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Illustrative Critique Part 1

Illustrative portrait is a very difficult subject to understand. Illustrative portrait means a little bit more than a normal portrait. Maybe elements have bean added lots of photo shop, maybe compas it maybe, you know, it's at these a fine line between an illustrative portrait and find that find that would be something you buy. Anybody would buy in an illustrative portrait. Same that could be editorial. It could be something you would buy. That mostly illustrative portrait is when you take the elements and take them a little bit further than they are. Like what larry jade and I did, what brooke shading does is, you know, even brooks gone way in to find out. So, you know, it's kind of illustrative portrait confused everybody because a lot of people didn't understand the category. So there were some images in here that didn't belong in this category that went illustrative at all that could have just been in portrait. Oren family portrait s o you know, they will be some images that come u...

p like that. And then again, for the really illustrated stuff, it's really had to critique it because it's subjective to the artist. Meaning it was your vision. And so I guess we can only critique technical aspects in the educator and technical aspects that maybe could be improved. So this image here for me, if I was judging it at the awards, is different than if I was critiquing it. If I was judging it, I would have I loved everything about this image. Like to me, I look at it and I just get lost in it. Emotion. Her movement is absolutely incredible. I love how was captured and how was finished when you get up close, have a look and unfortunately her nick and hit us like this. Ok, it's got a big jammed up but here, which could have just been nicked up on further shops. He didn't look at it because at first glance, I would hit this on my war. I like it that much of his instant appeal and emotion, but just watch when you throw the hit back, you can throw the hit back. But just what she not jamming up the nick and unfortunately here, right? Cheeks, just hanging down her chin's hanging down here and it just pulls away from it being perfect. But I'm talking about minus ng from one hundred backwards, say lot at last five points for me. That I love it well done beautiful shot and one of the things that I love about this portrait I to absolutely nuts about it I love the harmony the pose and the environment fit the treatment the treatment is part of the story and I think you know that's to me the key when you're doing illustrative images is that you know, I think that it all has to work together especially you're adding textures, you know, if they should not compete so that you don't look at the texture on the treatment of this photograph is so on point with the way that the model has been posed and in the way that the image has been the lighting that has been used it's just absolutely gorgeous beautiful image by the way on illustrated photographer is going to be here a creative live coming up soon look for this course in the future guys her name is miss amelia this gal is a nella ms aniela miss a no matter she's an amazing girl yeah fabulous fabulously and holy cow this is a beautiful portrait, but look for her course in the future. I love this I really like this idea to go and I was confused by that is that a middle or is it a dress? I don't know I could have done without the band around a hidden in wrist way make sorry but I think it's really beautiful this texture that's been over laid could have bean to match but it actually works really well as an illustrative portrait I mean I have to ask a couple of questions if I'm going to critique illustrative the face thing I ask is why like why is she looking up like that? What does it mean how do I feel when I look at it secondly is she going to be my client or is she going to be a finance image if its finance I have to like it is the viewer uh if it a portrait of here is it a beautiful portrait of here? And I feel like um she's in distress definitely this front textures magnificent I could have done without the middle and he'd been but if she had been looking down or eyes down, I would have thought that this image was magnificent like to me they're looking at it just looks too far if you overlook you get too much white in your eyes and you know it takes away from it but I really like this and I'm not even approaching at all from any kind of logic to me it just it has impact it absolutely has it has such powerful impact I can't get past the impact to try to critique it because it's just beautiful can you remove on so this is not an illustrative portrait. This is what I would call more of an editorial portrait so there's a reason he's holding this plate or whatever this he might have been being, too that whatever I say, this is an editorial shop for an article not illustrated, so it doesn't seem to have any photoshopped component to it. It's a good editorial photo it could have bean cropped a little bit, open more to the live, but I can't critique it is illustrative and it's just a no baby talk about it like if that has relevance, whatever that is, then it belongs in that shot. If it doesn't, I don't get it as an illustrative portrait, say it's more editorial to me. Yeah, I feel that there's too much information in the picture that it makes me wonder it doesn't. It doesn't have the kind of impact in an in an illustrated photograph that it