Practice practice practice

[Eversor Deus]

Trying out this self-portrait thing. I have issues with colour so I'm trying value studies for now. The highlights in the hair don't match the rest of the picture very well though...

EDIT: tried to fix highlights.

[dpaint]

It looks good one thing I would suggest when you work, think about softening edges, they can help turn a plane for you without using too many values.

[Eversor Deus]

Thanks dpaint! What should I use to try softening edges? Maybe a blur or a softer brush?

Day 2, picture 2! (i'm impressed with myself for sticking it out two days! Sad, huh? :P )

I definitely made my jaw too wide, but I'm not sure if it's a shading issue or an actual measurement issue.

[dpaint]

I would use a softer brush in places. I know this is against current practice where everything is hardedged but that is a fad. Try and paint the edge the way you see it compared to the edges around it. That is the rule of thumb I use when painting Digitally or traditionally.

[Eversor Deus]

Tried taking dpaint's advice and softened some edges (I don't think it came across as dramatic as I hoped though, I kept the nose sharper as it is closest to the viewer and all that jazz, but yeah)

Also trying to force myself to use more contrast so I stop being afraid of it! It doesn't look much like me but I think it's kind of interesting.