[Jezebel]

Been sick since New Years. Damn I'm tired of being sick. Well, I finally got some energy to draw something so I decided to play around and experiment with some things. A self portrait seemed ok so here it is.

Oh and I was originally going to make myself an elf, which is what's up with the long ears





I really need rest now. I've only gotten a few hours of sleep all this week. Hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow feeling a bit better. *crosses her fingers*

[faustgfx]

love it.

*vanishes*

[SporQ]

great work so far. i really love that texture you got going on that fur wrap thingy. and the shadow below your lower lip is just perfect. i cant wait to see the finished piece.

[LoTekK]

oooh, it's lookin' real purty... one thing, though... you seem to be lacking contrast, though that may be what you're going for, so feel free to ignore me this is the case... also, isn't it generally a bad idea to start rendering details before the main stuff is blocked out (i know i used to do that, and it pissed me off to no end to get the eyes and lips just perfect, but then have to paint over them and totally redo them coz they didn't fit in with the rest of the face somehow...)
anyways, as it stands right now, it's gorgeous...

[kantide]

Beautiful. I love the eyes, very captivating.

[Jezebel]

Thanks everyone

lotekk - Yeah, actually I was going for something very minimal here.. very washed out with few shadows and details. The photo I was working from is just a plain photo with no flash, but I altered it up in photoshop to get the look I wanted before using it as a reference.

Hopefully I'll get around to finishing this. But for now I'm gonna eat. Haven't eaten much since I've been sick and now I'm STARVING.

[Lukiaz]

Far out.....way cool.....like wow man.

Very nice. Definite and stong yet soft & fantasylike. Dreamlike.
I like this alot(fluffy coat technique is damn stylish).

Speaking of hungry.....you look very tasty.

(your rapid improvement is baffling)

[lookitsfrank]

looks very promising. however, I think that the right (my right, your left in the pic.) is off perspective. I'm not sure, but if it is, it's very minor. here's what I'm talking about:

hope that helps if I'm right. If I'm not, ignore the babbling.

frank

[Derek]

A quick thought...
One of the most important elements of our faces is a triangle that is formed between our eyes, essentially the brow line, down to about the bridge of our nose. Think of it as a triangle standing on one point. It's so important for recognition, and also the ideals we individually have of what is pleasing, that artists sometimes tend to draw it larger than it is. This is what I think you have here. The eyes are pushed a bit wide. You have given this triangle plenty of space! Draw the features back together a bit... and think of this, often when we think of someone as having wider spaced eyes or a long nose or what have you, sometimes the difference from 'normal' is only a few milimeters. We're quite good at picking up on it. It is unfortunate that people who have incredibly exotic features and who do self-portraits (don't know what you look like... not sure about you personally) face uphill battles and crits at times.

Also, I would think of avoiding using black in this. The color you have can drop incredibly dark without going to black, and it will remain rich and appealing, give a sense of wanting to run ones fingers through the fabric. Also, will drop the contrast a bit, and allow the viewer to look more at the face and less at the area of high contrast. We want to see your face, so let us, yeah?

Can't wait to see the next iteration of this...

EDIT- one day I'll think of everything I want to say at once... also remember that photos will flatten out an image; they take a great figure or form full of depth and space and widen it, compress it, do all sorts of nasty things to it. And it will also... will I never shut up?... push the range of contrast. There's no camera or device in the world that can look into the realms of a dark area and see what our eyes are capable of seeing there. So definitely reel the contrast in a bit, and play with what's going on in the darks as you push the lights.

[ January 06, 2002: Message edited by: Derek Smith ]

[nova]

That's beautiful, Jez! You really got that semi-painterly/watercollory style down, and you control what's meant to be noticed and not noticed by varying the blurryness in areas.

What lookitsfrank said. The off-placement of some of the features is definitely noticible. I think you should highlight your right eye like you did the left.. it would add some life and make the eyes more prominent.

[Jezebel]

Thanks so much everyone!

I placed the finished image in the gallery. Tried to incorporate your crits into it.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions

[ January 07, 2002: Message edited by: Jezebel ]