My Special Girl

[cdrover]

This is my first attempt at pattern making. I have concerns about the mouth and nose in particular, but I am sure there are other things you seasoned pattern makers will find. I want this to be as perfect as possible, she is my grandaughter so she is special any how. I am sure any and all input will be constructive. Thanks

[grampa]

Hi Clyde, first of all what a great first pattern I hope you don't mind but I Put both your pics on one sheet and changed the color.... As you can see with the 2 pics you are not that far off, What I would do is put thicker lines around the nose area, Draw in a bottom lip, put a neck line on the t shirt and a bit of detail from the design of the shirt. allso

I would make the bridge a bit bigger from the ear to the face. Thats what I would do but hang in there I am sure you will get some more tips from other pattern makers....... Always remember to do the eyes first (the windows of the soul)

if you get them wrong the pattern will look wrong, get them right and everything will look right its what people look at first. Good look with it and I can't wait to see it cut........Paul ps I deleted the photo's off my system when i posted

[cdrover]

Thanks Paul, your comments are well received and appreciated.

[Travis]

Paul has a lot of good advice. Especially starting with the eyes. If you don't get the eyes right, you might as well scrap the project. It looks like you did a pretty good job on the eyes, though. You're off to a great start.

 

I added my markup. Red is to remove the black and bridging. Blue is to add black. I agree with Paul to thicken up some of the lines on the nose. Play with the shadows a bit. Also add a bottom lip. The ear was a bit delicate. I thickened the bridge from the face to the ear. I also added a bridge from the tip of the ear to the outside of the portrait. I usually like having those areas bridged in two places for additional support. But that's totally optional.

 

The shirt is a bit tricky. For one, its a white shirt which is hard to pull detail from. Plus it has a print, which clutters up the image. So an option here is to simply ignore the shirt. Just put in a neckline, but delete the sleeve. To add interest to this voided area, we'd take some artistic license and add a bit of hair falling over the shoulder. Again, this is pretty optional. If you decide not to do this, add darker shadows along the sleeves and perhaps highlight a few folds in the shirt.

 

The hair is flat black. This will turn out really nice when cut. Another option is adding highlights to the hair. This is much more advanced, but does add interest. But this is personal preference that you'd have to decide on.

 

I can't wait to see it finished.

[cdrover]

Thank you Travis, I appreciate your input and suggestions, I can already see how they will improve the project. I will make the suggected changes that I get and repost the piece again to see what you think. Thanks again

[cdrover]

I have made some of the changes you guys suggested. I can see an improvement already. Anything else, I am thinking some highlights in the hair and not sure about removing the sleeve??? What do you think??

[BuLLdoGG]

Gr8 pattern clyde thx for sharing .......Andrew

[frieke]

Hello,

I know you didn't ask for it, and that you just want some help on your pattern. I made this pattern, so you can see how I make it. My english isn't good enough to explain how to change some things.

Hope this can help you, feel free to use it.

[cdrover]

Thanks Frieke, you have helped me a great deal, the pattern you created is fantastic, thanks again

Clyde

[cdrover]

Thank you all for your input. There hasn't been any new comments in a while so I take that as an indication we have the best possible pattern for "My Special Girl". I want to thank those that provided feed-back and commentary . It is so good to know there are people out there that want to help. Thanks again. I plan to begin cutting this weekend and will post a photo of the finished piece when I get it done. Good luck and happy scrolling to all. Remember let the saw do the work, your in it for the pleasure!

[cdrover]

Folks here she is. I cut it and gave framed copies to her mother and grandmother as mothers day gifts and boy were they surprised. Thanks to Frieke for the pattern you put together and to those that added comments and suggestions through the forum. I am going to start another of my niece, so I may be looking for more help on that one. Thanks everyone. Remember let the saw do the work, your in it for the pleasure!!!

[Travis]

That turned out great! You did a really nice job on it. It was fun to watch the pattern come together. Thanks for sharing!

[frieke]

Very nice cutting and a great frame makes a beautiful piece of art! very well done and thanks for using my pattern