[neogramps]

Hey, long time lurker, first time poster. I usually do comic colouring, but recently started dabbling in painting - this is my 4th digital portrait (and my first colour piece). I've worked on it for quite a while, but i can't quite seem to get it right. Any advice? Drawovers welcome (and appreciated)

Thanks




Ref Used - http://kittenstock.deviantart.com or www.paulakaiser.net (warning, some adult content)[/img]

[raziso]

i'm not a professional or anything, but right away i noticed the face doesn't seem very round. it looks like a mask almost. what i would do is lose the dodge and burn, then make a palette of skin tones. then actually paint the colors in you see, rather than jsut saying light goes here, shadow goes there. say that looks kinda pink, that looks kinda yellow, that looks kinda blue. it doesn't matter if it doesn't look exactly perfect right away, but after working with it for a bit it, give it more shape, more feeling, etc.

although i could be wrong
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[neogramps]

yeah i had a palette of skintones, and i'm not the n00b dodge/burn painter, burn was used sparingly on low settings and only on small areas of the shirt, but thanks for the other colour advice, i'll try and put that into practice in the next pic.

[faeklone]

The problem I have with it, and that may fix it is the lack of a definate light source. Her face has no definate direction that the light is coming from. The cloth around her at times has a definate direction of source, but other folds of cloth lose that. My advice to you at this time is to work with a definate light source in mind with this picture, and then shade it that way.

Of the reference sites you put up, the best one to use on her main site is the one talking about light and dark, which I think are mostly in black and white. Some of the other photos in there use multiple light sources, which light the model really well, but don't really define the figure as well.

YOu don't need to go black dark, but the increased shadow caused by the definate light source (1) will help the picture to look more realistic.

[Fobulous]

sorry... quick question, what is that dot under her nose?
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[Capt. Fred]

I reckon in the begining, forget about a 'face', and draw a head. It's a irregular 3d volume and the features are an integral part of the 3dness of the head. Think mass and volume and 3-d and then 'sculpt' and 'build' a head, model it as if out of clay, with light and dark. If you're unsure of the structure of a skull then look at some skull ref. That will help to forget the eye eye nose and mouth of a face and see some structure in perspective.

And that's just one way to go. You could make it more stylised and less naturalistic, but at moment it's uncomfortably on the fence. Pretty good job though.