[tttia]

Glad to find these forums. They seem to have a great level of talent, and good critiques!

I am a self taught hobbyist, looking to improve.

Here are a few recent works.

This one was simply an attempt at a realistic portrayal from stock reference. I used mainly soft brushes (tend to often...not always good).

Corel Photopaint


Portrait, again from stock, the hair on this really stumped me, especially on her right side, from our left....

Corel Photopaint
(reference)

An experiment with harder brushes in Painter 7. The grass was an afterthought, I should really redo it. Loosely based on this reference pic:
http://img108.exs.cx/img108/2053/hoodedref3fq.jpg


corel draw, painter and photopaint, reference only on the dolphin for the basic shape. Did the dolphin in draw, the base in painter then finished it out in photopaint.


Watercolor touched up in painter 7:


I particularly need tips on skin tones, texturing, hair, um....well just about everything, but those for sure.

[Heysoos]

I think the best way to improve, especially in terms of skin tone and the like is to do lots of studies from real life as opposed to stock photos. There really is no substitute for how much more you learn by working from life.
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http://www.angelfire.com/art2/wfkeil