22 replies to this topic

[Aliya]

BEWARE: Giant SIZE! May crash you computer. Necessary so see the details. I'm quite proud 'cause I didn't use ANY of smudge tool or 'Dodge and Burn' tools.


I began painting it yesterday, and that's what I made so far. This is CR illustration.



Sketched and painted in PS7 (I don't like CS3 & CS4)

Feedback and criticism is welcome.

Layer 1 - Sketch
Layer 2 - Color
Layers 3 & 4 - Shadows and Dodges.

Edited by Aliya, 24 June 2009 - 06:33 AM.

[RedTyga]

Are you using a tablet?

Try experimenting with different brushes. A good default brush that can give you a lot of smoothness is the airbrush hard round 9 and 13.

[Aliya]

Yeah, a new one.

Hey, TY on this tip!

[WeeRLegion]

Ali... Sorry, I think I'll just have to be a little blunt here.
You make the pic obscenely big to show all the detail, but eh... While there sure is some detail in the hair and everywhere, don't you realize that miniature detail is not the point of a picture?

The point is to make a picture of an useable size; something that can at least mostly be viewed in one screen; when the forum automatically sizes down that pic of yours, all the value you've created with microscopic detail is lost.
That's how it should be too, after all, nobody watches a picture just to see how you've drawn every strand of hair on a characters head; detail has to serve the bigger picture, detail is not the point.

You shouldn't let focus on detail derail you from studying the general shapes and anatomies of people either, you've still a bit of work on that front too.


Sorry if that feels harsh. :|

Edited by WeeRLegion, 04 June 2009 - 02:50 PM.

[Aliya]

Aww... Don't worry Weer. I insist on criticism. Well, I think, that pic is more realistic than manga or anime style. Anyway, I've studied some anatomy, and I must confess, that drawing a male profile is the hardest thing I've ever done. Okay, let's sum this up: (This is some anatomy) That upper lip always higher, than lower lip. That, upper eyelid is higher than lower, too. Major chin problems, too. The distance between eyes and ear equals 'two eye'. If you have some ideas, please post.

[Orthodoxia]

Aliya, make the picture smaller. 5MB is just too big if you want to show work in progress.

[Aliya]

Dun and done.

[Silinde Ar-Feiniel]

Nice! Keep pics that size Ali! Well, about the pic, I admire the work you've done on golden thingys! Cool details! But I wouldn't say the same for the skin. As I can see you worked on very high zoom there and the result is to create a kind of texture that's not the best for human skin. Their faces seem like someone digged on them (or as if they're too old) as a result. I'd suggest you to work with bigger brushes for covering large areas. It's easier and better! Anyway, you can quick fix it with a little smudge (about 10-30% works well for me). I think WeeR is right about this, you should add details later and first work on less details. I've made the same mistake too on the past and as a result, it took me about 2-3 hours to draw a small area that I found later that it could be done in half a minute! And the real dissapointment for me was that the half minute work looked even better!

[WeeRLegion]

Aliya, you mention that you use dodges and burns. Do you use 'em for the skins parts?
It looks a lot liek you would; the skin is very uneven looking.
It is because dodges and burns always either add or decrease the brightness; getting one area to match another while using D/B is a pain in the ass and a waste of time. It is preferrable to use the airbrush and pick your colors by hand.

It may seem like a lot of work for starters, but once you get used to it you won't even notice it as anything but improved results.



*And sorry Silinde, I'll have to disagree; you shouldn't use the smudge tool for anything but the smallest details; you see, working with a hard edged airbrush, you'll automatically create a little something of a texture. Blur and smudge destroy that faint texture and turn it into a boring dull blob of color.
Any texture is better than no texture.

Edited by WeeRLegion, 05 June 2009 - 03:36 AM.

[Aliya]

*Silin - Yeah, I know. If you use smudge tool unwisely, you can spoil the picture completely. *Just look at my C-R-A-P-P-Y Tamoko picture*

*WeeR - You're misunderstand WeeR. I didn't use dodge or burn at all. Instead I grabbed a low opacity hard brush, and add some highlights to skin. The result: the skin turned creepy black-grey color. To fix it, I use higher opacity (50-60%) and soft (Flow 50%) black brush. If I work some more with this picture, I could fix it completely.

And I made these two:

Edited by Aliya, 05 June 2009 - 10:38 AM.