doesn't matter, because there is so much information with this white shirt, the white shirt competes with what he has with the, you know, with the pottery, it makes me wonder, what is this? What is he trying to? What are we illustrating? Is this is he? Is he the potter? If he is the potter, I would love to see I feel like I would want to see more of what it in a more illustrative way be a little bit more creative I think that's the point for me is I don't feel that it's quite interesting enough to be illustrated oh illustrated enough so in order to be illustrative can it not be straight out of the camera now can't really nothing illustrated illustrated is really roar over the camera illustrated it illustrative is ok put it like this in competition you have portrait and then you have illustrative portrait portrait is traditional only dad for him adjustments lighter dark a contrast you know and then the magic of illustrating is that you can photoshopped but I don't necessarily agree with you on that what's because minutes terminology is no that's not well I'm thinking, but I think that that's something that if you want to illustrate a point that you can do that in camera but you need to be creative to video demonstrating a point that's editorial because it's at illustrating a point is an editorial image, not an illustrated again I sold to some degree I think that there's princess I think there's creative ways to photograph some sort of subject in camera without francis adding something with movement you could take somebody and I think you could to create a beautiful illustrative photograph of a horse buy, you know, having lots of movement and showing just just a whisper of an outline in camera in raw and not necessarily having to add you know textures and you know any kind of monkey around with it I think it takes skill I think it takes a great deal of skill to find a way to do something in camera we used to do that in camera years ago when we were just shooting film so you know, maybe you call it editorial but I think there is a way to shoot straight talking about is the name of the category we're not talking about the style of the image, so if you enter a competition don't into illustrative if it doesn't have any illustration on it we're just talking about the name to the categories maybe we shouldn't have gotta illustrative but I know that the checks going to be asking all these questions because it's confusing so if you put a straight image into illustrative it's not going to win anything in an award so maybe we should have just called a portrait well, look, I'm glad you guys are having this conversation and louise are on the chat had asking someone please explain what an illustrated reported don't get too hung up on the wood it's a category in the category is really more of a competition than a critique so it's probably they misnamed well tina jansen says I love the two different points of view this is what a critique should be like yeah ok so so this is an example of a creative image that's not elemental or complicit um why it's the first question I ask why why is he ripped? And while and if he is wrecked awhile I would feel like I would want to illustrate that hayes trapped or bound this to wrapping scenarios for me one is that he's trying to get out or that he likes being ripped up? I feel like he's post like a girl. Okay, so to me he looks like a girl there anything missing is that hip kick that goes out that way and you know if he knowed or why is the braces why can you see the underwear in the bottom of the braces? If he's meant to be shitless then it should be about this body or I don't know I'm confused I have no feeling when I look at this image although it's a really well intended and orchestrated and accept it it makes me feel nothing. I would rather feel that he was either industries or bound with his body language not post like a check I also in addition to that I think that part of what's bothering me is the way that it's lit it's it's very literal I mean it's live in such a very much in a broadway that to me it doesn't it's not in keeping with this hard kind of you know this wiry kind of look that they've got going on it looks like a guy standing in front of a background with wire on him so it doesn't to me doesn't compute so you could have dropped the light right out you know, taken down the lights that's really dark and contrast t changed his body language to be a little bit more masculine either if you're going to wreck somebody they they need to be in it or trying to get out of it but they can't just be like halfway and then post would have worked on a really hot woman that it doesn't work on a hot guy this has so much impact when you face look at it I have this really pit height and that is for people that flipped faces because but then if it was fine at not a portrait of a girl and this is what this category is illustrated portrait so I have to assume that you were trying to create something amazing unfortunately thie eyes and never that symmetrical so when you flip her face and half in order to take it away from being direct symmetry, you need to shift the I balance a little bit more but it's a direct flip of a face which gives an odd a parent the background, the neckline and the capture is one hundred percent perfect in fact, if you'd lived it and just flip the background and lived to face normal I would have loved to have seen it again because I'm so attracted to this image but the more I look at it the more I just see that