skMOP's self-portraits - 42 [Archive]

skMOP

June 30th, 2010, 12:13 AM

SusanMart: Thanks, I definitely see a correlation :D

I'm trying to switch every other day from a selfportrait focusing on portraiture and proportions and the other day more on colors and etc. Like today.

DAY 4

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TCrRmteRQZI/AAAAAAAAAiY/vZ6if4YMYdc/s800/IMG_0012.jpg
LOL@the second one's neck.

skMOP

July 1st, 2010, 01:36 AM

I need a haircut.

I kept struggling to do this angle traditionally for some reason. Finally got a decent result, but I didn't have too much time to go further on it. Gotta work on mood as well because so far these have been plain in terms of expression.

DAY 5

skMOP

July 2nd, 2010, 01:46 AM

LOL what is that crap?^^^

I must've been really sleepy last night.
--
Shading follows form? Impossible.

DAY 6

skMOP

July 2nd, 2010, 05:02 PM

So the Last Airbender came out yesterday. I was really excited to see it until I heard it was crap.
Aw and I liked the show too D:
Heres me in the Avatar State (LOL AND BALD) Maybe I should've done something more intense.
--
My skintones need life.

DAY 7

skMOP

July 6th, 2010, 12:17 AM

Was away for the July 4th weekend so I couldn't do any unfortunately.
another 7 days hopefully?
scratchy 5 values

DAY 8

Dile_

July 6th, 2010, 01:25 AM

spend more time on these! especially on those grayscale once, so that when you paint in color, you don't have to worry as much about the values... they should come easier ;)
keep this up.. and you will improve a lot in short time ;) but spend more time...!

skMOP

July 7th, 2010, 01:10 AM

Dile_: Thanks, I'll try to focus more on quality.
--
Split hair.
I keep drawing everything slanted(glasses especially). I only noticed it once I flipped it in photoshop, not when I checked with a mirror.

DAY 9

jeremygordon89

July 7th, 2010, 01:15 AM

Keep it up man! They're getting better, but I agree: spend more time on them and stay in grayscale until you get really comfortable working that way, and then color will come a lot easier I'm sure.

skMOP

July 8th, 2010, 01:42 AM

jeremygordon89: Alright man, I'm gonna focus on b/w digitals for a week. Sorry if this gets repetitive, but it needs work.
--
regression.
I'm supposed to be looking up (I placed a mirror on top of my monitor) but it doesn't seem that way.
Ugh, I don't think I have the discipline to keep doing these.
But yeah, regression.

DAY 10
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TDVy7Ej_LBI/AAAAAAAAAiY/vy4uXEWubJY/bw%20july%207.jpg

no87

July 8th, 2010, 10:42 AM

good start man!! keep it going :)

skMOP

July 9th, 2010, 01:42 AM

no87: Thanks, you too!
--
improvement? 1 hr.
EDIT: No way! Picasa auto-resizes images.

DAY 11
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TDbEXIwA8JI/AAAAAAAAAiY/xp5EkZHPoV4/s576/bw%20july%208.jpg

Hive_minD

July 9th, 2010, 06:38 AM

Looking good in here mate! Seeing you working on values (as we all are...) Try thinking BIG, big brushes and big value areas. Block your face in, might be an interesting exercise.

Phade01

July 9th, 2010, 05:51 PM

"Ugh, I don't think I have the discipline to keep doing these."

Dont give up man, You''ll improve eventually! Just keep putting in the effort, thats the most inportant thing! Its allways very frustrating in the beginning (at least for me it was) hope you'll keep it up!

skMOP

July 10th, 2010, 01:31 AM

Hive_minD: Cool I'll try that sometime..maybe with planes? I usually start with about 500px brushes to lay down values(these are about 2000x2000)

Phade01 Thanks for the encouragement. I'm really just a big whiner though. :D

--
My pencils are lagging behind, definitely not on par with the digitals.

