[Kethorin]

'ello again, Folks.

Another elf portrait. This one was done prior to the Elven Queen. I really dig this one but know that as a beginner, I have a lot to learn.

Here she is Suggestions and comments are welcome!

[Jezebel]

You draw really great jewelery. I think that's something that stands out a lot in the two pieces of yours that I have seen.

I have a couple of crits though. 1 is that I think the flower is a bit too saturated... it distracts from her lovely face. And two is that the bottom of the hair seems almost pasted on, the ends don't really end in a wispy natural way... the edge is a bit too solid if that makes sense

Pretty lips and eyes ^_^

[Kethorin]

Hiya Jezebel

I took your advice on the flower and "desaturated" it a bit. It makes a big difference. I also did the same with the crown on the Elven Queen piece as well. I felt that the gems were stealing the show a bit too much.

As for the hair, well I was trying to create old fashioned "Rag curls." When they are formed, the ends are usually curled up into the curl itself, sort of hiding them. When the hair is twisted on the rags, the ends start at the top, the curl coming down and back up again to conceal the ends, forming a cylindrical curl of sorts. I toyed with bringing the ends out but I wasn't doing a very good job.

I will continue to experiment with the curls, however, just in case I come up with a better look

Thanks so much for the input. It is greatly appreciated.

[Collosimo]

I didn't see what it looked like before but I would say that it seems to be better. Certainly I would say that it looks like a delicate flower now.... probably because of your change of saturation..

You have a very similar style to Enayla. Very similar. I really like it, especially the flower, and the little flowers that hang from it. They are awesome.

I am not so sure about that black line beside the ear though, and the one around the other side of the face. Frankly they look weird. I can understand that you probably used them to highlight and define the shapes of the ear and cheek, but they just look distracting and fake.

Nice overall. I am surprised not many ppl have replied... I'm afraid that a lot of decent posts get ignored unfortunately.

[Hunter]

Hey-

Take your picture and turn it ccw (or just turn yer head) until the eyes or nose or mouth are level. What I'm getting at is that the features are not lining up. You have gone to a lot of trouble to beautifully render this portrait but the problems with it remain back in the beginning. I am especially simpathetic to this kind of problem cause I do it all the frickin' time!
Oh well . . . Hope that helps.

-Hunter

[Freddio]

nice work Enalya

i mean Kethorin

[Kethorin]

Thanks again, everyone for the comments. I am really blown over that my stuff would even be compared to Enayla's... It means a lot *smile*

Collosimo: I don't see the black lines that you are talking about... I see the black curls beside her ear but no lines? Perhaps I am looking in the wrong place... Help?

Hunter: I can't quite see how it is off but I will keep on checking it out 'til I do. I like to learn from my mistakes *grin* Thanks for the input.

Freddio: Using the internet medium, it is difficult to ascertain the emotion behind words and I am afraid I'm not sure if you are being nice or sarcastic. *grin* Either way, thanks for commenting.

I really don't want my art to be the same as Enayla's, I am searching for my own style and I just do what feels best for me.

Hannyways, thanks everyone for your input. I take it all seriously and into consideration.

-me

[Kethorin]

Apologies abound...

Well, I looked harder and yup, her face was off soooo... I tried to fix it. (I am still working on it but I have uploaded a semi-fixed version)

This version is also the one with the "desaturated" flower and although I am not sure which black lines were being referred to, I tried to soften the jawline and one of the ear areas as well.

I have to work out some of the retouch work now but... is this better?



Thanks again!!

[InsaneSpaghetti]

I like the very first BW sketch... I think you put too much shadow on the nose...

[Freddio]

Oh Sorry I do mean good work

[faustgfx]

so which part of it is similar to enayla's? not technical side at least.

i'm a fanboy of hers, no doubt, but this is from a neutral stand point of view.

her drawings have this finessed style, might i go as far as to say grace, but this is just cheesy. and technically nowhere near as good as enayla's work. keep practicing.

*goes back to boards he likes*

[ July 22, 2001: Message edited by: faustgfx ]

[McFly]

I think it's a completely different style than hers, but I think both are really good. Definately no cheese here (cheese indicating half-hearted try). There's definately quite an attempt at portraying beauty... the lines are near perfect (other than the slight facial deformities which we all make at times hehe).. the hair+flower is gorgeous.

One note tho - do you color both the hair and the face on the same layer? I notice quite a value burn where they meet that I don't think is intended.. have you tried using a seperate layer for the contrasting parts? it really helps to mesh them together and allows you to feather the areas which they share.

Thanks for the picture.

[faustgfx]

you know what bothers me about it? her hair, especially the part on top of her shoulders, it looks more like mass instead of strands of hair. blobby would be the word probably. it's like oil-covered spring rolls. *nods* also need more detail / more hair strands / etc. strive to fix this. the flower/what'sthatstuffhangingfromtheflower 's detailed entity clashes with the rest, especially the hair, too much. more detail! *whip crack* there can never be too much detail!