the eyes of so symmetrical and then the lips is so symmetrical and then it's a perfect face flip and then it's like a why did they do that? Why would you flip a face? Because it just looks odd and I know me but I love so much about this so when you're saying flip of face for those that don't know exactly what you're talking about b can you be a bit more space? Are you saying that they took the right side of the face or the left side of the face took it in half and then just flipped it to the other side so that z exactly both the right side of the face is what you're saying beauty is so symmetrical and the thing is is a a nostril like that is never so perfectly balanced in the opposite it's never the face is not that symmetrical the more symmetrical you are, the more beautiful you are and what happens is who lips going down her nostrils going down and her eyes going down in the rivest it would be sitting higher on the side if it was normal but you can tell it's flip because of that component and yeah, it's, the background is a direct flip you can see there the knickers, a flip, and you can see the join coming up for may, but the captures amazing. I just I just hate there. If you're going to go for symmetry and a face, take a real face and and eat it paste lesser and copy paste warp it so you get more symmetry, it will look more like a real face than flipping it in half. You know what? I love this image, and what I don't like about it is all that also had to do was to come up two or three inches or bring that chin forward. It's just too low it's an upwards perspective, as opposed to that strong chin up perspective in that truck, strong china perspective is so powerful, but what I commend is that flower held that color, you know, because I don't really like seductive color light there, but on this image of this woman, her face is so beautiful and then you get to that flower in it's so incredible to see the pink just coming through. But just what ruins it for me is it looks like you're sitting on the ground shooting up. And I really feel like I always when I posed women I always say you can do chin forward and down you know and then you can do that role model pose which is when you lift it up to the camera but there's a really fine line between up too far and that to me is just up too far but one correction would have made this cover with and secondly why crow about those beautiful shoulders it's too narrow open it up I mean that is a magnificent shot just that there wow so well whoa where I begin um this photograph disturbs me I find and I think that's a good thing I think it's it's very very disturbing on by I don't know how I feel about it and I think that in the illustrative category it's definitely uh I'll tell you what I like about it I love the way that they separated his face from the background I loved the expression on his face I think it's very interesting it makes me just want to go it makes me want to go inside myself and figure out how I feel I don't really know even how I can't even quantify this I need you go for it I love it I think it's really cool but why so give me a y if you can remove his eye is he blind? Is he blinded? Is he is there a scar? Is there a element or component should there be a hand here? Should there be a hand? Police should they be something that's telling me more off? Why? Because if you kind of remove somebody's eye and put skin over it, it's like what? I just didn't grow, and I tell me what it is like, is he? I don't want to see is he blocking it? Is he blinding himself? There's not enough distress in his fight in his expression to tell me a story I wanted, I want to be moved by this image I want to be frightened by it. Instead, I looked at it and thought beautifully shot, and I really hate it when people put skin over an image and then climbed three free calls from the forehead, which I see instantly is a pattern and I'm just like, damn it now I'm looking at the free calls and I'm not looking at the story behind the image like, give me something, tell me why it's disturbing? I want to know what we're is had I gone and why is his eye gone? Why, why? And sometimes there is no why there is no why it's just disturbing that's what art is right, it's, subjective and I just think you're doing so there is no, it doesn't always have to be a why, because if there was then we would know the answer to that but you just said yourself there's not always an answer to that and take both eyes well I think that's really just because it's all about the artists and what they wanted in this and that's the great thing about this category is it's very much about the personal interpretation of the artist and the fact that we're sitting here talking about it so much they have got a home run because it made the point that they wanted it to have well then you know what take off half his face because that would have made me just gone you know half his face is gone where is it gone why erica you guys were saying two different things you need to know in the portrait what the whole story is whereas you're ok with not knowing and just wondering about what I need what I need to do is feel something you need to make me either feel repulsed or scared or frightened or lonely or I need to identify with that face like I need to know why and I need to know why so I can identify some kind of my feeling with what that is now you can feel repulsion and go this image repulsive may that is good I'm glad a repulsive you because at least you felt something