DAY 12
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TDgSIu-5I3I/AAAAAAAAAiY/2aLMVx0KgIg/s576/IMG.jpg

skMOP

July 11th, 2010, 01:36 AM

Bottom=20sec.Top=?
Contour.
--
LUCKY 13

skMOP

July 12th, 2010, 01:47 AM

My realest fake smile.

--
Let's play with emotions?
I have to work on drawing smiles....because this is just crap.

DAY 14
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TDq5J6KvN6I/AAAAAAAAAiY/sYIlZrMp-Wo/s576/IMG_0010.jpg

skMOP

July 13th, 2010, 01:07 AM

Let's get angry?

DAY 15

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TDwBAHlLKRI/AAAAAAAAAiY/rF_25e8jOw8/s576/IMG_0002.jpg

skMOP

July 14th, 2010, 01:34 AM

These emotion ones are ending up looking kind of cartoonish now that I look at them.

--
worried/frustrated
DAY 16

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TD1abIc9f5I/AAAAAAAAAiY/BRnYCw1VT3E/s576/IMG.jpg

no87

July 14th, 2010, 05:21 PM

http://alexhays.com/loomis/ if you havnt already, go it check out drawing heads and hands loomis book on the link. will help you alot on structure. :)
apart from that i wana see moooore:)

skMOP

July 15th, 2010, 01:35 AM

no87: Yeah I have most (if not all I think) of the Loomis books downloaded. My heads are always in need of work though D:

--
I should do these in the morning when I feel more inspired. I think only one or two of these were not done at 10pm-midnight.

DAY 17
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TD6r-k9pLqI/AAAAAAAAAiY/j9VNhzL_QsQ/s576/IMG.jpg

Phade01

July 15th, 2010, 03:27 PM

good to see you're doing the facial expressions! don't be afraid to do some extreme angles!
As a Crit: i think you should put some more effort in to these, push each one a bit further, also draw your hair as well, right now its just a big white shape :P try to make a more "complete" image, if you do this you will improve much faster, and you will be able to make your portraits in a shorter amount of time :). hope this help, Keep it up! Very curious to how this will progress!

skMOP

July 16th, 2010, 01:47 AM

Phade01

July 16th, 2010, 01:29 PM

Its so awesome that you took some more time with this one, you can really tell that you put in the effort! Do this more often! :D

Also about the angles, i don't think photographs will help you with that, when you draw a difficult angle from the mirror you draw it directly from life and you will have to interpret the form yourself, i think you will learn much more from this. You can always stand while drawing and turn your head a bit :) Or you can put the mirror down flat on your desk and draw from that

Anyways, good stuff! Keep on going

Pixie Trick

July 16th, 2010, 04:45 PM

This last one looks super! If you stop at the beginning and take the time to draw in the basic shape of the head and then pop in lines for eyes, nose, mouth (hair even! :P) and then refer back to that as you go along, you might have a bit less trouble getting the proportions to work.

At this point I think other than doing some serious study of heads (loomis, brigeman, other people in photos or life) you're going to have to work on simply improving your observational skills.

Keep at it! :sungod:

skMOP

July 17th, 2010, 01:32 AM

Phade01: Standing while? So much effort, I'll try it though D: Thanks for the tips and encouragement!

Pixie Trick: Thanks for the advice, I'll try to focus on some pre-construction before putting the features.

I feel bad for busting out this lame blind contour after those comments..but yeah.D:
I was gone for all of the day doing this "cultural training" thing for my japanese exchange program...
I promise an awesome one tomorrow?

--
DAY 19
lame blind contour.

skMOP

July 17th, 2010, 11:48 PM

This do lots of pencils and focus on that and then do digitals thing actually works?!?!
Seriously half the time a b/w digital usually takes me.
Back to pencils!!

--
scifi/cool attempt?!?!
DAY 20
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TEKHDFdf6HI/AAAAAAAAAiY/74MydjpfnjY/s576/Scifi%20july%2017.jpg

skMOP

July 19th, 2010, 01:19 AM

I look very caucasian in this one.
--
DAY 21

skMOP

July 22nd, 2010, 12:23 AM

Took a 2 day break from drawing, because I lost all motivation for some reason and it was nice to have.
--
Ehh, still not ready for colors.

