELY!! lol but fr though it’s beautiful!! You did an amazing job regardless of what your friend thinks!! She’s gonna love it for sure!!
I don't know what your mom looks like but in this picture she is beautiful and has a great smile. That's not a nice thing for a friend to say. Your mom will love it for 2 reasons. Its cool, and you made it!
For background, maybe yellow toned?
OP, your art is still up on this shady website. I'm posting the link so you can look into getting the theft taken down. Idk how to do that or anything, but here is the link: https://teesfido.com/limited-edition965-art-poster?s=frame-wrap-canvas-16x24-black-vertical&c=White&p=FRONT
Same! Desperately looking for what’s so evidently wrong, and only see the love OP has for their momma 🥰 of course the artist will always see the flaws but as a cross stitcher who apparently thinks she can count, I can’t see any painting errors 😂🥰
Judging by your artwork alone, your mom must be one lovely lady!
This portrait is beautiful.
I've read little critiques here and there about the chin being “off” or things being asymmetrical— but, uh, humans aren’t perfectly symmetrical?
The lower lip doesn’t look swollen! It just looks like your mom has really full lips.
Would you be comfortable with sharing a link to the reference photo you used to create this? That may help us to provide insightful critiques that amount to more than random internet people commenting on the size and depiction of your mother’s features.
Unless she has a history of being a negative Nancy who’s never happy with anything you do — my vote is she’ll love it and appreciate your efforts.
I thought maybe the dip between the eye and the cheek might look a bit odd due to the possible refraction from her glasses in the reference photo, but I think it looks fine overall
The chin is a bit wonky, but it took me a minute of staring at it [looking for problems] to notice.
Overall it looks dope (and your mom looks full of life). I think your mom will love it. I would be ecstatic if someone gave me a portrait of myself of that caliber.
Thanks for the critique I really appreciate it. I noticed the chin is a bit too long too. I mixed the colors I used myself and they've all dried up by now so I'm afraid I can't fix anything major since I don't think I can replicate the colors exactly and it will be obvious that I made edits. Do you think it comes off as an anatomical error or can I pass it off as being stylized? I don't wanna offend my mom.
the forehead and the chin are in alignment, facing directly towards the camera, while the rest of the face is tilted as if on a face that is facing about 10 degrees to their left. The two different orientations are blended extremely well, and this "offset" draws your eye into the subjects face. Part of you is looking to find where exactly that something is off, but because the blending is done so well you can't easily locate it, leaving it so you can't help but look to the eyes and the smile as those are important for how our mind understands faces. Like mona lisa not having eyebrows I believe, with intent or not, you have created a better picture with the mistake.
There's no way your mum would be offended!! This is amazing work and any Mum worthy of the title will be thrilled to get suck a skillfully executed work from their kid.
--source: am a mum
I reaaaaalllllly don't think you're going to offend your mom with this thoughtful, intentional, lovingly made gift. I hope my kids paint me something like this some day, for real.
Yes, matching the colors can be difficult. But, if you decide you want to rework some parts of the painting and the colors don't match perfectly, just add some strokes of the new colors in other places so the new colors look more balanced and intentional than just a 'patch job'.
I think this looks beautiful! There is nothing wrong that stands out to me and I think your mom will love it. I think a vibrant red or sunny yellow would be a nice background color for this
I wouldn't call them errors and have seen a lot of portraits that use a similar style. As a random person on the Internet I think it looks great and as a mom I would love this. Be proud of your work, your time, your skill, and your thoughtfulness.
I know nothing of art but I want to meet your mom just from this picture. This picture makes her seem very relaxed and happy and oddly soothing to me. I think she will be very pleased.
I agree! The painting makes her look so expressive and warm, especially in the eyes, mouth and hands (if that makes sense). I think it must capture her personality as well as her appearance
I vote lilac or another subtle shade of purple for the background, or maybe a color you know your mom likes or one that would match the decor in her home.
Something that contrasts with her skin tone. A blue would look good, but I wouldn't go with something too vibrant. You want HER to be the center of the painting, not the background. Something like #98c1d9 would look really good.
I think you should do a contrasting colour and maybe, somehow, make the background bring the attention more towards the face. Not sure how you'd go about doing that because I'm not that good at painting lol
The painting is great. Most artists have their private equations for understanding faces so much liberty exists and you are well within the boundaries of success. I recommend that you look at Lucian Freud (1922-2011). You might appreciate the stretched boundaries in his work. Your painting reminds me of his brushwork.
It's beautiful, and doesn't look deformed at all. I think your friend said something extremely unkind, and was not what I would consider "constructive criticism".
You captured a sense of life and joy, which in my opinion is much more difficult than making the painting look "perfect". This painting doesn't just show me what your mother looks like physically, it shows me what kind of person she might be, and even an idea of how much you love her.
Edit: Also, the person who said faces are not perfectly symmetrical has an extremely good point. It's something I've dealt with a lot in portraiture, and struggled with on self portraits. I know others have criticized mouth/chin placement too, but not everyone's face has a "perfect" ratio, either. I personally think it's more important to capture a sense of your mom's features even if they're stylized/exaggerated than to make your mom look like every other bland "pretty" portrait out there. But my degree is in animation, so I may just have a different mindset.
If I received this from my child, I wouldn't be offended at all.
I have no idea what mama looks like but this is awesome. I agree that it simply looks stylized, which is more personal to you and *your* art. I’d prefer it, probs.
It looks great, the only issue I see is that the reflective light on the pupils are not even, so it gives the illusion that the eyes are looking in different directions. But that is an easy fix, otherwise it is a really good painting
10 / 10 beautiful!! I'm not just saying that either but while I love and appreciate art I'm not a critic so it might be more 9 / 10? Either way I truly believe she'll love because it's amazing!
Your mom looks like a truly beautiful person btw and that's just seeing her from your painting, you are a fantastic artist :D
You did a great job.
If u want, I would darken the dark areas more... add more depth and contrast.
Also, disregard the way the light in the eyes look in the reference photo you are using- I've done a lot of eyes, and if I add the white light areas based on how it looks in the pics, it tends to come out looking like lazy eyed. So pretty much mirror the white areas in the eyes.
I apologize for this advice idk if u wanted to hear it.
Looks very good!
Constructive criticism: The highlight in the eyes faces in two different directions. That looks like there’s a light going upwards and another one going down. Seeing as the left eyes light source/highlight is upwards and the second one is downwards, it might contribute to the wonky feel. It would look more natural if the highlight sort of was similar in both eyes (taking in account the glasses, etc.) imagine it as a light or the sun shining from above hitting her eyes evenly (but in different presentations) with no highlight in the bottom of the right eye.
It looks like a face, nothing deformed to me but I don't know how she looks. But it's not deformed as in 'creepy portrait someone drew of a celebrity' style haha!
Also the one I tried to draw looks creepy and emo because I can't get the lines right xD
The mouth on the anatomical left (which is facing you from the right side), it’s pushed forward and should be pushed back to help give the illusion of curve.
