[merlyns]

this is my third serious attemp at realism some self crit the nose and the mouth aren�t lined very well.
-david

[nevanlinna]

A very big crit: Her head looks VEERY large....I mean this way <-------------->
also the space between her eyes is too long. Just keep on working on anatomy, and.....

otherwise, I think you have some talents...
just practise!!!

[jdillon]

Wow :) I have to say that your brushwork is -really- nice. A lot of people have trouble getting colors that clean and smooth in Painter, so great job on those nicely blended skin tones and soft hair (I think you did a good job of defining the form of the hair with those nice, silky strands). The actual placement of shadows, though, could be a little better. You've got their general location down right, but they don't define the form as well and clearly as they could. Everything seems very smoothed over with very few hard edges, making it seem like the terrain of the face is fairly flat. Where the planes of the face turn sharply at a roughly 90 degree angle, you'll have a harder edge; you'll only see the perfectly soft gradiations on smooth areas that turn very little. Work on areas like the bridge and tip of the nose, and try to make them stand out a little more. Of course, this might be from a photo where the light doesn't seem very well defined in that area, and that can be misleading, but for the most part try to use these exercises to really study the form of face, not just the superficial lines and shadows. :) What I've found to be helpful is to do page after page of really fast pencil sketches of my face with a mirror and a desklamp to change the light sources. Even if none of them are perfect, you can get a good sense of the actual shape and structure of the features of the face from different angles.

Yes, I'd have to agree that the features aren't aligned as well as they could be; I have found that that tends to happen when one side of the face is covered up. It seems like it would be easier this way, at first, since you only have to draw half of the face, but you tend to only take the portion of the face that you see into consideration, instead of the entire face as a three-dimensional whole. So, what I like to do is very roughly sketch out the whole face, make sure everything is lined up straight, flip the picture around a few times to make sure nothing is out of place, and then go in add overlapping details like hair, scarves, coats, hats, etc. It's a little bit more work, but it's better than just guessing the position of everything (well, until you get really good at it, I guess... ^.^;)

Other nitpicks: The lower lip seems too small; usually it's larger and fatter than the upper lip. I do like the overall shape and gesture of the lips, though. :) Good job on the glossies on the eyes, I like the realistic shine. Try to find a good reference picture for the neck, shoulders and collarbone region, because while you've got the general idea, the shadows and positions are a little off, and aren't as realistic as other portions of the picture. Ah, I almost forgot my usual gripe that I type up for at least every other person: try
working different colors into the shadows. Not all shadows are a darker shade of the base color, so try more reddish tones, blue tones, purple, green, etc, based on what color you'd like your light source to be (shadows are generally the complimentary color of their light source; yellow light produces purplish shadows, red light produces greenish shadows, etc).

Well, that's all I can think of. Aside from that, I think this turned out really nicely. :) I went and checked out your page, too; you're really improving! Keep up the good work, you've got a lot of potential! :) I look forward to seeing more work from you. :)

-Julie

[merlyns]

wow thanks for your replies.

nevanlinna: yes your right about the too large head thanks you for your time.

jdillon: okay, this is a oner for me cuz I learned digital art and drawing anime/manga from your tutorials I always wanted too thank you for making such good tutorials so a very much thank you for that, and I�m still a regular visitor of your site ^_^ well you have good points and I�ll take them too my next cg btw applying colers in shadows and high lights I find that very hard could you (or somebody els) give me some tips. It jus�t gives some cool effects it would be nice if I could do those colors in shadows and higlights.

p.s stop by my site often I�ll be updating with more art ^^

-david kulen-

[Vhy]

Yeah you are showing potential...

I thought I'd share a method that I think helps with understanding shadows. First I drew the girl from the point of view of where the main light might be:




On top of this sketch I added light only in the parts that are visible in the first drawing:



I guess I changed the shape of her face some.

Anyways, shadows don't need to be totally accurate but the shapes can tell alot about the subject. However there are cases where you can make things more clear by reducing a shadow.

How to change the color in shadows depends on your painting technique. I'm not sure how I'd do it in painter, but the idea is that color perception is relative, so shifting the hue of the shadow away from the color of the light will make the light seem more real.

[BlackPool]

You need to train yourself to see faces as forms and shapes rather then as faces. Also study the skull. Learn to draw it from every angel. ALWAYS consider the form that lays underneath. The muscles and skin are shaped by the skull and by extention, so is the way the hair lays.

[scylla]

looks pretty good...although anatomy does need work ...like everyone else has pointed out.
and collar bones are bending the wrong way

but i love the hair etc.

oh and i love that shading example given by vhy, looks mad...just as it is! haha


blah blah.

[ May 31, 2002: Message edited by: scylla ]

[merlyns]

he thanks agian for the replys

vhy:your tutorial was very helpful thanks.

blackpool:he I just boucht an atonamie book ^_^

scylla:thanks for your comment.
and I made a new cg this one is better but nowbody replyed on it hope you do now
here is the link:
the link of my new cg

-david

[ May 31, 2002: Message edited by: merlyns ]