DAY 22
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TEfUjn4cPuI/AAAAAAAAAiY/z60V8hX_6d4/s576/colors%20july%2021.jpg

skMOP

July 23rd, 2010, 01:24 AM

I think I'm making the gap between my eyes too large. Well, something is ridiculously wrong with the eyes.
--
DAY 23
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TEk1MXQGw7I/AAAAAAAAAiY/gzFqvvG-Nzs/bw%20july%2022.jpg

jigje

July 23rd, 2010, 03:58 AM

Hi skMOP

These notes from Loomis may help with your proportions. They are for the "standard" human head, whatever that is. Haha.
As he says, all heads naturally vary in measurement and proportion but using these rules as a rough guide is a great start for beginners like us.
I agree that the eyes look too far apart in your painting. In the Loomis diagram you see that a rough guide is that there is the width of an eye between the eyes. Looking at your painting it looks like there are 2 or 3 eye widths between.
The nose is generally as wide as the gap between the eyes.
Also, the width of the mouth can be determined once the nose an eye positions are established. The ends of the mouth align roughly with the centre of the pupils. I notice on most of your portraits, the mouth is as wide as the nose.
Your rendering is getting better and better but be sure to establish the facial feature positions and measurements before you even bother starting to render it out. Spend more time looking in the mirror and checking measurements than looking at the screen or page.
All the best mate, you're doing great so far.

skMOP

July 24th, 2010, 11:50 AM

jigje: Thanks for all the tips on proportions, I've read through that book before, but obviously I need to do it again. I agree that my lips are drawn to small but they definitely don't reach the middle of my pupils.

--
Update from yesterday, since CA was timing out on me last night.
DAY 24
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TEqK4Xmu4vI/AAAAAAAAAiY/HaxOAXUCUjI/s576/IMG.jpg

skMOP

August 5th, 2010, 01:34 AM

First self portrait in awhile! I love how random the system of leveling up is, all I had to do to level was not draw for a week!
Hopefully I can do a couple more before I leave.

--
DAY 25
Faster and better!
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TFpZhWO1VII/AAAAAAAAAiY/ST8RCdXl5ys/s576/IMG.jpg

PeteJ

August 6th, 2010, 06:55 PM

Spent more time on this..about 1.5 hrs..and so proud of it :)
day 3

It looked so photorealistic in your avatar

Naidy

August 20th, 2010, 03:05 PM

I love the idea of doing daily portraits! You're progressing very fast, but you seem to spend proportionally more time on your eyes than the rest of the face (I do the same mistake myself so I can't blame you,)
Just pay more attention to the position of your nose and mouth-

That said, some of your digital sp's are fantastic so keep up the good work!

skMOP

September 13th, 2010, 08:49 PM

PeteJ: Haha but if you look at the regular sized one it just looks messy.

Naidy: Thanks for the advice! SP's are incredibly helpful, but I definitely can't keep the daily up. I don't know how the others do it haha.
--

Pretty rusty.. but I'll take it.
Haha I don't think I can take doing these daily again.

Done with a $1 brushpen I bought in Japan! About 20 min with no preliminary sketching, using a brushpen is so much different because I can't erase D:.

skMOP

October 3rd, 2010, 02:26 PM

Tried adding glasses after I painted everything else..

I'm not sure what's going on here but I think i like it. :D
I can't believe I used to think my b/w ones looked good..I'll probably think this one is crap in about a month too.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TKjXhVGQM-I/AAAAAAAAAiY/lu_-yBcwj_Y/s576/oct%203.jpg

BlackDelphin

October 19th, 2010, 08:54 AM

You are getting bloody brilliant! :D

Raffix

October 20th, 2010, 12:14 PM

dude the improvement is phenomenal!

Malakuko

October 20th, 2010, 01:37 PM

really good improvement here man! Can you see the monitor without the glasses? If you can you should try it without them, just because their a distraction and split up the forms in and around the eye.

skMOP

December 16th, 2010, 10:53 PM

Malakuko: I'm afraid not, I'm seriously blind without them. Thanks for dropping by!