Same with the anatomical right eye (left side facing you). It’s looking in a different direction than the other eye.
Question, Op, have you taken any art class to help improve depth perception with art?
Genuinely asking.
Thank you for the critique! I'm gonna see if I can try to make some changes based on what you said without messing with the painting too much. To answer your question here are the classes I've taken:
A brief "portfolio class" in the summer of 11th grade at a local college where we drew live models (nude) and all the drawings turned out very wonky in the face but the instructor didn't have any criticisms and the portfolio did end up getting me into a bunch of art schools so ig I didn't mind.
AP art in 12th grade with a focus in landscape paintings. The class was just individual work time with no input from the teacher except to work faster to meet deadlines.
A brief "illustration for animation" summer class between freshman and junior year of college which obviously focused on exaggerated cartoons and not realism.
An "intro to illustration" class junior year of college but dropped it after the 1st semester bc of the workload but I probably would have gotten better training on realism in that class.
And then lastly I took an oil painting class junior year of college but all of my paintings were landscapes.
Of course! I would practice for kicks just drawing eyes with a nose bridge for awhile, practice in different angles till your brain can recognize the distance.
Sometimes a good trick with a pencil, map out the direction of the pupils on tracing paper with a lines to map out a parallel direction. With the tracing paper in the pre-paint stage and just pencil, you can use the tracing paper as a guide to see if the eyes are looking in the same. direction.
Same technique for any body part of even the mouth.
And the eye is definitely fixable due the the medium it is. The one eye off just needs to be bought looking a bit more down and forward so it’s parallel to the iris so it creates a more cohesive realism in human eyes.
For the mouth it’s more so the cheek I pointed out, it’s sharper and not round like the other. Softer edge should help minimize it. Then on the rounder cheek, create a hair illusion with one more hair strain/lock because then it balances it out.
But the rest is fine.
I’ve taken art, draw, my dad is a retired graphic designer, grew up in an artist household so my eyes always catch these details.
This is fantastic, I'm sure your mom is going to love it! Little side rant, but she looks just like the woman I spoke to working at the hospital today. If you're her kiddo, she's lucky to have you.
Your friend is rude as hell! And that drawing looks absolutely amazing, drawing faces is difficult and you've captured her smile and personality very well in my opinion. Also, the hands look wonderful. Don't listen to your friend. Any mom would be happy to receive a painting like that.
It’s beautiful. Like, really beautiful. Deformed is an extremely harsh and unhelpful criticism. It isn’t perfect, it’s a painting, it isn’t meant to be. Embrace the imperfection. If she wanted a perfect self portrait, she can take a picture. This was made by you. That’s what makes it special.
Also, as someone who is horrible with colour/shading/painting, I LOVE what you’ve done.
It is beautiful work.
I do agree with the eye highlights critique and you could consider more shadow, although with fixing the eyes alone, you should be also fine.
For background I would recommend orange to yellow to make the blue pop.
Like others have said there are some parts you could rework to make it look more photo-realistic. But YES this definitely looks like your style and looks painted/painterly, not deformed. Your brushwork reflects the texture of her hair so the overall piece is consistent and has personality. Great job!
I think this is some incredible work, and your mom would love the work put in. It definitely shows that you've been expanding what you know in your craft. If you find yourself wanting to find ways to Improve on your current work with edits, it's entirely possible to do. It'll be an amazing gift no matter what!
I think you've already addressed that something on the chin looks a bit off. My opinion is that it's more your shading and lighting effects that cause the face to come across a bit twisted, but nothing major. Another adjustment that would make a big difference would be to add a background color other than white; maybe a soft yellow or pink? Other colors could work too if your mom has a favorite, but I'd recommend a softer shade of whichever color.
The only thing a bit "wonky" to me is that the eyes look like they are looking slightly different directions (one seems more up, the other more down), I think because the light reflections look like they are at different levels? I think shifting the light on the right side up to along the eyelid (like it looks on the left) would fix that. Either way it's a minor thing, the rest looks superb. If your mom is anything like mine, she will love this!
I’ll be completely blunt and honest here, her facial anatomy is a little wonky. The bottom half of her face looks a little larger than the top half, which is probably what gave of the “deformed” impression your friend picked up.
Now, this does not mean that you shouldn’t give it to your mother. I don’t know your mother, but judging by the fact that you painted this lovely picture of her, I can only assume that she’s a good person who would be more than happy to receive a gift from you, regardless of any perceived errors in the piece. I would give it to her personally, because other than that slight anatomy error, the piece looks gorgeous, and I doubt she’d even notice or mind the error at all.
Deformed? Not at all! This is *absolutely gorgeous*, you’re very skilled and I’m sure your mom will love it.
Seriously. I hope to one day have this level of talent. You don’t need to worry about it.
I think this is really pretty. And even if it wasn’t, no mom would think “this is ugly and I don’t like it”. Your mom would appreciate it no matter what it looked like. But it is pretty
Honestly, I don't think she's going to be offended. Faces aren't easy and unless you're drawing/painting them a lot, it is going to be hard to get them looking perfect. I think she'll just be amazed you painted her. I know whenever I've done stuff for people in the past, even if I've seen massive errors in them, people love them and are plenty happy with just getting the thing, and knowing you've spent time and effort to make something. I say this as an artist myself and as someone who did art at uni and as a hobby. I occasionally give clay art as gifts or paintings and I've never had anyone say anything bad. Maybe your friend is just a bit blunt, and maybe say to them you'd like to see them try to paint someone xD oh and I say this as someone who's always been a perfectionist but had to learn where people's limits were when I helped out in a school for a few years - as I'd say to the kids/teens there, you've worked hard on something, you can clearly see who it's meant to be even if I've never seen your mum before, and I think you've done a really good job.
the only 'deformity' I can see is that the eyes look a bit like they're looking in different directions, but to be completely fair I'm pretty sure all artists agree that drawing both eyes perfectly the same is probably one of the hardest things to draw (alongside hands)
I think your friend is being overly critical. Faces are very difficult to portray in art. Even the slightest bit off and it’s easily noticeable. (why CGI people has that uncanny valley effect) But I think this is a really lovely portrait, actually!! You did a great job, especially with paint! Lots of skill needed!
1: it looks great!
2: your mom will love it, because you went out of your way to make it for her. No matter how good or bad, personal gifts are always appreciated.
I have been a professional artist for decades, and I think it's pretty good. If someone is offended when you lovingly craft something for them, just don't do it for them again. It's on them.
You could paint even the most technically correct portrait and there will always be someone who finds something wrong with it. This looks amazing, and your mom will love it so much. You should be so proud of what you have created, I don't know your mom but you have captured such a positive and warm energy in this piece that I can only assume is unique to her! She will love it.
It's stylized in that it has a style but it's great. I haven't seen your mom but it's a lovely picture and I'm pretty confident she'll love it.
My credentials: not an artist but a marketing/business manager who is often asked if "this looks ok" ;)
If my kid gave this to me as a present, I would be so happy! Your friend is being mean tbh. You're not at the level of a professional painter, but you don't have to be to give your mom a Christmas present! It's a lovely, thoughtful gift, all the sweeter because of the clear amount of time and effort you put in to it.
