Uh..I think it's finished...

[Subspace]

Thought I'd post my first half-decent digital portrait. Any crits or suggestions welcome. I've been looking at it for too long now; time to move on to the next one, I think!

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3/_Subspace_/2D%20Images/Portrait_1.jpg

[DireZen]

nice, keep up the good work! my only advice would be to pay attention to skin hues as you practice, try mixing your colors to bring out the tones a bit more and give your portraits a bit more life. she's a bit flat right now and a bit too pasty, but i have that same trouble. i'd put a bit more color into her eyes/lips as well. and I'd focus my details on her eyes and face and avoid getting OCD with her jewlrey, becauase the detail draws your eye immediately to the crown when thats actually not the most important visual aspect of the portrait. you want to show her, not her crown. theres a nice skin hue tutorial at furiae.com.

[Bell]

Considering how good the eyes and hair are and the overall painting of theface, I'd also suggest more work on the skin tones and the dress especially from the head down to bring them to the same level as the face.

With the face are you keeping the texture of the brush work? It just seems at odds with the fine, smoothly rendered eyes, background and hair.

[Subspace]

Great comments, valid points!

DireZen: Yeah, I see what you mean about the crown tearing the eye away from the face; I’ll try to tone the detail down a bit, so that the eyes become the area of focus. I guess I’m a bit guilty of getting carried away with certain passages of a picture and neglecting others. Thanks for directing me to that skin tutorial too!

Bell: You’re right about that arm / shoulder needing more work; looking at it now, it does seem a bit rough ‘n’ ready! I know it’s supposed to be finished, but I think I’ll do some blending and try and ‘equalize’ the skin tone there with that of the face (which needs the brushwork smoothed out a bit in the shadowed areas of cheek, neck and temple).

Thanks again guys – it’s always good to get someone else round the easel for some objectivity!

[dogfood]

I know you wanted to fit everything in, but everything below the neck is really scrunched. Check out a local lass and see how far it really is from neck to boob (try to keep from measuring with your hands unless you have express permission).

And here ear seems way out there. From the angle we're using, I would have imagined it a tad higher and our left.

[nonie]

You could darken the darks in her face too - contrast ther is pretty low.

[Subspace]

Just a wee update, taking on board the helpful points raised.

dogfood: I kinda thought that, but I double checked the ref I used, and they really were that high (perhaps some scaffolding was in use!). However, I think the way I did the dress made her look wrenched up and to the left, so I've adjusted that - and reduced the 'depth' of cleavage too!

nonie: I had upped the contrast in the first post from my original working file (it was very wishywashy!), but I think the uneven brushstrokes were working against it; hopefully this updated version looks a bit better.


http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3/_Subspace_/2D%20Images/Portrait1a.jpg