Raffix: Thanks! I've been slackin' though.

BlackDelphin: Thanks, but I still need a lot of work..

--
It's been awhile, I also notice all the mistakes in the last SP now lol.

Screwed up on the eyes, blehh.
On winter break starting saturday, so maybe I can update this thread regularly again!

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TQrssaH_8bI/AAAAAAAAASY/1bMbgsWHPG4/s640/IMG_0001.jpg

skMOP

January 16th, 2011, 03:30 AM

messed up the mouth and nose

skMOP

February 10th, 2011, 12:50 AM

askljfhkjfhsf
colors

skMOP

February 14th, 2011, 09:31 PM

Two SP's in a week..What is this..?

Taylor_M

February 18th, 2011, 06:30 AM

Draw a sketch of something random that you can put up on a part of your face. Maybe like a clown smile or a mustache.

____________
record producer discography (http://www.ranker.com/fact-lists/albums/producer)

Mazui

February 23rd, 2011, 03:25 AM

More :)

skMOP

February 24th, 2011, 09:36 PM

Taylor_M: Haha does this count?

Mazui: Yup.
--

Kind of got bored and started doodling on it.

ClassicalGIRL

March 2nd, 2011, 05:23 AM

I seriously think your getting better as you go along the practice helps like all hell ....Love this one , cool form shaping happening here in this one !!

askljfhkjfhsf
colors

r-t-a

March 17th, 2011, 10:12 PM

Good improvement - especially #45 through #50. I've my eye on this thread. Keep it up, mang!

skMOP

May 4th, 2011, 11:24 AM

thanks guys!

--
I had no idea that I was being so ignorant up there, sorry jigje, I definitely see what you mean now.

Loong time no update, heres one with lots of improvement in terms of rendering. Not so much in proportions or colors..
3hrs

kikindaface

May 4th, 2011, 05:36 PM

Hey man, you had some good improvments going here ! May i suggest you to spend more time on the drawing, before adding values and colors ^^ Use a lot the horizontal flip to see mistakes, if you didn't already ! there is also something about edges, i find you're softening them too much . Really, when you're working, you shouldn't think much about how well you should blend these values, but about how well you should be " modeling " the volumes . Try to ask you some preliminaries questions, like where does the light comes from, how about the surfaces i'm painting, are they flat, curved, etc ? i know it sounds obvious, but when you're gotta answer these questions, it'll be a lot more easier . Also, i think it's useless for now to add some colors to your selfportraits, do loads of them in values, until they're really good, either in values nd proportions, then you can jump on colors ^^( i'd say you should even do more selfportraits in lines rather than in values, to get proportions faster ! ) You'll improve faster by being specific, rather than learning everything at once and improving really slowly, and your brain won't even memorize half of what you learned .... So keep it up !!

skMOP

May 6th, 2011, 12:33 AM

kikindaface: Thanks for the huge paragraph! yeah I've been flipping it but I end up missing a lot of mistakes. I'm trying to do colors occasionally to just assess my progress, and really I won't get better with them if I keep trying to avoid them. I really do get what you mean though.

--
1hr20min
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TcOFzwH25pI/AAAAAAAAAq4/F0HLlGihqj8/s0/11%205%205.jpg

ClassicalGIRL

May 24th, 2011, 10:29 PM

Liking your progress .... I totally think working in mono first will help heaps , Im so learning that myself and have been told that myself from some really wonderful artists , but I understand how much of a pull to use color is also ... keep at it eh!!!

David Anthony

May 27th, 2011, 12:46 AM

Phade01: Heres my complete pencil, with hair! I'm definitely never doing that again. :P The hair takes too much lead and wears me out haha. The mirror I'm using really doesn't move forward or backward, it's just on a stand. Not sure how I would go about doing angles with it, but I'll try to find a way anyway though! If I need to practice head angles I think photo studies would be better though.