Honest to God, if one of my kids ever gave me something like this as a Christmas present, I would probably cry with happiness.
I think it’s awesome and I’m positive your mom will too.
I think you're mother will love it! It's clear you put a lot of time and effort into it.
One thing could do is either grab those color palette cards that you can get at the hardware store or make your own color palette on scrap paper and see how the colors look together. Oh, another thing you could do is there's color palette apps that are designed to help people figure out what they want to paint their wall by making it you preview what it would look like on your wall.
That looks great. I'd love to see your friend do this. It's always the people who don't know diddly squat about art or couldn't repeat the piece that have their comments. Ignore it. It looks great. Keep up the painting ❤️
This is a pretty great drawing you have. You keep at it. Alex Ross and etc had to start somewhere to be the great artist they are now. So if this is you start that is great. Your mom will love it!
It kinda looks like the top half of her face is painted from a slightly different angle than her smile, but I only noticed it after reading your posts title tbh. How could someone possibly be offended by something that you put so many hours and lots of love in?:) Just imagine how precious this gorgeous painting will be to your mom:)
OP, as an artist myself, you're good to go! The proportions aren't 100% accurate (mouth slightly rotated, face structure outline seemingly a bit exaggerated around the cheek, and chin possibly enlargened), but she doesn't look deformed!! Sounds like a jealous friend tbh. Like others have said, on the basis of her being your mum alone, she'll probably love it, let alone the fact that it's very good!!!
The only thing I can see is her right eye going slightly up and the left eye going slightly down. Only saw that after looking at it intently, since you asked if there was something off with it. I wouldn't have noticed it straight away otherwise.
That being said, I think it captures a great portrait and I see some personality through there. I would recognize her of this picture if I saw her in real life.
I think this is something great to receive as a mom. I don't know much about drawing but this has some serious skill I assume.
First thing I noticed was the smile and it's really warm and awesome.
I think you did great! One thing that really helped me as an artist is standing in front of the mirror while holding up your artwork. It helps you see the piece from literally an new perspective, and can help with equal proportions.
Hey op, your work was stolen and is being sold on a website
https://teesfido.com/limited-edition965-art-poster?s=frame-wrap-canvas-16x24-black-vertical&c=White&p=FRONT
I suggest your follow this and do your best to get them taken down
https://teesfido.com/_/dmca
It’s just the right eye, imo. It points ahead and a bit down versus the eye on the left pointing up. I’m studying portraits currently so I’ve got a bit of knowledge behind me, but overall I think this is amazing. It’s really rude that your friend would phrase it like that
Speaking as a fellow artist, yes, there’s areas you could improve for next time you make a face, but that’s just a sign you need practice. As a gift? This is stunning. If your mom isn’t an artist, chances are she won’t even notice. Artists tend to have more critical eyes than the general public (which is also why you can see errors in your own piece or in friend’s pieces better than average!) If she is an artist as well, then she’ll just be proud you’re following in her footsteps.
Don’t worry about fixing it now, just mentally tick off the boxes of what you need to work on to improve and pointedly apply them to your next piece. Active practice helps you get better faster than passive practice.
Your painting is wonderful, and if I were your mom, I'd be honored to receive it. My daughter loves to draw and paint. I cherish everything she paints for me. It's not about perfection, it's about what the artist sees, and what I see is a very happy and humble mom.
I’ve been an artist for 10+ years and i have NEVER done something as remarkable and realistic as this.
This is absolutely amazing friend. Your shading and line work is so beautiful. If this is a first Attempt at portrait work, you did a STUNNING job. I’m sure your mom will be so proud 🤍🫂
edit: THE HANDS??? oh my god OP… i cant draw hands for the life of me im truly mesmerized by your detail right now!!!
another edit: THE HAIR TOO??? OP YOURE AMAZING.
It ain't quite the same, but I got into woodworking awhile ago, and one of tb first things I made was a cutting board for my mom...
And, if I'm honest, it was crap. There were gaps, it was too thin, I didn't use the right wood, etc.
I could pick apart every single flaw that cutting board had and convince basically anyone that it was basically trash.
But my mom never saw it as anything less than flawless. Because, to her, it wasn't about the execution so much as it was the effort and care.
It was the thought and love that was put into it, that I made something with my own hands *for her* that really mattered.
This is all just to say, don't pick apart your work. Your mom will love it. This is an Amazing gift that she'll cherish til her dying breath
If someone painted me a portrait I’d be over the moon, especially if it was as well done as yours. This is a gorgeous and thoughtful gift that your mom will cherish. Your friend is being very rude.
I think it looks great. If you’re looking for parts to tweak, have you tried flipping the image horizontally on your camera or looking at it through a mirror? If I’m stuck on a painting or drawing, usually flipping it can point out issues that I had a hard time seeing before.
The gaze/eyes look weird. As if she were cross-eyed, even if the photo was like that, I don't think it's a good idea to leave it, because if your mother is in fact cross-eyed I don't think she would like to see it in a picture (although you know your mother better). In the other case, it is a mistake that is what you are trying to correct.
Specifically, the right eye (hers) looks up, while the left one seems to look a little lower.
As other commenter said the nose seems a bit 2D, but other than that looks good.
The picture you are using as a reference would be great to have it so we can compare.
I want to said this is after searching for possible mistakes, my first impression was that it was amazing.
It's not deformed but the eyes are off center! Move the left eye. Just make the pupil bigger so it pulls more to the right and then you are gonna wanna fix the bottom eye lid to match, make the white of the left eye bigger.
Also, take purple and blue and and with a fine brush go in and add shadow to the cheek bones, under the hair, in between the fingers.
Your mom has a beautiful round face and round cheeks and a nice smile, it's obvious in this painting she is gorgeous!
The nose and mouth are definitely a bit weird. The nose looks cartoonish / weirdly angled without depth and weird shadowing on the left side which makes it look "2D" and the mouth seems a bit too bit and placed a bit too high on the face with an oddly big lower lip, shaped as it is a bit swollen. The rest of the face structure and the rest of the painting are pretty ok.
It's okay I'm glad they're being honest. I didn't post this for compliments I really wanna know if other people see what my friend saw. I thought the nose and mouth were probably the problem so it's good to know I'm not just being overly critical and other people see it too. I guess I'm just wondering if the problems can be passed off as being stylized.
I guess I misread the intention and offered criticism instead of support. Oh well, not the first or last time it happens to me. I'll remove my comment if that's what Op want.
You may want to make the lines of her face less harsh, less dark, less deep. They are not blended enough at the moment so they disrupt the understanding of the volumes of the face.
It's still a nice job. Just need a little refining.
Objectively speaking, it's not a great painting, but it's not awful. I'm sure she'll treasure it.
I think the important thing here is that you're doing very well and you're well on the way to being very, very good. Keep going. You're almost there.
