[stylus]

I have a lot to learn as an artist... I still have trouble interpreting crits because a lot of times, I get suggestions, but don't know how to follow through with them. But I thought it would be a great exercise to paint this sketch. It was a thought that just suddenly bugged me yesterday. I wanted to know what Fleming's commissioned Bond sketch would look like as a real person... flesh tone, facial structure, and all that. Everything I needed to practice on anyway.

I didn't paint over the sketch; I drew it as well. I wanted to practice my observational skills, experiment with both drawing and painting tools in Painter, and interpret the structure of a head. Hope this doesn't count as plagiarism. I treated the actual drawing as a still life.

Any feedback for an artist who wants to learn would be greatly appreciated! Unfortunately I didn't realize until too late how small it actually is, so this has been enlarged. Don't like the blurriness, but on the other hand, it lends a bit of an antique, art nouveau look to it...

Here's the original sketch (wish I knew the artist's name) and the painting side-by-side: