Muirin007

Thank you so much! I really appreciate that. I always try to convey humanity in Erik's eyes. I think for most of his life, he wears a mask in every sense of the word, but I've always thought that his eyes would convey what was really going on inside. I'm so glad you caught onto that!

Thank you so much! I'm glad you caught the vein-y aspect of it--I wanted it to look very anatomical, if that makes any sense at all. And I always pictured Erik's veins being very visible through his skin just because, you know, apparently he isn't ugly enough, so I have to make it worse.

I did want to make the cartilage crooked, only because no face is perfectly symmetrical. The title is probably misleading, now that I think about it, but I just had the poem in mind because the portrait is a straight-on view of Erik which is "symmetrical" in a sense. Or more like he's so hideous that it's a sort of "fearful symmetry:" almost like, "How can something that awful actually exist?"

Thank you again! Ha, man, I wonder what the photographer would have to do to get Erik to sit still long enough.

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like the eyes. I'd finished it and was looking at it and thought, "Something's missing." What better way to make it creepier than by shading his eyes?

That's so interesting what you said about the pristine aspect of the collar in contrast to his face--I didn't notice that! I just kind of drew it. That is so cool that you saw that!

I think you're right: Erik was certainly dealt a bad hand, but he sure owned it in that he definitely was "Lord and gentleman" of the opera!

Thank you so much for taking the time to critique it! I've never used the critique tool before, and it's awesome!

I'm totally with you: perfect symmetry is nice, but I prefer when faces are not perfectly symmetrical, because it's the flaws that make a face unique. I think the "symmetry" aspect comes a lot from the poem that I drew the title from: it describes a being so perfectly awful and horrible that it's hard to imagine how it even exists, yet at the same time, there's a majesty in its existence. Erik definitely exudes that quality. He's so horrid and abject, but it's fascinating at the same time.

I'm so glad you like the eyes! I'd finished this and I was looking at it and thought something was missing, so I added the yellow, and then I worried that I'd ruined it. But I'm glad you like it!

I didn't even notice the right side of his head until you pointed it out--now that I think about it, when I started this piece, I was actually trying to make Erik's hair look thinner than I usually draw it, but I think I just sort of forgot about that midway through his head.

Oh, and I see what you mean about the collar---I didn't even notice it! That's why this critique tool is so awesome!

I definitely use a kneaded eraser--those are so awesome! For the background, I used this very thin eraser that kind of looks like a pencil. It's for erasing those little detailed parts.

Thank you SO much for your insightful critique! I really do appreciate it!

Thank you SO much! Wow! I really appreciate that!

I love what you said about the "fragile beauty of the human skeleton." That is exactly how I feel, and exactly what I try to convey whenever I draw Erik: he's hideous, sure, but there's something beautiful in it because the human skeleton is so beautiful.

Ugh, I know, my darn scanner. I actually scanned this three or four times, and I can't get rid of that grainy quality. I tried to lessen the focus a bit, thinking maybe that would help, but it just made the picture blurry.

Thank you so much!