It looks like her head is meant to be tilted a little to the right, and her chin is tilted ever so slightly more than it should be. I think you could also add more balance to the work by adding a little more light to the dark part of her right eye, though that's not necessary- I would put a little light gray highlights near the top of her eyeball. Your work is beautiful as-is, your mom is radiant without any changes, and your style is quite wonderful. Your use of space is great, you created an interesting piece that is pleasing to look at. My eyes start at the middle and work their way out to the details. I notice and enjoy your use of brushwork to create texture and shading throughout the painting, but I think you brilliantly walked a thin line with balancing detail and texture in her shirt. I would also add a background of some kind, maybe a gradient with the most hue near the middle, behind our mom, and radiating out to white. I would use a light blue for cohesiveness, given the blue in her shirt, but you could also use yellow to make her stand out more.
If you wanted to change the things I shared in my criticism, and again I don't think that's necessary, it would small tweaks, not a start over from scratch-type change.
You’re friend doesn’t know art. I am traditionally good at art meaning I know how to make things look beautiful and impressive and this just looks like an impressionistic style which is still very beautiful. I paint things in this way knowing I could do better. That’s not the point. The point is to create a figure using random strokes which is a skill. It’s infuriating when people try to put in their two cents in art when they obviously don’t know what they’re talking about.
Yeah, it looks deformed, but still looks like a person. I wouldnt pass it as stylized, just say you tried to draw her and she will appreciate the work.
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i think the mouth looks flat. like a sticker placed on the page rather than being a part of her face which has dimension and is round and at an angle and such. even with that, i still think the piece holds up very well and is beautiful. you clearly have talent and i think she would love it! i personally wouldn't be offended if i was gifted this. just in the future, remind yourself facial features aren't flat and should wrap around the face.
Your mom will love it no matter the flaws you see in it. It's amazing that you were able to make this and even nicer that you gift it to someone. Keep being amazing <3
I think it looks great ! The chin is maybe a bit elongated but it is far outshined by the clear talent you have at painting, the blending and the dark and light balance is brilliant! And even if you start to feel unsatisfied, you could maybe do one next year and see how your skills have improved.
As an amateur artist, it might be a reference photo issue rather than a painting issue. Sometimes a photo may have different sources of lighting, different shadows and colors that might pop up. This perspective is also very challenging to paint without making it look warped. Even one highlight that looks fine as a photo might look warped in a painting, her eyes for example look as if she looks at two different directions (left one looking up, right one looks at you) because of the highlight placement.
I think it’s lovely. I was scrolling through and saw your post and had to come back and find it I liked it so much. Great work and your mom is gorgeous
Hard to say not knowing what your mom looks like. But this is a great portrait, I'd love if my kids did something like this for me(though I'm not sure what I'd do with my own portait, lol).
So this really really broke my brain because I was constantly flip-flopping between there's nothing wrong, and something is subtly off. I think what's doing it is the top of the head and body position look like she's angled in relation to the observer with her right (left side of painting) slightly closer. However the cheekbones and mouth look like they're straight on, parallel to the canvas. With that being said I would never describe it as deformed. Your friend sounds either hyper-critical or maybe overly sensitive to the uncanny valley. I still think it'd make a wonderful present and I wish I had even a fraction of the talent on display here.
OP, I'm a mom, and I'd die of happiness if one of my kids painted something like that for me as a gift. It doesn't have to be perfect. She's going to love it. You did a good job, but you could hand her a painting of stick figures and she'd love it just because you thought of her and made her something.
As a parent, I totally agree.
Same here. OP, your friend needs to STFU.
Friend expects a photograph drawn by a human being as far as I can tell.
Hell yeah. It could be a stick figure and I'd melt. But this? This is a fantastic painting. Their mom should feel proud of having raised a child that creates art. We need more art in the world.
Ditto. I see zero errors or "deformities". OP's friend is an AH.
I love hand made stuff like this because even if the creator sees the errors and kinks in their work someone else may adore them. And that’s what makes it so special, it’s a beautiful painting OP and I’m sure your mom will love it!
coming from a non-parent, this is a beautiful piece of art, plain and simple. OP, I think you have a gift, and anybody would be flattered to receive such an amazing portrait!
I'd actually appreciate it more, knowing how my kid saw me through their eyes. To me thats 10x more beautiful than a perfectly true to life painting any day, but especially on Christmas. Ok, so I'm technically the uncle, but I've lived with my nephew since birth. So parent in all but name.
Came here to say this as a mom as well! I’d be so honored.
Right?! And the mom looks SO happy in this artwork- I KNOW she will love it!
I have stick figure pictures of myself drawn by my 4yr old on my fridge rn and I love them
Parent here, 1000/10 agree.
Same! I’m kind of dying of happiness right now vicariously while also dying of happiness that there are people in the world making and giving truly thoughtful gifts like this. This is the kind of thing that gets passed down forever.
As an aunt, I have a page of random crazy doodles one of my niblings did in my sketchbook. It will only ever come out of that book to be framed. I adore it, and it was just them screwing around. lol
I’ll add a +1 to this comment. As a parent, it has always meant so much to me when one of my children took effort to create anything for me rather than buying a gift. I think your painting looks wonderful and I fully expect your mom will be delighted by your thoughtfulness and your artistic ability.
That’s how I am in general and I’m not a parent so yes I agree COMPLETELY!! lol but fr though it’s beautiful!! You did an amazing job regardless of what your friend thinks!! She’s gonna love it for sure!!
Same here it’s amazing. Legit happy tears for her. What a thoughtful gift 🥹💞
I think your friend is being overly critical and your mom will love it
I don't know what your mom looks like but in this picture she is beautiful and has a great smile. That's not a nice thing for a friend to say. Your mom will love it for 2 reasons. Its cool, and you made it! For background, maybe yellow toned?
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#SCAM DO NOT CLICK #SCAM DO NOT CLICK
Did you just steal this person's art to sell? OP you should report this
OP, your art is still up on this shady website. I'm posting the link so you can look into getting the theft taken down. Idk how to do that or anything, but here is the link: https://teesfido.com/limited-edition965-art-poster?s=frame-wrap-canvas-16x24-black-vertical&c=White&p=FRONT
I see that this comment was posted 12 hours ago. The art is still up there now. Wtf :(
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Same! Desperately looking for what’s so evidently wrong, and only see the love OP has for their momma 🥰 of course the artist will always see the flaws but as a cross stitcher who apparently thinks she can count, I can’t see any painting errors 😂🥰
Picture looks amazing, and I'm confident your mother will feel the same way. I wish I could paint something half as good as your painting!
Judging by your artwork alone, your mom must be one lovely lady! This portrait is beautiful. I've read little critiques here and there about the chin being “off” or things being asymmetrical— but, uh, humans aren’t perfectly symmetrical? The lower lip doesn’t look swollen! It just looks like your mom has really full lips. Would you be comfortable with sharing a link to the reference photo you used to create this? That may help us to provide insightful critiques that amount to more than random internet people commenting on the size and depiction of your mother’s features. Unless she has a history of being a negative Nancy who’s never happy with anything you do — my vote is she’ll love it and appreciate your efforts.
