Face study

[Raptor]

Hey everybody, I thought I would take a break from making dinosaurs. My girlfriend has been sick so I thought I would surprise her with a portrait. She hasn't see it yet, so if you have any good crits, its not too late for me to do some tweaking.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/Raptor550/Kelly.jpg
The background seems boring, any ideas?

[petite bete]

That's sweet of you and it's looking nice so far. I'm sure she's really going to appreciate this!

The way you've rendered the hair is lovely- it has a lot of volume to it. Also, you've managed to capture a nice facial expression. The non-local purple around the eyes really draws attention to them as well, which is nice. Proportions look good.

As for some crits, I would say study the neck a bit more closely, and maybe knock some deeper shadows on the neck to differentiate it better from the head. Also, it seems a bit flat (done from a photo?) so maybe work on incorporating some more purples, etc. to mould the form. Also, maybe add a brighter highlight on the nose to bring it out a bit?

As for the background, it's a nice colour, but it's along the same warm tones as her face.

It looks great, though. Like I said, I'm sure she's going to love it however you give it to her! :)

[bmumble]

It's really nice...

My suggestion for a background would be something to do with a garden ?
If she's unwell, maybe it would be nice to bring her flowers... in a portrait :)

I love her eyes... I think the only real crit i have of this is that her forehead seems a little flat...

[Raptor]

thank you bete for the kind words, your right about the picture being a bit flat. It was from a photo with not the greatest lighting. Im the doof on the left. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/Raptor550/KellyandI.jpg
I think some purples would do nicely to bring more viberance to the piece.I like your suggestion bmumble perhaps a leaf in the upper right and a white flower in the lower left would work, ill do some revisions and get back to you.

[petite bete]

Haha, that's an adorable picture. Seeing that, I can see that you actually managed to capture a really good likeness of her too, so good on you! But yeah, I'd just fix up the neck a bit and sharpen the rendering on the nose. :)

[Emily Tolson]

I think her forehead is a little short? maybe should be a bit more skin between her eyebrows and her hairline, if you see what I mean... otherwise really lovely

[StealthNachos]

I got some problems from the picture there. They're relatively unnoticable, and unless your girl is anal retentive they shouldn't be a problem, but I did a quick paint over anyway. I only corrected parts of the neck, and right above the lip and eyebrow. I also eaxtended the back and front of the neck, and etched out the contour of where (at least, I believe) the ear should be.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b393/StealthNachos/Kellyredpen-1.jpg

You can PM if you have any questions, or just ask them here, but I probably wont get them.

Immediate Edit: I just realized I said nothing positive about a piece that actually is well done. I do like it, I just get carried away and things start to hit me like needles.

[Raptor]

So:
Bigger nose highlight
taller forehead
flowers/plant
neck work
add purple

These are really good critiques guys, thanks allot, and also for the complements. Mr Natcho, special thanks to you, I really respect someone who is willing to take the time for a paint over, im curious what type of brush did you use? Ill get a revision up in one or two days for you guys! hmm, come to think of it, her hair seems a bit flat still, ill add that too.

cheers!

[StealthNachos]

I used a large (18-22) normal round brush.

[thundercake]

Wow, your girlfriend looks a little bit like Liv Tyler!
With what you have now, I would try to define the masseter muscles a bit more. The photo washes it out a bit. The shape of the nose is a bit off as well, it doesn't quite look long enough in the painting.

You have a little dark spot directly under the jaw which I can see is in the photo as well...I'd get rid of that, as it looks out of place and doesn't really add anything.

Additionally, to put more emphasis on her face, I would simplify the hair a little. The tiny hair details draw the eye away from her (at least around the edges of the painting).

Overall it's fantastic :) The eyes in particular are very good.