[Yuwakusha]

Well *I* for one think it is gorgeous. You did a great job deary!

Things that I loved:

-The hair. Seriously. I can't paint hair for shit and you nailed it right here! The sharpness and details are perfect.
-The emotion. This, well at least to me, is a very emotional picture between two people, and I think you captured the mood perfectly!
-The jewelry, cause well, I like shiny things!


Just some very minor nitpicks however:

-The skin looks great and all I think that needs to be done is just get that smudge or smoothing tool and even up the tone.
-The lips look a bit off on the both of them, the upper in particular as it should be smaller and in some cases, more defined than the lower lip.
-The girl's curve that designates the nose? (Sorry if I'm not making sense!) I think the line should either be softer and less curved or angular like the mans. (Just my personal opinion though!)

Otherwise, great piece I absolutely adored it! Paint more!

[Aliya]

Ah, at least one nice comment! Thanks, Yuwwie!

-Jewellery is kinda blurry, I'll sharpen it a bit later.
-How can fix lips?

[Yuwakusha]

You're most welcome darling! I really do like it, and you've got some great potential!

Okay, in my personal opinion the eyes and the lips are the eye catchers and are often the things that draw the most attention to a portrait, drawing, painting etc. so getting them right can make your whole pic pop. The lips are nicely done, the only thing to fix would be the upper lip. If you've noticed in photography and drawings, lips come in various shapes and sizes but the bottom lip is supposed to be plumper or the same size as the top of the lip. In your drawing the bottom lip is good sized but the upper lip "sticks out" more than it should. Try reducing the upper lip by still giving it a voluptuous curve but by reducing the size so that the bottom is bigger or the same size.

I'll dig through my portraits and find a example for ya!

[Yuwakusha]

Pardon the sketch with the eyes and noses and stuff. Once I started I couldn't stop. Hope this helped a little bit gorgeous! And keep it up!

And please pardon the bluriness in places. My scanner apparently had gone nuts.

Edited by Yuwakusha, 17 June 2009 - 12:50 AM.

[Aliya]

Heh, you should make a tutorial.

I really like that nose-eye-ear work. It really helped me, with on-going works. You see, of course, I can do manga, but as far as I noticed (for myself) I don't digest it.

Er... Can you do sketches, of lips, if you see them below-above?

[Yuwakusha]

Heh, you should make a tutorial.

I really like that nose-eye-ear work. It really helped me, with on-going works. You see, of course, I can do manga, but as far as I noticed (for myself) I don't digest it.

Er... Can you do sketches, of lips, if you see them below-above?

I'll see what I can do later on today then.

And I'm glad it helped you! Eyes and lips were always the hardest things for me when I started, but once I learned those were the things that I enjoyed drawing the most.

Funny you mention that. I used to draw manga and anime all the time when I was younger and I recall one day picking up a sketch and loathing it. Then I was browsing deviantART and saw all that wonderful realistic art and well...I've been drawing it ever since.

Do you mean from above and below angles?

[Aliya]

Do you mean from above and below angles?

Yep, that's the one.

[WeeRLegion]

Now, Yuwwies, I've run across something that begs a question...

http://alohomora.dev...ritney-30905482


Hm. A 25 year old american twilight fan makes claim to that very same britney spears drawing. Quite interesting to say the least.

And then there's the matter of your other portrait work that looks brilliant, yet you're having trouble fixing something totally simple as a turkey-shaped hair clump?

Please do explain yourself.

Edited by WeeRLegion, 15 June 2009 - 01:20 AM.

[Aliya]

*UPDATE*

Here's the almighty Lord Abazigal! I really like how he turned out!

Picture of Abazigal

(Link because, I need views!)

[Neferit]

Can't help it but the jaws of oh-so-mighty Abazigal remind me of some kind of whale, no idea why. To me he almost seems to be smiling - which is kinda weird when you think about the fact he's actually a blue dragon Bhaalspawn who has nothing better to do than to try to kill you All in all he looks more like a blue coloured Nessie to me than the-big-and-evil-Bhaalspawn.

By the way - note that most of the time I don't even try to draw, eight years spent on the same old gymnasium killed every artistic part of me I could have Obviously, it doesn't stop me from being a critic. You know that - "Those who have talent write. Those who don't have it, are writing critics."