A bit of an update. That hair is a bi0tch. Still got some more detail to put into it, and a few more layers of color to put on the face.
http://i.imgur.com/2G1Mw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/fq6icl.jpg
Printable View
A bit of an update. That hair is a bi0tch. Still got some more detail to put into it, and a few more layers of color to put on the face.
http://i.imgur.com/2G1Mw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/fq6icl.jpg
Nice! The hair looks great so far! :)
Thanks, Puffin! :content:
Hey O. I was just writing about you! Popped in here for a little break and saw this update - very nice!!!
What are you using, colored pencils? Looks like prismacolors maybe? I used to use those, and I had a love-hate relationship with them. You can do a lot of blending, but if you're not careful the surface will get all glossy. Plus after a whie I found it was just awfully fussy, and I switched to cray-paz, which are similar but a lot softer and let you work a lot more spontaneously an do all kinds of things like scrape down and rework pretty extensively. I also found it was really cool to work on a more textured paper, and a colored one, like pastel paper. Once I got used to that I loved it - now I hate looking at white paper!! If I do start with white paper I'll seal the drawing with a few coats of krylon matte spray and then tint the entore surface with a little cray pas thinned with turpentine and blended all over with a paper towel or something. It makes a really great ground to work from.
I reallu like these last 2 drawings you've got posted here - I mean the finished one with the woman and the boy and then this latest one. One crit I could make, that took me a long time to learn. You're using a lot of what's called local colors. That means like if a shirt is blue, you're using only blues for it. Plus maybe a little grey or black for shading. If you really look at the work of a great artist, they don't do this. You'll see amazing colors in little dabs or blended in all over the place. Reds and oranges on a blue short, maybe even a littl eyellow here and there. It sounds crazy, and I know how hard it can be to loosen up enough to try it, especially when your technique is really tight like yours is.
In particular you should add a little more color to the flesh tones.
You always want to work in some cool color, blue or green or purple. Hell, all of them if you can - the more the merrier! If you don't use any cool colors you end up with what's called hot flesh tones - basically jist oranges everywhere. Cause brown is really jist dark orange, right? Otherwise I defy you to show me brown on the color wheel!
Anyway, not cutting your work down at all!! It's excellent! And I wouldn't try going crazy on this piece, you're almost done with it and it would be crazy to switch up your technique now. But if it appeals to you maybe try it on a rough sketch or two.
Are you studying color theory or painting technique? I got lots of books on them and wouldn't trade ay of them. Well, the knowledge from them anyway... you know what I mean. Look at how the masters mix their colors, the surprising things they do with them. And slowly let it filter into your consciousness and start to try it out in some thumbnails now and then.
Anyway, fantastic work man!! Keep it up!
Looking great so far!
Just make sure to put some darker shadows/dips around the nose and eyes.
It'll really bring them out. Even in the eye, around the inside of the eyelashes etc.
It can actually get quite dark, to mid-tones in the "white" of the eye.
Agree with what dark said too.
Looking like your best portrait so far though!
The hair's looking great, it's a bitch, especially with dreadlocks.
Did a painting of a girl with braids a while ago, so tedious!
And no skewing :banana::lol:
Hey, Darkmatters!
Don't worry, a little constructive criticism is always welcome. :wink:
However, I think you might actually be surprised, at just how many different colors I'm using for the flesh tones. It's a technique that I picked up, over my last few portraits, and I've started to use for some of my more 'toonish' art, too (though I'm still kind of new to it). As it stands, I count at least 6 different colors that I'm using in the face of the present portrait. The ones I have in front of me are cream; burnt ochre; process red, canary yellow, lilac (like a violet), rose farde (which is a more pinkish color), yellow ochre and goldenrod. You may not be able to tell, on the picture with the boy and his grandma, but there are actually greens, pinks and yellows in their faces as well. (I feel like a lot of this is actually lost, in the photos). The blue shirts are pretty solid, because I put much less emphasis on them. I purposely didn't make them nearly as dynamic as the flesh tones. On this particular one I'm doing now, though, I've only got the first couple of layers on, so it all looks very dull, and not all that vibrant. I do this so that I can sort of 'place-hold' where I want which differing colors to be, and then I fill them in, more and more, as I work my way around the picture. The hair is actually much more finished than the face, because I just wanted to get the shit out of the way. LOL. But I still have a lot of work to do on the colors of the face, like I said in the last post, so you can expect the various colors to stand out a lot more, by the time I'm finished with it!
I'd gotten a little bit of exposure to color theory, when I was going for my degree, but I'm still a novice at it, to be honest. Most of the blending I'm doing, I'm simply doing by sight. (I'm usually pretty good at picking out the obscure colors, in a seemingly monochromatic picture, but I'm definitely not pro at it yet.) I think if you go back and look at the picture with the old woman, you can really see the different shades and pitches of color in her face. I will definitely keep your suggestion to study more of the masters' works, though. I do still have a lot to learn.