--
I think my haircut threw my proportions off.
a more "finished" one, but my pencil rendering is still poop.
and wow I just flipped the image in photoshop, I can't believe I didn't notice the crookedness of the eyes.
CRITIQUES PLEASE.

DAY 18
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_0049F4bKCQE/TEAAaYLsH3I/AAAAAAAAAiY/w0NNw-17e94/s576/IMG_0001.jpg

Hey I think you did a great job on this. I do see what you mean but i think you saved it with your glasses and the angle of your neck. to me it looks like your head is angled a little so it makes your eyes go good. Lol hope that made since. Well keep it up i really like this portrait of you. Out of all them even though i don't know what you look like besides these drawings each picture you draw gives me a mental image of you look like cause you capture yourself very good in each drawing in different ways. I look forward to your drawings.

skMOP

June 22nd, 2011, 11:09 PM

David Anthony: Haha I find it hard to believe that you like that one. It looks soo bad. Thanks anyway. :)

classicalGIRL: Thanks! Start your own thread so I can look at your progress! :P
--

A quickie, < 30min, but done with a very different approach. I guess in a way, imitating the "atelier" look (if that makes sense?). Of limited use since I don't have anyone to teach me how it's done, but I still feel like I've learned a lot from it. Likeness is terrible though (not that the others previous are that great)

kiwigarbage

July 18th, 2011, 10:52 AM

Noticeable improvement with those last few!

I was wondering, how do you start your portraits? I feel as though you sketch the outline of the head, then fill in the features? Perhaps trying to start with a different element (i.e. the nose or the mouth) and use that feature to measure the rest of the face.

Keep experimenting with it, and you'll find a way that makes sense to your brain. Sometimes, conventional proportion methods just aren't the best solution for everyone :)

But really, some big improvements lately! Bravo!

skMOP

July 19th, 2011, 12:08 AM

kiwigarbage: Close! I start with a Loomis like head and just put in circles for eyes and mark out lines for placing the features, then slowly build on. But yeah I'll try the way you mentioned out. Thanks for the long comment :)

--
+2
oldish frustrating digital
http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1273627&stc=1&d=1310199315

a form exercise, but messed up around the mouth area pretty badly.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5ukOLIsPbt8/TiKGarFVvAI/AAAAAAAAA2c/QGFbtU2K8vg/s640/IMG_0001.jpg

kiwigarbage

July 22nd, 2011, 03:31 PM

Yes! The proportions are much, much better.

Loomis is good for drawing from imagination, not so good for drawing from life. Everyone's facial proportions are unique, not to mention, Loomis doesn't account for anyone other than "generic white guy", which is incredibly limiting to the varying skull structure and facial mapping in different ethnicities.

I notice your 3/4 views are more successful than your straight-ons. Maybe practicing symmetry by drawing a center axis line, drawing a randomly curved line (be as intricate as you want) that starts at the top of the axis, extends away from it, then returns at a lower point, and trying to mimic that line on the other side of the axis. Or just draw some symmetrical still-lifes.

skMOP

November 2nd, 2011, 08:35 PM

kiwigarbage: thanks so much for all the advice!

time to get this going again!
^i'm pretty much obligated to say this every few months.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5jdWY9_4UlI/TrDiIWUw57I/AAAAAAAABMY/qyVmMjnzmq8/s0/11%25252011%2525201%252520sp.jpg

Sushy

November 4th, 2011, 06:48 AM

Last one looks nice :D

danlucas

November 4th, 2011, 10:13 PM

Nice work on the last portrait. Good proportions. Keep it up.

skMOP

April 12th, 2012, 01:04 PM

Thanks!
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https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-vFJdyO8pnRE/T4KJmeA4LRI/AAAAAAAABgs/DOqBJg99JmY/s0/Vincent%2520Lau%25208.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-cy56OaSKWPc/T4KJmM27XlI/AAAAAAAABgo/iFSGQ0BijBI/s0/Vincent%2520Lau%25201.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Iz3uKYFTWWU/T4cY3EKspdI/AAAAAAAABiE/xExIFpBFri4/s0/12%25204%252011%2520sp.jpg