[cassandrad]

hiyas new here. i have been trying to do more realistic work but can't seem to figure it out. i have looked at tutorials til i am blue in the face but have found none that tell/show how to do realistic work on Photoshop. any and all tips will be greatly appreciated. thanks

[skurai]

The best tips is to just study what makes something real. Grab a photoreference and spend some time studying it, repaiting it, etc.
Also you can never achieve perfect realism, that would be too boring so distort it a bit, exagurate, create.
_________________
Skurai / Ceresz / Nivec
(I have a lot of nics )

[cassandrad]

cool thanks for the tip, i'll try repainting.

[Tinusch]

One of the best assets is to understand light. Look at some quickies by Craig Mullins, for example, and see how he makes something look real with only a few broad patches of color or a few brushstrokes. That's because he understands how light works, so he can capture realism expertly. Your images really have no lighting to speak of. Choose your light source and think about how the surfaces would be lit, taking into account highlights, shadows, reflected light, and planes, and your images will start to pop.

[cassandrad]

thanks, i will have a look at his work. i struggle with lighting big time, and it shows. but i guess i need to stop avoiding it huh. if i wanna improve. thanks again.

[Sumaleth]

If you're looking to produce realism in your work you need to work from reference for a long while. Find a photograph of a face and copy it as closely as possible. Don't stop until it's identical. Do that several times. Then perhaps try copying a few paintings, to learn how the artist made the painting.

At some point you'll start to intuitively pick up what it is about reality that needs to be in a painting for it to look real. Certainly the use of light is most important as the others have said -- you get the light and shading correct and it'll look real regardless of the rest -- but color and brush usage also come into play.

Learn from those who have already sorted it out, don't try to figure everything out from absolute scratch.
_________________
Art Links Archive -- Artists and Tutorials

[cassandrad]

thanks! i am getting so much great information. u guys r cool

[Tundar]

the thing i noticed most in your paintings is that there's not a lot of contrast.

Once you decide on your light source, really try to bring in some contrast to the piece to differ the light areas from the dark. This will help a lot.

[cassandrad]

thanks for all of the help. looked at lighting and found ref pics to look at. changed my art style and repainted the first picture.

[Sumaleth]

You need to be really careful about tracing or painting over a photo, because it usually looks a bit too obvious. It'll probably be helpful for a couple of pictures, to give you a feel for shapes/proportions/values, but don't let yourself get reliant on it.
_________________
Art Links Archive -- Artists and Tutorials

[cassandrad]

at first i was upset at the assumption that i 'painted over' the ref pic. then i realized that it was a valid assumption because i don't know any of you and you don't know me. therefore you don't know that the image ended up being my final project in my Photoshop class (4 hours a night, 4 nights a week, for several weeks) with help and input from my instructor (with no less than 3 restarts). At 3000 pixels/inch on the schools computer, it was very slow going, especially with the smudging (instead of using a different type of blending tool). due to time constraints he gave me the go ahead to use patterns for the clothing and trace the outline making it a partial reproduction.
it's a good thing that i did that image in class because 23 other students saw it while i was working on it. i worked very hard on that image (got a B for the project).
for what it is worth i do appreciate the tips from everyone and wish you all well on your endeavors. i guess i just don't have a thick enough skin to be here tho. goodbye