but if you look at something and feel nothing you have failed to communicate now some people might look I look at repulsive at work and I often feel repulsed by it but then I'm excited but that I'm repulsed because I think I'm excited that this list this this author has made me feel and it's I don't care how you feel just feel something but don't be in different and see that's my point I don't need to know why because I feel it and I think that's really for me when I look at this photograph immediately my feelings are all over the planet I don't care I don't I'm not trying to the photograph for him because I have respect for the maker and that they're they've created something that's disturbing and I sit there and I and the more I look at this photograph them or entry diame it's not that I and I so I for me it doesn't I don't have to answer the question why I don't want to analyze I don't need to over analyze this photograph to enjoy it or to be moved by the experience I think for me that's the experience, his movement enough for me it definitely moves me and it makes me the fact that he doesn't have an eye on that one side makes me mesmerized with that eye on his left side all right so judge it is in a woodshop give it a bronze silver gold on anyone is it if she is an experienced master judge judge you know what I would have a very hard time judging it ok no I wouldn't I would have to say that gosh I really I am all over the planet I don't like it it makes me uncomfortable but I think that that's why I would probably score it fairly high because it does make me uncomfortable but I can't just judge it all by itself I would have a hard time what would you judge it because I judge it to me it's sitting in a bronze you'd have to talk me into a silver girls see there you go that's exactly where I met is twenty talking judges he'd have told me happy I have to tell me why because it doesn't exist because it does it's so disturbing that I would be going you know it's not a one hundred to me because I don't know why but I don't I know that it's not there but I don't know where it goes and this is not the great thing about illustrated talking it definitely moves us all over the place I love all of the components of the shot exit for the girl in the center and it's not even that there's anything wrong with here is that it's an awkward pose it's an awkward shot but in terms of it being graphic at or even pop at or retro at this is beautifully designed, and this could be the cover of a you know, motor head album from the sixties, seventies, or it could be like some amazing cd cover. Now it has so many components, and then you look into it and you just see this or quit girl doing this, we had little half thing like this that's not even it makes no sense now had she been super dark, super m o super shutdown, super freaky, it would have been made, never sent head, she being super beautiful, super heart, it would have been magnificent, but she's neither. But whoever this designer is the the bottom flower on the skirt, the white flour, the painted wings you have got something very unique, and I suggest you open up to it. But I just want to see a bit of central image to go in this design because you could have killed it with the shot. Yeah, she's too literal she's too literal she's, too. Just a cute little girl are a young lady and doesn't fit this might hate around in the sixties and motivated as our site. I don't know whether we're viewing this image the wrong way that feels like it, but you know what? This is a really classic example off, environmentally outstanding and part and your subject is outstanding but their capture is off in the sense that how they posed has missed the point of telling the story for me so I feel like they've done a really beautiful job of actually capturing the image just not posing the people in it I feel like the faces of magnificent the halloween fame you know, the day of the deed it is isn't it celebration that did is really great I just you know hey, if he looks stiff in fake and she looks step and within fagan unfortunately, um there's no communication in this image for me and in addition to that it's overlooked I feel that it should be dark and mystery of mysterious and moody and there's so much light on him that I feel that that I think that that pulls it it makes it look a little bit to one plus one is two to me I really think we are looking at this image wrong anyway, I think it should be flipped up on the live but it wouldn't improve it for me. Okay, so how could we have made this image better for status here they both got blood on them and they both the day of the dead but she looks like she's clawing at him and he looks disinterested yeah story of my life and on so the truth the truth is is that they could have both being completely disengaged and playing the seam of the drama or they could have been in completely engaged in the deadness so they could have almost bean on each other like here on his shoulder by thing kind of freaky and playing a role but you got to speak to me with an image and as an author you get lost and creating something because you've created something so awesome that you have stopped seeing the way it's speaking to people and when you know somebody in the photograph or you think you've created a piece of work that you love, you lose sight of its ability to communicate and I would have just kept going with his many poses as possible and then just gone through them and really live it speak to me because