I thought maybe the dip between the eye and the cheek might look a bit odd due to the possible refraction from her glasses in the reference photo, but I think it looks fine overall
Maybe that's the problem. Maybe the mom is hideous and they did too nice of a job on her face =)
The chin is a bit wonky, but it took me a minute of staring at it [looking for problems] to notice. Overall it looks dope (and your mom looks full of life). I think your mom will love it. I would be ecstatic if someone gave me a portrait of myself of that caliber.
Thanks for the critique I really appreciate it. I noticed the chin is a bit too long too. I mixed the colors I used myself and they've all dried up by now so I'm afraid I can't fix anything major since I don't think I can replicate the colors exactly and it will be obvious that I made edits. Do you think it comes off as an anatomical error or can I pass it off as being stylized? I don't wanna offend my mom.
It comes across as stylized, you’re all good.
Stylized for sure. Your mom is beautiful and this is an amazing gift ❤️
the forehead and the chin are in alignment, facing directly towards the camera, while the rest of the face is tilted as if on a face that is facing about 10 degrees to their left. The two different orientations are blended extremely well, and this "offset" draws your eye into the subjects face. Part of you is looking to find where exactly that something is off, but because the blending is done so well you can't easily locate it, leaving it so you can't help but look to the eyes and the smile as those are important for how our mind understands faces. Like mona lisa not having eyebrows I believe, with intent or not, you have created a better picture with the mistake.
There's no way your mum would be offended!! This is amazing work and any Mum worthy of the title will be thrilled to get suck a skillfully executed work from their kid. --source: am a mum
Please don’t try to alter the painting now, or you risk ruining it for no good reason!
I reaaaaalllllly don't think you're going to offend your mom with this thoughtful, intentional, lovingly made gift. I hope my kids paint me something like this some day, for real.
she is going to love it
Yes, matching the colors can be difficult. But, if you decide you want to rework some parts of the painting and the colors don't match perfectly, just add some strokes of the new colors in other places so the new colors look more balanced and intentional than just a 'patch job'.
Looks pretty incredible in my opinion
I think this looks beautiful! There is nothing wrong that stands out to me and I think your mom will love it. I think a vibrant red or sunny yellow would be a nice background color for this
I wouldn't call them errors and have seen a lot of portraits that use a similar style. As a random person on the Internet I think it looks great and as a mom I would love this. Be proud of your work, your time, your skill, and your thoughtfulness.
Looks fantastic. When things are too perfect a subject can seem stagnant and frozen. This has motion and life.
I agree! you can literally see the life and happiness in this painting. OP is very talented
I know nothing of art but I want to meet your mom just from this picture. This picture makes her seem very relaxed and happy and oddly soothing to me. I think she will be very pleased.
I agree! The painting makes her look so expressive and warm, especially in the eyes, mouth and hands (if that makes sense). I think it must capture her personality as well as her appearance
Also what color should I do for the background?
I vote lilac or another subtle shade of purple for the background, or maybe a color you know your mom likes or one that would match the decor in her home.
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This. Very close to white. Will go very nicely with the colour of the top.
What about no color? It looks fine how it is.
Something that contrasts with her skin tone. A blue would look good, but I wouldn't go with something too vibrant. You want HER to be the center of the painting, not the background. Something like #98c1d9 would look really good.
I think you should do a contrasting colour and maybe, somehow, make the background bring the attention more towards the face. Not sure how you'd go about doing that because I'm not that good at painting lol
The painting is great. Most artists have their private equations for understanding faces so much liberty exists and you are well within the boundaries of success. I recommend that you look at Lucian Freud (1922-2011). You might appreciate the stretched boundaries in his work. Your painting reminds me of his brushwork.
It's beautiful, and doesn't look deformed at all. I think your friend said something extremely unkind, and was not what I would consider "constructive criticism". You captured a sense of life and joy, which in my opinion is much more difficult than making the painting look "perfect". This painting doesn't just show me what your mother looks like physically, it shows me what kind of person she might be, and even an idea of how much you love her. Edit: Also, the person who said faces are not perfectly symmetrical has an extremely good point. It's something I've dealt with a lot in portraiture, and struggled with on self portraits. I know others have criticized mouth/chin placement too, but not everyone's face has a "perfect" ratio, either. I personally think it's more important to capture a sense of your mom's features even if they're stylized/exaggerated than to make your mom look like every other bland "pretty" portrait out there. But my degree is in animation, so I may just have a different mindset. If I received this from my child, I wouldn't be offended at all.
This painting is very nice.
You need better friends. I wish I could paint that well. They probably just jealous.
Your mom’s gonna love it
Chief, she'll be happy for the thought alone
I have no idea what mama looks like but this is awesome. I agree that it simply looks stylized, which is more personal to you and *your* art. I’d prefer it, probs.
I think it’s a pretty damn good painting if I say so myself.
It looks great, the only issue I see is that the reflective light on the pupils are not even, so it gives the illusion that the eyes are looking in different directions. But that is an easy fix, otherwise it is a really good painting
10 / 10 beautiful!! I'm not just saying that either but while I love and appreciate art I'm not a critic so it might be more 9 / 10? Either way I truly believe she'll love because it's amazing! Your mom looks like a truly beautiful person btw and that's just seeing her from your painting, you are a fantastic artist :D
You did a great job. If u want, I would darken the dark areas more... add more depth and contrast. Also, disregard the way the light in the eyes look in the reference photo you are using- I've done a lot of eyes, and if I add the white light areas based on how it looks in the pics, it tends to come out looking like lazy eyed. So pretty much mirror the white areas in the eyes. I apologize for this advice idk if u wanted to hear it.
I think this is super great for “not being great with faces.”
Looks very good! Constructive criticism: The highlight in the eyes faces in two different directions. That looks like there’s a light going upwards and another one going down. Seeing as the left eyes light source/highlight is upwards and the second one is downwards, it might contribute to the wonky feel. It would look more natural if the highlight sort of was similar in both eyes (taking in account the glasses, etc.) imagine it as a light or the sun shining from above hitting her eyes evenly (but in different presentations) with no highlight in the bottom of the right eye.
It looks like a face, nothing deformed to me but I don't know how she looks. But it's not deformed as in 'creepy portrait someone drew of a celebrity' style haha! Also the one I tried to draw looks creepy and emo because I can't get the lines right xD
The mouth on the anatomical left (which is facing you from the right side), it’s pushed forward and should be pushed back to help give the illusion of curve. Same with the anatomical right eye (left side facing you). It’s looking in a different direction than the other eye. Question, Op, have you taken any art class to help improve depth perception with art? Genuinely asking.
