New to digital painting - crits appreciated UPDATED

[Blaise]

Just started with digital about 3 weeks ago and would love constructive feedback. I've started a sketchbook where I've posted everything I've done so far, but there hasn't been much in the way of critiques. There really isn't any thought behind the "concept" of this piece, I'm really just trying to get the feel of digital painting. Any crits would be appreciated.

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/4281/sb0163mi.jpg

[Optimus_Rodney]

this is a first painting?

i have to admit its pretty darn good for a first painting man. anyway theres a lot of attention that youve given to the body but you need to do some more with the area on which its standing on as well as the background and it'll feel complete.

i just did my first drawing with a wacom and its a hellalotmore fun and easier than with traditional.

anyway i love this piece and i cant wait to see more from you :)

[Blaise]

Thanks Optimus. No, it's not a first painting, it's actually my 16th, I believe. I'm posting them in order in my sketchbook thread. I also don't consider it a finished piece - more like a color sketch basically. Once I feel I have a good handle on working with PS, I'll try get something complete to post in the Finished section.

That's why I'm looking for any input on what I may be doing that stands out as problematic. One thing I need to be careful with is using black. I've mostly worked in black and white for the past decade and can tell I have a tendency to want the darks VERY dark.

Anyway, thanks for the comments.

[Optimus_Rodney]

blaise i know what you feel -i have a comics illustration background. everytime i try to migrate into digi painting i seem to have that blacks issue. i guess thats why cell shading is a lot more natural to me.

the potential in this piece is totally awesome.

[Mr. Visions]

This is a really nice start, dude. The only problem I have is she's looking very masculine in the upper body. She can look hardcore without the beef. Concentrate on tone and not muscle mass. I would tone down the back and arms and maybe something revealing she has a little bit of a chest. Not a stereotypical chest, but more than what she's got now. The upper body looks different from the face and legs. Good luck taking this to finish, it's looking good.

- Visions

[rogfa]

I think your pieces are very good. Some nice textures in this one. For myself, I struggled to find the right brush in PhotoShop. Most people are quick to point that brushes don't matter (and I feel that way too) but for some reason the stock brushes didn't "feel" right to me. I don't know if you'd find this of interest but artist Linda Bergkvist has some nice painting tutorials (hair (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=259468), eyes (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=227727)). They are a good read but the best thing I got out of it was a custom brush she calls "spackled". I created the custom brush using her exact sample in the eye tutorial and pretty much use it as my only painting brush in PhotoShop. It just feels nice to paint with.

Good luck and keep posting!

--Roger

[Blaise]

Mr. Visions-

Yeah, you're absolutely right about the upper arm/back area. I've been doing these with almost no preliminary drawing - just quickly roughing in the form and then going straight to color. As a result, some of the drawing is a bit wonky (there are problems in the hip/leg area too) but since my main objective is to familiarize myself with PS painting, I'm sort of concentrating more on the actual rendering and hoping to correct the little quirks as I go along. I kinda like the flat chest though. :)

Thanks for the crit. I appreciate you taking the time.

rogfa-

Thanks. I know what you mean about the stock brushes. I feel fairly comfortable with the one I've been using, but I do want to get into making some custom ones. Thanks very much for the links. I'll be giving Linda's brush a try, as well as making some of my own (I hope).

[Blaise]

Okay, I reworked the arm and upper back a bit (thanks Mr. Visions). I think I'll leave it at that and move on to something else. Thanks for the comments.

http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/5157/sb01629zk.jpg

[dogfood]

The broad shoulders and slim waist really give her a masculine feel. There's also a feel that her left leg isn't really attached to the hip (it seems to be dangling). This might be aided by a very long left upper leg. You know, it might just be that the head is small...

Regardless, the hard darks in the face are counter to the lively shadows of the arm. I like the lost edges, but perhaps just some shots of secondary lighting will help out.

I really like the feel of this (and am striving to do the same thing). I think you're getting it (much faster than I).

[Blaise]

dogfood - you're right about all of the anatomy problems. The hips and legs bother me the most. I started with a very rough sketch hoping to refine the anatomy as I painted and it didn't quite work out.

Good point about the hard shadows on the face. I have a faint reflected light on her right cheek but it's not much relief from the darks.

Thanks for posting.