this is really good but it's just not communicating in fact neighborly maybe this was supposed to be I know what this order was trying to do and I just don't feel like they quite got there but to me I feel like you have your close I remember when I fist out of doing back with like this I was trying so hard to be dark that I wasn't quite technically skilled enough to make the image look as powerful as I could have with photo shop on retouching and so I can see the elements unfortunately but institute in terms of how it speaking with the little lamp and the whole hansel and gretel and the children lost in the woods to may this is the opposite of what we just saw this is somebody who's communicating very well but just doesn't quite have the technical illustrative ability to bring it to the to the finish remember when were talking about was sort of portrait's were saying when you convince allies something in your mind but you don't quite have the skill set yet to bring it to that place I feel like this author is got this great communication and this ability to connect with those children just can't quite finish it off yet keep going you are very, very close your ability to tell a story is really good but your technical ability on photo shop to finish it off it's not quite the and just very specifically on the photo shop things um the area is right here and down here are so bright jersey them so those need to be taken down I'm not sure what this is right here this this area looks a little bit like smoke this area right here where the where the light pictures is so bright that way had to really fight to find the kids and yet this is kind of the story this little hansel and gretel kind of feeling is very powerful this part of the photograph I absolutely love and I love the idea of this whole feel of this dark wood it kind of feel to it but there are elements that are so bright and so sharp in the photograph he's leaves right here are actually look a bit almost sharp is the faces are we here turn so and the sticks bottom left inside when sticks up I've got a highlight on them and they leading out of frame lead your eye away from the kids it would have been cool if the light was about them yeah actually that would be young um ok love this image because you've styled the girl to really fit the style of the room like he is kind of scraggly he addresses duty and scraggly here leagues and shadow kind of look grubby but she doesn't look like she's super pristine beautiful in an old ugly room um so that works, you know, kind of fits, but it just doesn't work for me and it's such a shame because I feel to me I don't like that down with perspective because I'm very drawn to looking what's here in the foreground um and I don't like their arm up like this, but they feel like head she come forward onto her knees or being killed up on that couch or just being asleep or even just being on her tummy with it here hey, who were their high heels that reading a book oh uh, I feel like ahead of me real quick if she was jumping on the couch or even if she's jumping you could just see a fake coming out of the frame that this would have bean amazing like I'd love to see more shots from the sequence to see what else they captured, but if this was the best one, you're so close but just to me it's what's wrong with it? Okay, here the areas that are bothering me there's two areas these two pieces right here go straight into the picture and so they're they to me they kind of cut the photograph in two pieces they're not if they had been angled I think that it would kind of give cemetery to the to the image of the fact that her feet are just like two sticks right here. I feel like her body language right here says you know is in this direction and yet her arms across the back of the couch to agree that if you're going to do an on illustrated photograph, then I think she needs to be doing something besides just looking in the camera, leaning up against the back of this couch for their feet up over, maybe even even having her feet lounging on that little that little stool area but but all in all the part of this picture that bothers me the most is this particular area cause I don't really see it doesn't make sense to me as to why it's there there's no, I feel that it's very heavy on this side of the road here here but this is kind of a coal I love we're going I hope you get to shake this again if it was if you as a folio build or relative go back do more do some crazy stuff because you know what I love check this out the couch patton and the carpet pet and blending together so had she been sitting on the floor with the heat back on the couch, she wouldn't know where that would have started I would have gone down straight into those patterns and see that and blocked that out this room is incredible if you get a chance to shoot there again go for it yes, absolutely I'm curious what you would think of her looking out the window we'll get you know what my first reaction where she's like a bride that got left behind and so she puts on a dress every day and white through him she's kind of duty and said and it just suits this room so I feel like had she been sitting there looking out the window just would have been said and perfect so that was mike but that's I'm not the author and my interpretation is what I'm being showing no, what I would have created from it. And whatever they trying, they didn't communicate that. It just could have been better and in the way that well, made us all go, uh