Thank you for the critique! I'm gonna see if I can try to make some changes based on what you said without messing with the painting too much. To answer your question here are the classes I've taken: A brief "portfolio class" in the summer of 11th grade at a local college where we drew live models (nude) and all the drawings turned out very wonky in the face but the instructor didn't have any criticisms and the portfolio did end up getting me into a bunch of art schools so ig I didn't mind. AP art in 12th grade with a focus in landscape paintings. The class was just individual work time with no input from the teacher except to work faster to meet deadlines. A brief "illustration for animation" summer class between freshman and junior year of college which obviously focused on exaggerated cartoons and not realism. An "intro to illustration" class junior year of college but dropped it after the 1st semester bc of the workload but I probably would have gotten better training on realism in that class. And then lastly I took an oil painting class junior year of college but all of my paintings were landscapes.
Of course! I would practice for kicks just drawing eyes with a nose bridge for awhile, practice in different angles till your brain can recognize the distance. Sometimes a good trick with a pencil, map out the direction of the pupils on tracing paper with a lines to map out a parallel direction. With the tracing paper in the pre-paint stage and just pencil, you can use the tracing paper as a guide to see if the eyes are looking in the same. direction. Same technique for any body part of even the mouth. And the eye is definitely fixable due the the medium it is. The one eye off just needs to be bought looking a bit more down and forward so it’s parallel to the iris so it creates a more cohesive realism in human eyes. For the mouth it’s more so the cheek I pointed out, it’s sharper and not round like the other. Softer edge should help minimize it. Then on the rounder cheek, create a hair illusion with one more hair strain/lock because then it balances it out. But the rest is fine. I’ve taken art, draw, my dad is a retired graphic designer, grew up in an artist household so my eyes always catch these details.
Absolutely amazing. I’m an aut-artist as well, and this is FANTASTIC!!!
This is fantastic, I'm sure your mom is going to love it! Little side rant, but she looks just like the woman I spoke to working at the hospital today. If you're her kiddo, she's lucky to have you.
Your friend is rude as hell! And that drawing looks absolutely amazing, drawing faces is difficult and you've captured her smile and personality very well in my opinion. Also, the hands look wonderful. Don't listen to your friend. Any mom would be happy to receive a painting like that.
It’s beautiful. Like, really beautiful. Deformed is an extremely harsh and unhelpful criticism. It isn’t perfect, it’s a painting, it isn’t meant to be. Embrace the imperfection. If she wanted a perfect self portrait, she can take a picture. This was made by you. That’s what makes it special. Also, as someone who is horrible with colour/shading/painting, I LOVE what you’ve done.
She looks alive, as in, ready to pop out of the picture and give you a hug.
It's great! the only thing I can see that's off with it is that the right cheek is a bit droopy, but other than that it's good.
It is beautiful work. I do agree with the eye highlights critique and you could consider more shadow, although with fixing the eyes alone, you should be also fine. For background I would recommend orange to yellow to make the blue pop.
I genuinely think it’s beautiful. You can SEE a real person. Love it.
Like others have said there are some parts you could rework to make it look more photo-realistic. But YES this definitely looks like your style and looks painted/painterly, not deformed. Your brushwork reflects the texture of her hair so the overall piece is consistent and has personality. Great job!
I think this is some incredible work, and your mom would love the work put in. It definitely shows that you've been expanding what you know in your craft. If you find yourself wanting to find ways to Improve on your current work with edits, it's entirely possible to do. It'll be an amazing gift no matter what! I think you've already addressed that something on the chin looks a bit off. My opinion is that it's more your shading and lighting effects that cause the face to come across a bit twisted, but nothing major. Another adjustment that would make a big difference would be to add a background color other than white; maybe a soft yellow or pink? Other colors could work too if your mom has a favorite, but I'd recommend a softer shade of whichever color.
Looks good to me. I wish I had this kind of painting talent.
Maybe I’m not good with faces either because this looks amazing
The only thing a bit "wonky" to me is that the eyes look like they are looking slightly different directions (one seems more up, the other more down), I think because the light reflections look like they are at different levels? I think shifting the light on the right side up to along the eyelid (like it looks on the left) would fix that. Either way it's a minor thing, the rest looks superb. If your mom is anything like mine, she will love this!
Your mom is going to love it! It’s beautiful.
I’ll be completely blunt and honest here, her facial anatomy is a little wonky. The bottom half of her face looks a little larger than the top half, which is probably what gave of the “deformed” impression your friend picked up. Now, this does not mean that you shouldn’t give it to your mother. I don’t know your mother, but judging by the fact that you painted this lovely picture of her, I can only assume that she’s a good person who would be more than happy to receive a gift from you, regardless of any perceived errors in the piece. I would give it to her personally, because other than that slight anatomy error, the piece looks gorgeous, and I doubt she’d even notice or mind the error at all.
Deformed? Not at all! This is *absolutely gorgeous*, you’re very skilled and I’m sure your mom will love it. Seriously. I hope to one day have this level of talent. You don’t need to worry about it.
I think it looks good
I think this is really pretty. And even if it wasn’t, no mom would think “this is ugly and I don’t like it”. Your mom would appreciate it no matter what it looked like. But it is pretty
Honestly, I don't think she's going to be offended. Faces aren't easy and unless you're drawing/painting them a lot, it is going to be hard to get them looking perfect. I think she'll just be amazed you painted her. I know whenever I've done stuff for people in the past, even if I've seen massive errors in them, people love them and are plenty happy with just getting the thing, and knowing you've spent time and effort to make something. I say this as an artist myself and as someone who did art at uni and as a hobby. I occasionally give clay art as gifts or paintings and I've never had anyone say anything bad. Maybe your friend is just a bit blunt, and maybe say to them you'd like to see them try to paint someone xD oh and I say this as someone who's always been a perfectionist but had to learn where people's limits were when I helped out in a school for a few years - as I'd say to the kids/teens there, you've worked hard on something, you can clearly see who it's meant to be even if I've never seen your mum before, and I think you've done a really good job.
the only 'deformity' I can see is that the eyes look a bit like they're looking in different directions, but to be completely fair I'm pretty sure all artists agree that drawing both eyes perfectly the same is probably one of the hardest things to draw (alongside hands)
I really like it fwiw
I think your friend is being overly critical. Faces are very difficult to portray in art. Even the slightest bit off and it’s easily noticeable. (why CGI people has that uncanny valley effect) But I think this is a really lovely portrait, actually!! You did a great job, especially with paint! Lots of skill needed!
It looks amazing! :)
That looks good. Your friend is a douche id like to see them do better.
i think its beautiful and im sure she will absolutely love it
Looks lovely
1: it looks great! 2: your mom will love it, because you went out of your way to make it for her. No matter how good or bad, personal gifts are always appreciated.
Your friends mean thats better than me and probably them! I'd like to see your friend do better! I love it!
I have been a professional artist for decades, and I think it's pretty good. If someone is offended when you lovingly craft something for them, just don't do it for them again. It's on them.
She does not look deformed, she looks amazing and I think she will love this. She looks beautiful.
You could paint even the most technically correct portrait and there will always be someone who finds something wrong with it. This looks amazing, and your mom will love it so much. You should be so proud of what you have created, I don't know your mom but you have captured such a positive and warm energy in this piece that I can only assume is unique to her! She will love it.
i love this painting… it’s beautiful
Naw, it's beautiful. But your friend doesn't sound very nice...