And thanks, tommo, as well. (I lol'd at the 'no skewing' comment. You'd think that I would have been expecting that, but it caught me off guard. Haha.) I still have a ways to go, though. I'm definitely not done adding more depth to both the color and detail. The eyebrows will be much thicker. The crevices around the eyes will be visible, as will the creases in the lips, etc. As far as what I'm expecting the face to look like, by the time I'm done, I'd say I'm only about 70% of the way there.
So just sit tight, guys. I've still got plenty of work left to put into this thing. Thanks for the advice, though! :goodjob2:
[Edit]
Also, Darkmatters, I just saw the thread in which you were writing about me and other members. I'm about to crash, right now, but I will definitely read the rest of it in the morning! :)]
Done, btw:
http://i.imgur.com/e49Nm.jpg
Original:
http://i.imgur.com/qwMJg.jpg
Overall, I have a few gripes about it. I made his face a little to thin (though it's thicker on the actual drawing, and looks a little thinner in the photo, because of the angle). I also made his nose a little too far down, which I didn't really catch until it was too late. I didn't quite capture the wideness of his eyes the way I wanted to, but I knew early on that there wasn't going to be much I could do about that. The mistakes stand out a lot to me, but the picture (like most drawn pieces) looks much better in person. Not perfect, but I'm happy with it.
The only thing I ca pick out is the eyes, like a fraction too small.
Other than that, I'd say it's your best one yet!
Well done! :D
Thanks, tommo! :happy:
Lol, I like that mystic expression (a bit hostile) that you've added to the guy's face, O.
Great!
Lol. Thanks. A bit unintentional, though. I didn't realize - going into this - how hard that kid's facial expression was going to be to copy. It's so plain, but I think his youth is what made it so hard. Thinning his eyes and elongating his nose seemed to age him a bit, I think, and his face looks a little more stern than it originally does in the picture. Oh well. :P
Here's a better shot:
http://i.imgur.com/BfiDUl.jpg
Very very nice!
Thank you, Twoshadows! :content:
Working on some photo manipulations for my "Trainhopping" dream.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...Pics/Train.jpg
Sources
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ain-Window.jpg
Sources
More to come.
What's with all that artistic talent in this forum!! Awesomeness. :)
Thanks, Meeps! :content:
Got sidetracked a bit (I do that), so my dream pics have halted for the moment. Here's a sketch I did tonight while on the phones at work, though. It's an old RP character of mine, named Amon. He was one of my strongest characters, in his transformed state. It's kind of like an Incredible Hulk scenario, except he becomes an insanely powerful, maniacal, energy-based demon type of character, when he becomes enraged, and has a red Aura and glowing red eyes. Also, though he's strong, he doesn't have Hulk's regenerative abilities. This shot of him is maybe halfway through his transformation. When the power consumes him, he takes on this twisted, completely uncontrollable laughter, which grows more and more psychotic with the more carnage he's able to cause.
http://i.imgur.com/S34jDl.jpg
Full size: http://i.imgur.com/S34jD.jpg
This is just a quick sketch, though. I left it unshaded, because I'm going to put it in Photoshop and make a digital piece out of with color and whatnot. Stay tuned for that. I'd also like to do a pic of him in his fully-transformed state, but I want to go all out on that one and use actual references for his face and body as whatnot. Don't have the time and patience for that, at the moment, but I'm building toward it.
Great drawing, lots of energy and movement in it, but if you're going for insane, uncontrollable laughter, I'd push the expression of his face further. Maybe even curve his back a bit more backward. Right now he just looks sly, not crazy. Love the style though.
Thanks. :)
But yeah, like I said, this is when he's just beginning to warm up. His pose is a little more relaxed than I was going for (could only half concentrate, because I was working. I also made him a bit skinnier than I'd intended to), but it's still well within this stage of his transformation. When he's fully consumed, it is all out, back arched, fingers splayed, head back and eyes wide open insanity. He would be encased in red light, and veins all popping out. Right now, he's just kind of in his "oh, this is going to be fun" stage. Heh. His body is just heating up, and steam would start rising off of him, but I'm gonna do all of that in Photoshop - or attempt to, anyway. :>
Another work in progress - Meet Morpheus: the God of Dreams, and one of the main characters in the novel I'm writing.
http://i.imgur.com/fMeN5.jpg
And yes, I know he has no feet. Feet are hard. Shut up. :P
Ugh.... feet suck. Just remember to make em bigger than you think they are, they're always bigger than you think lol (size of characters forearm is best way).
Can you tell us more about this character? Or the story?
Sounds interesting.
Haha. I already fucked up on my first draft of the feet. Coincidentally, I failed to do exactly what you just said to do, and made his feet way too small. :doh:
Well, roughly:Quote:
Originally Posted by tommo
Spoiler for Synopsis:
If you'd like to get a feel for the story's opening, I could inbox you a draft of the first chapter. I enjoy a bit of feedback. :]
This story sounds heaps good! May I ask if I can read the first chapter as well?
P.s DV warriors :P
Sure, I'll send you a copy. :)
Crap. For some reason, I thought I was waiting on you. (I think it was because I remember you saying it would be a couple of weeks before you could post again, but I forgot that you said that after you had already posted. Lol.) Sorry. I'll get one up today. :cheers:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ametam