[manofsuede]

whewwww!!!! I just finished this thing a few minutes ago. and i'm tired, it took me about five hours, i think. This is the first time I've really tried to paint something good in photoshop, usually i have no patience.

this was done from an old sketch i did when i was sixteen, obviously i used a ref pic. but when i painted it i didn't look at anything.... wanted to test myself i guess.



I was gonna post this in gallery/finished work, but you never know, somebody who has slept lately might find something that needs fixing.

[gArGOyLe^]

very nice. my suggestion would be to fix her eyes

make the eyes look a little wetter by adding a light reflection.. shade some more by making them darker in the right places. The tear ducts are missing and the shape can be a little more eye like.

You did a very good job on coloring her hair. but maybe its just me but her head looks a little flat.

wait for the other peoples replies too. I'm sure they have some tips too

[manofsuede]

okay, i just spent too much time refining minute things, and i do mean minute. The changes are subtle but hopefully they make the difference. Better? you be the judge.

[lowlight]

hmmm,

Check the forehead area and eyes again. the hairline just seems to receed too quickly, IMO in relation to the angle her head is at and for the size of her head. Do you still have that ref. photo/picture, if so could you post that too (it would help me out alot)? Also, are you trying to go for a "painterly" sort of look, or more "Realism"? If you want to attempt more realism, while maintaining proportions, I would suggest blocking your color values in a bit more in relation to the light(s) (ambiant or not) present in your refference image. It almost seems as if you've "blurred" most of the robustness of her face out of the image in an attempt to smooth her contours; the colors seem a bit bland.

[manofsuede]

thanks for the suggs lowlight, and yeah here is the ref picture. the only thing is i actually drew this three years ago in pencil, only now to paint it. haha, and i didn't look at anything while painting. i just tried to do it from...yeah whatever. so i can see what you mean, my shadows aren't dark enough.



i was going for a really smooth look, like you said, i wasn't really trying to imitate it but i absolutely love that picture that dhabih himself did in which he used bridget hall as a ref, that picture is sooooo smooth looking. so that was probably in the back of my mind.

[lowlight]

Okay, NOW I've got a better idea of what your trying to do after seeing the ref image. As for the forehead, I can see where you might have struggled...even her real picture seems a little off . Again, I'm gonna stress the use of color blocking here. Since you originally did this from your pencil sketch, I'd suggest doing a full re-work from your ref.

Give it a shot...heck, try looking at the image upside down if you have to (it works, trust me). Your main focus is to look at the color, value, and light applied; forget your recreating a human face or you'll get frustrated on the small stuff (like I used to). I hate to end on a vague note, but I'm sure you understand what I mean. For an example of some good blocking techniques (and if you haven't seen this great tutorial already), try this site:
http://www.3dluvr.com/content/artz/digital/digital4.php

It deals with painter, but you can really apply his technique to any package/realworld medium. Good Luck