learning/playing with a new style (new image update, 10/24)

[geikou]

as the title says, i've recently been trying to expand my repertoire--which is currently mostly manga-ish people--both in subject matter and style. more specifically, i want to be able to paint lineless and (fairly) realistic people. so...below is my first attempt. (well, sort of. i actually have a wip too that i started first. and one piece i did from photo ref.) i know the person still looks sort of anime-ish...i just took an old line art and colored directly from it, modifying only slightly. it's mostly the coloring itself that i'm interested in here, although if you want to comment on him as well, that's fine. (and ignore the background...it's just an aid to visualize the edges of the guy.)

so what do you think? i find it often difficult to choose realistic shadow colors. also, any tips on doing hair? etc., etc. c&c away!

(oh, yeah. and i'm totally having a blast with this new style. me likies! wanna do more. ^o^)

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b384/geikou/saelyn.jpg

[Elwell]

I know your not primaruly interested in drawing crits, but...
This is a strange realistic/anime hybrid. The eyes are still oversized, and I did a double take when you referred to it as him. Also, the hairstyle is straight out of There's Something About Mary, and trust me, you do not want that to be the fist thing people think of.

Now, for the painting/color...
Skin tones can skew towards purple or green in the shadows, but rarely both (and often neither).
The head is a round form, so if the light is at enough of an angle to give you that much cast shadow from the nose, you'll also get a pronounced side plane on the face.
Speaking of planes, try to think of things in planar terms as much as possible. Whenever there's a change in plane, there's a change in value/color.
Be careful of overdoing reflected lights in the shadows. They can very easily look cheap and faked, and have to be used with subtlety if you don't want to flatten the form.
Do not approach eyebrows, eyelashes, and the hairline as made up of lots of individual hairs/strokes. Rather, keep the edges soft and only introduce a few defined strokes to describe the texture, if necessary.

[geikou]

heh, yeah, like i said, i took one of my older line drawings, which tend to be anime style. well, for this one, i don't think i'm going to change the eyes or hair for this guy, but that wip i mentioned is brand new and started out as something intended to be realistic. hopefully it'll be done soon.

all right, i worked a little on this one. i redid the brows and lashes as well as the hairline, and i added some more shadows to his right cheek. that green in the original was supposed to be reflected light from the bottom left. easy enough to change, since it was on its own layer. i went ahead and made it more of a red (http://photobucket.com/albums/b384/geikou/saelynred.jpg) and also took it out (http://photobucket.com/albums/b384/geikou/saelynnone.jpg).

[Craig D]

sorry can't comment on your changes as didn't see it first time.

but plucked eyebrows, large eyes, small nose, smallish mouth, smooth even complexion and jaw shape all say girl

[Silly]

Interesting, I'm also experimenting with line-less art at this point...

I think the shadow on the hair above the forehead is too dark compared to the shadows on the face; the hair in the light is about the same value as the face, but much darker in the shadow - doesn't seem right. You may also try adding some sharper brushstrokes, like in the hair, to define the structure more. And the folds on the chest are very fuzzy. Now you have some extreme detail like on the eyes next to some very fuzzy areas, and in this case it's not helping I think. Perhaps try adding some detail, or at least suggestion of detail, to other areas of interest aside from the eyes.

[geikou]

thanks for the comments. i did end up lightening the shadow under the hair.

bleah! feel like i had an art block or something after i got the sketch done on this one. well, it's my second attempt (i decided to scrap that wip i mentioned for now). argh, really need to figure out how to choose colors. -_- in fact, i like the sketch (http://photobucket.com/albums/b384/geikou/asoiafrhaegarportline.jpg) on this one better than the color. -_- anyway, any more c&c and/or tips? (hopefully he looks more masculine this time.)

http://photobucket.com/albums/b384/geikou/asoiafrhaegarport.jpg

[Silly]

For the coloring, I think you should be more careful with your light sources, particularly the light on the inside of the ear has an unclear provenance. You can add more life by shifting color between light and shadow (my last attempt at http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=54777 is probably an extreme example of this).

For the drawing, his face looks incredibly thin, and the lines of his eyes, brow, and coronet are so straight that his head looks squarish. The big strands of hair framing his face don't look very realistic in my opinion.