[Enayla]

This is Leylodheun. It might seem very feminine to you, and truth to be told - that's partly the point. Leylodheun is part fae, part elf, and all helpless... he (and yes, you will have a better explanation of that!) was found as an infant by a people who had no understanding of his kind. They thought him a sign from the gods, and later - they even thought him a god! Unfortunately for Leylodheun, they mistook him for their very female god Leylaneh (she does not actually exist, but they think she does) and thus named him after her and treated him like... well... a girl. Only a few people, the one closest to him, knew that he was no female... and only his own teacher knew that he was nothing even remotely god-like. A half fae. With wings too small to fly with. Pretty like a doll, though, don't you think?

I know I should step beyond just drawing portraits. But these stories just pop into my head all the time =/ Leylodheun is one of the favourite characters I've come up with this week... I'd /love/ to see someone else draw him =D

[Axl]

I like the way you've kept the shape of the face masculine and given him very feminine attributes so that he doesn't look completely female. Great detail and your trademark hair again.
The area around the left eye and the nose looks flatish to me, it looks like it's all on the same level if that makes sense.

[YAZ]

Hey Enayla, I feel the same way about portraits. But I find that painting a portrait of a character is the best way to capture the personality of a character so, the hell with what ppl think. Do more portraits!

I would like to give it a shot and paint Leylodheun but I am afraid that he will look too dark and scary. I am hopeless, I can make Mickey Mouse look like the devil incarnate...(hmmm, good idea...reveal the true nature of that evil rodent!)

You remind me of Anne Rice (my fav author), because the men you paint are very feminine. But that's cool, because most of the time, we paint these macho guys so seeing your art is a breath of fresh air. Always looking forward to seeing more of your work.

[Lunatique]

Linda, how about doing SCENES with your characters in them. That way, you get away from doing portraits, and you can compose scenes as well to further tell your stories.

[Ax0]

My god those pupils are just so real!!! I just can't figure out how to make eyes so real looking.

Great work Enayla. Your imagination goes far
beyond mine.

Looking forward to your next pic.

[-Tepox-]

Good work Enayla! I think you success to get male look to your character. Those butterfly wings are just superb! [crit] There are two little things what i noticed: His left eye's lashes doesn't look right. Maybe they're too straight or something. Secondly that violet ambient light bothers me for some reason... Maybe It doesn't support the face structure.

--Damn! my english really sucks... I can't express myself how I want to. I just can write commonplaces...

[ April 24, 2001: Message edited by: -Tepox- ]

[Justin Kramer]

Nice work--good story too. You're really getting good at rendering almost-androgynous men Only thing that catches my eye is the purpleish shade on the edge of his face: it seems...off.

[Blitz]

Now if that isnt one of the coolest things Ive seen..DAMN.

That, is pretty damn smooth looking. The wings are awsome, somewhat like a butterfly. If you like fairies and such you should check out the work of Brian Froud.

Now for a crit...gulp...uhh..there is something about the ear, it doesn't seem finished to me. Looks like it was ruffed in somewhat. I am probably wrong, please dont hurt me for the crit...*curles into ball*

So do the rest of the people ever find out he is a he and not a she?

Talk to ya later my friend.

Blitz....King to Kings and Queen to Queens, wait that aint right.

[Gecko]

The wings I like because they really have that structure on butterflies, and the translucency is nice. I agree with doing other things than portraits, too. Can only help you.

The purple shadow on the face is not following the form, but is equal everywhere on the side, flattening the face (I like this face better than the previous ones). Also the composition, while I don't know much about it, seems really nice.

Oh yeah and brake out from those colors :)

[Poxin]

I know you get enough of this but I thought i'd give it a shot.

Your like an eye pleasing, picture producing, orginality flowing, super machine!

It's nice to know that I can come here every other odd day and find somthin new from you. Very inspiring work I must say.

You ever consider doing somthing more abstract? That would be a real treat

[DiXter]

Hi Enayla, that pic was great, as always..

But you forgot to tell about Leylodheun's evil twin brother
Evil-Leif!
The first years of Leif's life he was as goodhearted and helpless as his 2 minutes older brother, but Leylodheun's success and famousness made Leif mad of envy. To deal with the loneliness, Leif created imaginary friends. His best friend "Arnie" was in reallity the club he was holding.

After an incident involving a helpless cow and Leifs friend "Arnie" he got the nickname Evil-Leif.



Well I seem to have the same problem as you, YAZ. Everything i draw turns evil..
So i thought, why not give it a try anyway.

I hope this pic doesn't offend you or anything, Enayla. If it does i will take it away..

[sacrelicious]

E- Beautiful as always. I especially love the eyes and the wings. Do you ever write down your stories? How much do you flesh them out? I bet you've got a pretty interesting universe floating around in your head that others might want to dive into.

