[lel]

Taking my new A5 (6x8) Intuos for a spin. Working fine, but I still miss the A4 (9x12 and not mine). Hopefully I'll get used to it.

Yet another practice, with a bit more effort put into it:



Photoref used

After making several pictures from photoref, I find it hard to ever make an image without it. Difficult to get it good when you don't know what to put into it... I think I'll stick to photorefs for a while, trying to get looser.

(any comments welcome)

[ January 01, 2002: Message edited by: lel ]

[ January 03, 2002: Message edited by: lel ]

[drgn]

first of all love the pic, theres something i love about it, maybe the fact that i can SEE flaws but i dont overly care, the blankness in the eyes contrasted with the pure emotion of the rest of the face (the eyes themselves not the structure around the eyes) urks me somewhat but then i look again and it doesnt annoy me so much. she also looks like shes leaning (top half) but the bottom half doesnt look like she is (to me anyway), all the same great work - i really like it

[Sukhoi]

Hi!
I think the problem with photo refs is tha yo ucan almost always see when a ref has been used....tht a bit of a shame IMHO.

Your pic is great, but it isn't really yours if you know what I mean. I'm not bashing your skills but imagine what you COULD do with these...you know?!

I'd really like to see you get it on with your own imagination utilizing all the litle tricks and rules you must have picked up during photoreff'ing. Just go for it!!!



Sukhoi

[snarf]

Cool stuff!

I agree with Sukhoi to some extent, but I disagree as well.

You can't progress unless you practice, and you can't be an immediate sensation without working on improving your skills. Using photo refs to accomplish this is totally cool. Given, the end result lacks some of the 'charm' that a completely original piece would have, it still shows a great deal of skill. This is one of the few I've seen that DOESN'T look as though you simply painted over the ref photo. You obviously added your own touches to this, and it shows.

Remember, Craig has said many times that he highly recommends the use of references as much as possible. Though, he meant it in reference to making certain parts of your piece as realistic as possible, and not simply copying something in an exact replica, it still proves valuable.

I think this is great, and I'm glad you shared it. My only critique would be to vary your values just a tad bit more in the mid tones. You shadows/mids/highlights are VERY pronounced, some subtlety would be very welcome. Great work!

[lel]

Those were really good, constructive crits!

drgn: I too enjoy a picture where you can see that everything isn't perfect, yet it works.

Sukhoi: I couldn't agree more, I currently see my photoref'ed pictures strictly as practicing (see shapes, value..) and nothing to frame on the wall.
I think I must look into anatomy much more to be able to pull off something like this without ref. Getting the lights and shadows right from imagination... brrrr.. back to cubes again...

snarf: I agree with you too. Very well put. And thanks for pointing out my 'very pronounced lights/mids/shades', it never occured to me. I'll try to think about it.

I include a step-by-step of my picture. The first save after a couple of minutes looks childish as usual, but from a distance you have a hard time telling them apart. Everything needed is basically there, more or less. It's just a matter of refining.

[lel]

Sorry to bump like this, but I lost my net just after I posted the last pic here (and only four people got to see it :-)
Well, now it's back and they should be visible.

[Little Beefucker]

Hey, I really like it. Liv Tyler is a gorgeous girl, and very recognisable, so photo or no, you're giving yourself a big challenge. As Liv, your pic doesn't exactly match, but personally the sketch is more endearing. Obviously, more work went into it than anything ever went into snapping off the ref.

(Nudge nudge, encourage.)