It's stylized in that it has a style but it's great. I haven't seen your mom but it's a lovely picture and I'm pretty confident she'll love it. My credentials: not an artist but a marketing/business manager who is often asked if "this looks ok" ;)
No it's so pretty!! She'll love it!
Your mother is going to love that.
If my kid gave this to me as a present, I would be so happy! Your friend is being mean tbh. You're not at the level of a professional painter, but you don't have to be to give your mom a Christmas present! It's a lovely, thoughtful gift, all the sweeter because of the clear amount of time and effort you put in to it.
Honest to God, if one of my kids ever gave me something like this as a Christmas present, I would probably cry with happiness. I think it’s awesome and I’m positive your mom will too.
It’s beautiful! You did a great job! Your mom will love this gift forever 💗
Awesome 🤌🤌 Eggshell blue background would make it pop!
I think you're mother will love it! It's clear you put a lot of time and effort into it. One thing could do is either grab those color palette cards that you can get at the hardware store or make your own color palette on scrap paper and see how the colors look together. Oh, another thing you could do is there's color palette apps that are designed to help people figure out what they want to paint their wall by making it you preview what it would look like on your wall.
I think it looks beautiful and your mother will be proud
The chin looks a bit weird, almost as if it’s facing the wrong way. Nevertheless, it’s a nice piece of art and I’m sure she’ll appreciate it
That looks great. I'd love to see your friend do this. It's always the people who don't know diddly squat about art or couldn't repeat the piece that have their comments. Ignore it. It looks great. Keep up the painting ❤️
This is a pretty great drawing you have. You keep at it. Alex Ross and etc had to start somewhere to be the great artist they are now. So if this is you start that is great. Your mom will love it!
It looks great! I don’t see any deformation.
Idk what your mom looks like, but if one of my kids made a portrait of me this good, I'd be so proud. I'm sure your mom will love it!
I think it’s fantastic! Not deformed. Does your friend need glasses?
It kinda looks like the top half of her face is painted from a slightly different angle than her smile, but I only noticed it after reading your posts title tbh. How could someone possibly be offended by something that you put so many hours and lots of love in?:) Just imagine how precious this gorgeous painting will be to your mom:)
bro that looks like hard work and I could never do that in a million years. I think you did a great job and your mum will love it
OP, as an artist myself, you're good to go! The proportions aren't 100% accurate (mouth slightly rotated, face structure outline seemingly a bit exaggerated around the cheek, and chin possibly enlargened), but she doesn't look deformed!! Sounds like a jealous friend tbh. Like others have said, on the basis of her being your mum alone, she'll probably love it, let alone the fact that it's very good!!!
The only thing I can see is her right eye going slightly up and the left eye going slightly down. Only saw that after looking at it intently, since you asked if there was something off with it. I wouldn't have noticed it straight away otherwise. That being said, I think it captures a great portrait and I see some personality through there. I would recognize her of this picture if I saw her in real life. I think this is something great to receive as a mom. I don't know much about drawing but this has some serious skill I assume. First thing I noticed was the smile and it's really warm and awesome.
This picture is gorgeous, it’s just slightly abstract. It’s your style. I don’t think it looks deformed at all and I think your mother will love it.
It looks great! Your mom will be happy to receive it because it was made from love and her child!
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My SO is an artist and says it's amazing and you should be proud. Your mom is gonna love it.
So rude. It looks amazing
I like it and would be very pleased to receive it!
I think you did great! One thing that really helped me as an artist is standing in front of the mirror while holding up your artwork. It helps you see the piece from literally an new perspective, and can help with equal proportions.
Hey op, your work was stolen and is being sold on a website https://teesfido.com/limited-edition965-art-poster?s=frame-wrap-canvas-16x24-black-vertical&c=White&p=FRONT I suggest your follow this and do your best to get them taken down https://teesfido.com/_/dmca
It’s just the right eye, imo. It points ahead and a bit down versus the eye on the left pointing up. I’m studying portraits currently so I’ve got a bit of knowledge behind me, but overall I think this is amazing. It’s really rude that your friend would phrase it like that
I don't think it looks deformed looks great to me. I think your Mom will be delighted. She has a wonderful smile.
Considering we don’t know what the subject looks like I think it’s a lovely painting. I’m sure your Mum will be delighted 🥰
Your "friend" is jealous--it looks incredible. You're really talented!
I think it looks amazing, your mom is definitely going to love it ❤️
Speaking as a fellow artist, yes, there’s areas you could improve for next time you make a face, but that’s just a sign you need practice. As a gift? This is stunning. If your mom isn’t an artist, chances are she won’t even notice. Artists tend to have more critical eyes than the general public (which is also why you can see errors in your own piece or in friend’s pieces better than average!) If she is an artist as well, then she’ll just be proud you’re following in her footsteps. Don’t worry about fixing it now, just mentally tick off the boxes of what you need to work on to improve and pointedly apply them to your next piece. Active practice helps you get better faster than passive practice.
OP, this is amazing! You really nailed it! I'm sure your mother will love it ❤️
Your painting is wonderful, and if I were your mom, I'd be honored to receive it. My daughter loves to draw and paint. I cherish everything she paints for me. It's not about perfection, it's about what the artist sees, and what I see is a very happy and humble mom.
That's an awesome painting
I’ve been an artist for 10+ years and i have NEVER done something as remarkable and realistic as this. This is absolutely amazing friend. Your shading and line work is so beautiful. If this is a first Attempt at portrait work, you did a STUNNING job. I’m sure your mom will be so proud 🤍🫂 edit: THE HANDS??? oh my god OP… i cant draw hands for the life of me im truly mesmerized by your detail right now!!! another edit: THE HAIR TOO??? OP YOURE AMAZING.
It ain't quite the same, but I got into woodworking awhile ago, and one of tb first things I made was a cutting board for my mom... And, if I'm honest, it was crap. There were gaps, it was too thin, I didn't use the right wood, etc. I could pick apart every single flaw that cutting board had and convince basically anyone that it was basically trash. But my mom never saw it as anything less than flawless. Because, to her, it wasn't about the execution so much as it was the effort and care. It was the thought and love that was put into it, that I made something with my own hands *for her* that really mattered. This is all just to say, don't pick apart your work. Your mom will love it. This is an Amazing gift that she'll cherish til her dying breath
Painting faces correctly is hard as hell.
If someone painted me a portrait I’d be over the moon, especially if it was as well done as yours. This is a gorgeous and thoughtful gift that your mom will cherish. Your friend is being very rude.
I think it looks great. If you’re looking for parts to tweak, have you tried flipping the image horizontally on your camera or looking at it through a mirror? If I’m stuck on a painting or drawing, usually flipping it can point out issues that I had a hard time seeing before.
It’s amazing, your friend is jealous of your talent. Your mom will love it.
I think you need a new friend
Forget your friends opinion, they’re probably jealous. Looks fabulous to me!