P.S. Have you ever done a full-blown tutorial? Your work is so smooth but retains incredible detail and sharpness. I for one would like to know how you get from your rough sketches to this final state.

[Enayla]

Nova: My sketches are extremely simple. Really just basic outlines... Most of my sketching, I do in colours.

Gecko: Thank you =) I will remove the purple shadow first thing when I get to my work computer.

Poxin: *beams* That's nice to hear! And no... abstract art isn't really my thing =)

DiXter: *laughing so hard* Thank you =D That made my day!

sacrelicious: =) Thanks! And yeah... I write some of the stories down. Some, I don't - these are all either characters from my IRL roleplaying game campaign, or from my online campaign... or both =) I have SO much stuff about the world all of these come from...

And no, I haven't really - not beyond the one you'll find on the Wacom site (and that one's pretty old now)... I might, I'll see what I can do about it =)

[Enayla]

Realised that I might as well put up a link to a very short thing I typed down about this particular character. It's a little scene that inspired the picture:

Hastily typed down!

[Socar MYLES]

Shame on me--I haven't read everyone else's replies to this, so I'll probably repeat what other people said. Anyway. What I have to say is: Don't be SORRY for drawing lots of PORTRAITS! You're good at it. And you do branch out sometimes, like with those birds & critters.... But I have always respected you because you do what makes you happy, not what other people expect of you. Of course, push yourself, try new things, but if drawing portraits makes you happy, don't ever stop.

Anyway, I don't want you to stop. This is right pretty, and I like it. Dammit.

I have been useless with my critiques lately, so I will give you some today. The dark line of purplish shadow on the left side of the face (our left, not his) is pretty, but it doesn't make sense...doesn't belong. You should add some purple shadows--deep, rich ones--to the ear & underchin. To echo the purple of the eyes. And maybe add some more definition to the ribbons that hang on his face...and a shadow for the chain.

Apart from that, I'm stunned, and blown away, and I like his nose.

[Freddio]

looks nice Enayla

Maby just sharpen up the facial features...

the hair is very well done.

keep em comming..

[kaylon]

Enayla....hopeless is not the word I would use...inspiring maybe..but not hopeless..

[Enayla]

Axl: Thanks =) (for both crits and the rest) ... I don't have the original here with me so I'll have to wait till Thursday to update the picture... but I'll see what I can do.

YAZ: Heheh, he'd look cool evil though ;) And thank you - I love drawing portraits, and I'm not changing the way I draw male faces. I see enough buff male pictures around anyway =)

Lunatique: *chuckles* You're right. I'd have to have an insane resolution on a picture like that though. I need a close up that is of this quality for each character - to show the features, the expression... a scene depicting the character at a distance just won't show what I want it to show. I'll give it a shot soon though =)

Ax0: Thank you =)

-Tepox-= *beams* Thanks! *takes notes (fix lashes, lose purple light)*... I'll look into it on Thursday =D

Justin Kramer : Heheh, since everyone is commenting on it, I'll lose the purple shadow =) Thanks!

Blitz: I already told you why the ear looks odd, but I might as well say it here, too =) I had about twenty minutes before I had to run, so I kinda... err... finished it a bit hastily and hoped no one would notice ;D

kaylon: =D Thank you!

[nova]

Nice work!

Say.. do you sketch before you color? And if you do, in pencil or straight with a tablet?

-- Nova

[kaylon]

Sorry to Bump this hehe...

But may I ask what size and Rez you usually work in ?....

Kay.

[Enayla]

Socar MYLES: Thanks! (for both compliments and crits) I'll be sure to try to fix stuff when I am back at the computer where I worked on the picture =)

Freddio: Thank you =) And I will!

kaylon: Well... depends on the picture actually =) Always 300dpi though, and most likely somewhere in between 2500-4500 pixels high or wide =)

[faustgfx]

=(

[frostfyre]

Fabulous picture! Not sure if its considered "portraiture" or "illustration" if the subject is fantasy, but whatever it is, its lovely

With regards to backgrounds, insane res, and all that: I think you can get quite a range of emotion into a character simply from their silhoutted pose, with minimal detail in the face. However, as you excel at faces, I don't see that you'd need to break away from them! Another thought, though, rather than a full "scene" as Lunatique suggests, what about going to a "full figure" format? You still get to do all the nifty face stuff, with a minimal backdrop, to kinda get you started.

In any case, keep these beautiful pictures coming!

frostfyre

[PlantMan]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Socar MYLES:
Don't be SORRY for drawing lots of PORTRAITS! You're good at it.

---

heheh, I don't understand... You yourself apologise for the same thing in your recent post...

is this hypocritical self-deprecation?