Crappy Tutorial (Repost)

[Pontemonti]

Originally posted by Lunatique:
I just finished this days ago. Thought I'd post it since this section is empty. :) Some of you might have seen this at other forums already.

I'm not happy with the end result, since I originally wanted a fast, impressionistic style, but ended up rendering too tight. I need to work on loosening up my brush work.

http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/goodies/tutorials/nude1_tutorial/nude1-01.jpg
I just slather on paint with the palette knife, getting rid of the white areas.



http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/goodies/tutorials/nude1_tutorial/nude1-02.jpg
I blend with one of the oil brushes(opaque round, I think)with resaturation set to zero. Then I start painting in the figure, using the same brush, except the resaturation is now turned up.



http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/goodies/tutorials/nude1_tutorial/nude1-03.jpg
I block in the whole figure. This is all with the same brush. In fact, that's the only brush I've used in this session so far.



http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/goodies/tutorials/nude1_tutorial/nude1-04.jpg
I block in the base colors I want.



http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/goodies/tutorials/nude1_tutorial/nude1-05.jpg
I smooth out the figure a bit by blending(still same brush. Same trick with the resaturation).



Note by Ponte: I believe this image is missing on his server, but it doesn't seem as if it's extremely important anyway...

Adding more detail.



http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/goodies/tutorials/nude1_tutorial/nude1-07.jpg
Made some corrections, and added more detail.



http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/goodies/tutorials/nude1_tutorial/nude1-08.jpg
Realized that I was an ass for not doing a sketch first, I made some corrections, and then blocked in the different skin shades.



http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/goodies/tutorials/nude1_tutorial/nude1-09.jpg
Painted in some of the bed and pillow.



http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/goodies/tutorials/nude1_tutorial/nude1-10.jpg
Tweaked the background, and added more of the bed.



http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/goodies/tutorials/nude1_tutorial/nude1-11.jpg
Painted in the walls with the palette knife.



http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/paintings_drawings/new/nude1.jpg
Final details.

Now, I have to point out that even though this shows the steps I took for this particular piece, it does not mean I do all of my pieces like this. In fact, I almost never begin painting without a sketch first. I did it this time for some sponaneity, and turned out to be a bad idea.

I think this piece lacks color variation in the figure, and the rendering on the figure is way too smooth/static. It should've been looser like the background.

Oh yeah, there was reference used, of course. If you want to see the model, you can check out the photography section on my website. The session with this model is titled "Stephanie Nudes."
Note by Ponte: The images were dead in the post I had stored, so I found them at Lunatique's site (http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com) and re-linked them...

[Pontemonti]

Originally posted by Jason Manley:
thinking.....from seeing your demo I remember a few things. one of which was whether or not you wanted a critique...doesnt matter..here ya go!

one...your are making a very consistant attempt at keeping a color temperatures/compliment seperation between light and shadow....a difficult and challenging thing to balance sometimes. this is a good thing to think of while you are painting...and to keep in mind as you render.

2 smoothly rendered figures can look beautiful...eye a Bouguereua or a Gerome up close....if you pay close attention to not rendering everything or too many things the same then your image will look more observed and less theory...(i.e same kind of folds on the pillows ... same kind of forms carved across the figure without paying attention to a natural variety of shape). If you render the forms too similar or simple then they will lack the anatomical complexity of what is underneath the skin...what is underneath the color....smooth color and value transition across a real figure can be a beautiful thing to pay attention to...developing that kind of vision and accurate seeing can be very helpful. If you have a good understanding of the "subte" than you will have a better understanding of how to paint from the mind. In order to have the subtle visually correct..the underlying larger forms must be more than kept in mind...

keeping that in mind I would say that your above image would be decent in its proportions and decent in its polish...but the mid level of form changes (between larger simpler cylindrical forms and the smoothe polish of the skin) need to be explord further.

Study your anatomy while you paint. That will help you mark some appropriate and sometimes subtle changes in form.

the hardest part is keeping the life or the information that suggests life in the painting while rendering....knowing what parts to leave alone in order for the figure to breathe within its paint handling and rendering.....if balance your areas of simple vs complex appropriately for what you are rendering and can at the same time keep it feeling alive then you will see better paintings ahead.

if you tone your canvas instead of painting on white you will find more atmosphere in your work. you can find a solution to this issue while you are painting on white...watercolor tool in painter works well for me when I notice a certain range of darker passages and or certain color changes are needed within a particular color/value area.

paintings can be tight and smooth in rendering but also have surface texture...suggested surface textures can add life to an image.

possibly paint the feet or even make that area look more purposeful...even if it is simple and needed to be left alone...

[Pontemonti]

Originally posted by Lunatique:
Thanks for the thorough critique. :) All of the things that you mentioned are things I admire about works of others, but have a hard time implementing into my own work. It's as if when I paint, I go into a trance, and during that time, I THOUGHT I was being analytical and careful, but only after the painting is done do I realize I was actually painting in a haze. I gotta break that in order to move on to the next level. I feel like I'm just inches away from it. I've studied and analyzed works of painters like Sargent, Schmid, Zorn, Elvgren..etc for the past many years, and it's about time those influences showed up in my own work. *crosses fingers*

[Pontemonti]

Originally posted by Jason Manley:
I do not think it is a haze caused by the lack of concentration or analyzation....it is one from the need to work from life more....working from life will give you a better understanding of the "natural" and will give you a better understanding of what you are trying to accomplish in a naturalistic image.

good luck....you get better the more you work...I see that.


j

[Pontemonti]

Originally posted by Travis Bourbeau:
I rely liked this tut seen it at eatpoo also usied it to do a potrait and had alot of sucess thans for sharing

[Pontemonti]

Originally posted by amphex:
This is actually a very helpful tutorial for a beginner like I am. Thank you very much =D