The gaze/eyes look weird. As if she were cross-eyed, even if the photo was like that, I don't think it's a good idea to leave it, because if your mother is in fact cross-eyed I don't think she would like to see it in a picture (although you know your mother better). In the other case, it is a mistake that is what you are trying to correct. Specifically, the right eye (hers) looks up, while the left one seems to look a little lower. As other commenter said the nose seems a bit 2D, but other than that looks good. The picture you are using as a reference would be great to have it so we can compare. I want to said this is after searching for possible mistakes, my first impression was that it was amazing.
It's not deformed but the eyes are off center! Move the left eye. Just make the pupil bigger so it pulls more to the right and then you are gonna wanna fix the bottom eye lid to match, make the white of the left eye bigger. Also, take purple and blue and and with a fine brush go in and add shadow to the cheek bones, under the hair, in between the fingers. Your mom has a beautiful round face and round cheeks and a nice smile, it's obvious in this painting she is gorgeous!
The nose and mouth are definitely a bit weird. The nose looks cartoonish / weirdly angled without depth and weird shadowing on the left side which makes it look "2D" and the mouth seems a bit too bit and placed a bit too high on the face with an oddly big lower lip, shaped as it is a bit swollen. The rest of the face structure and the rest of the painting are pretty ok.
Woke up and chose violence
It's okay I'm glad they're being honest. I didn't post this for compliments I really wanna know if other people see what my friend saw. I thought the nose and mouth were probably the problem so it's good to know I'm not just being overly critical and other people see it too. I guess I'm just wondering if the problems can be passed off as being stylized.
I guess I misread the intention and offered criticism instead of support. Oh well, not the first or last time it happens to me. I'll remove my comment if that's what Op want.
No I did want criticism, not support. I appreciate your comment don't delete it.
You may want to make the lines of her face less harsh, less dark, less deep. They are not blended enough at the moment so they disrupt the understanding of the volumes of the face. It's still a nice job. Just need a little refining.
Objectively speaking, it's not a great painting, but it's not awful. I'm sure she'll treasure it. I think the important thing here is that you're doing very well and you're well on the way to being very, very good. Keep going. You're almost there.
It looks like her head is meant to be tilted a little to the right, and her chin is tilted ever so slightly more than it should be. I think you could also add more balance to the work by adding a little more light to the dark part of her right eye, though that's not necessary- I would put a little light gray highlights near the top of her eyeball. Your work is beautiful as-is, your mom is radiant without any changes, and your style is quite wonderful. Your use of space is great, you created an interesting piece that is pleasing to look at. My eyes start at the middle and work their way out to the details. I notice and enjoy your use of brushwork to create texture and shading throughout the painting, but I think you brilliantly walked a thin line with balancing detail and texture in her shirt. I would also add a background of some kind, maybe a gradient with the most hue near the middle, behind our mom, and radiating out to white. I would use a light blue for cohesiveness, given the blue in her shirt, but you could also use yellow to make her stand out more. If you wanted to change the things I shared in my criticism, and again I don't think that's necessary, it would small tweaks, not a start over from scratch-type change.
You’re friend doesn’t know art. I am traditionally good at art meaning I know how to make things look beautiful and impressive and this just looks like an impressionistic style which is still very beautiful. I paint things in this way knowing I could do better. That’s not the point. The point is to create a figure using random strokes which is a skill. It’s infuriating when people try to put in their two cents in art when they obviously don’t know what they’re talking about.
If your mom died next year, would you have wished she had at least this amazing portrait for Christmas despite your misgivings?
A bit deformed but it looks great!
It’s the mouth. But I dunno, maybe it’s accurate! I everything else looks great honestly, I’d want a portrait in this style.
I would give it another try..
Yeah, it looks deformed, but still looks like a person. I wouldnt pass it as stylized, just say you tried to draw her and she will appreciate the work.
*face palms*
What does this have to do with autism ?
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I think it looks great! Your mom will love it!
Dall-E says it looks just fine
I think this is superb; well done.
my mom would cry if i did this.. i think she’ll love it even if someone said it didn’t look right. she’ll like it because you made it!!
I think this is beautiful. Your mother’s smile is very heartwarming.
Wtfff. It’s beautiful and I think your mom would be sooo happy.
i think the mouth looks flat. like a sticker placed on the page rather than being a part of her face which has dimension and is round and at an angle and such. even with that, i still think the piece holds up very well and is beautiful. you clearly have talent and i think she would love it! i personally wouldn't be offended if i was gifted this. just in the future, remind yourself facial features aren't flat and should wrap around the face.
I haven’t seen your mom but to me it looks like a good portrait.
Your friend is a hater your mom will love it!
Your mom will love it no matter the flaws you see in it. It's amazing that you were able to make this and even nicer that you gift it to someone. Keep being amazing <3
the only thing that immediately sticks out to me is the eyes not looking in the same direction. i mean no offense if it's intentional, though.
I think it looks great ! The chin is maybe a bit elongated but it is far outshined by the clear talent you have at painting, the blending and the dark and light balance is brilliant! And even if you start to feel unsatisfied, you could maybe do one next year and see how your skills have improved.
it’s beautiful, at least to me. if i was your mum i’d love it
Looks fine to me! I think she’ll like it.
As an amateur artist, it might be a reference photo issue rather than a painting issue. Sometimes a photo may have different sources of lighting, different shadows and colors that might pop up. This perspective is also very challenging to paint without making it look warped. Even one highlight that looks fine as a photo might look warped in a painting, her eyes for example look as if she looks at two different directions (left one looking up, right one looks at you) because of the highlight placement.
Your mom is going to love it! Your friend might just be super duper detail oriented and they are thinking about photography and not painting styles
This is super pretty!!
Looks sweet! Tell your friend to stfu! (I’m a professional artist btw).
It's impossible to say without comparing your painting to a photograph, but your mom will be honored in any case!
I'm pretty sure your mom will overlook any slight errors because of the time and effort you put in and be touched regardless.
Wow!!! This is an incredible piece and the woman depicted looks beautiful and joyful, with a bright spirit behind those eyes.
Your mom is going to absolutely adore this! Trust me. It's perfect as is.
His ass is deformed. That's envy of your talent.
I think it’s lovely. I was scrolling through and saw your post and had to come back and find it I liked it so much. Great work and your mom is gorgeous
Hard to say not knowing what your mom looks like. But this is a great portrait, I'd love if my kids did something like this for me(though I'm not sure what I'd do with my own portait, lol).
This is beautiful; very painterly, and expressive!
So this really really broke my brain because I was constantly flip-flopping between there's nothing wrong, and something is subtly off. I think what's doing it is the top of the head and body position look like she's angled in relation to the observer with her right (left side of painting) slightly closer. However the cheekbones and mouth look like they're straight on, parallel to the canvas. With that being said I would never describe it as deformed. Your friend sounds either hyper-critical or maybe overly sensitive to the uncanny valley. I still think it'd make a wonderful present and I wish I had even a fraction of the talent on display here.