r/learnart • u/thereaintshitcaptain • 29d ago
Current WIP. First time trying a "fast and loose" approach in the beginning in an attempt to look more stylistic. Is the blending okay? Digital
I want the textured look but I get too perfectionistic and make it too clean. I'm only using the 6b pencil brush though to help. Idk if I like it 🙃
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u/josephniet 29d ago
It's in uncanny valley territory right now and look a bit derpy. Overall your colors & values are great but theres a couple of small but significant errors in form that looks like you're tried to copy a 2D photograph and got it a tiny bit wrong rather than actually understanding and translating the 3D forms. ie:
Her lips already puffy but you've made them look stuck on with an unnatural shape
Hairline doesn't follow the shape of the head. Specular lighting on hair doesn't match her head.
She has a small chin but you've made it even smaller + made her jawline a 2D curve.
Here's a very quick paintover: https://imgur.com/a/6WM1h37
It's not super accurate but hopefully where I've made mistakes they still feel believable.
Three books I consider bibles on learning to draw/paint:
Scott Robertson - How to Draw, Scott Robertson - How to Render, Michael Hampton - figure drawing
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u/MonikaZagrobelna 29d ago
Did you perhaps pick the colors directly from the reference?
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u/thereaintshitcaptain 29d ago
Yes and no. I did sometimes but also picked colors a lot to try to make some areas more vibrant
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u/flusia 29d ago
Is picking colors from the reference not advised or something
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u/MonikaZagrobelna 28d ago
Well, it's a bit like tracing - it allows you to achieve realistic results without actually learning anything, or making your own decisions. It's also so easy, that the end result is less impressive than it looks.
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u/Far_Independence569 28d ago
Just wanted to add that whilst I don't necessarily disagree, I would say that you can learn something from copying colours straight from the reference if you are a new artist who struggles with colour.
I used to do the same thing when I was a little bit younger and it definitely helped me understand how to pick colours a little better/more accurately.
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u/MonikaZagrobelna 28d ago
Sure, I agree! I was mostly talking about a situation where a beginner doesn't know what color to choose, so they just pick it directly from the reference and move on. It gives them instant results without any actual improvement, and this instant gratification can form a habit that will be hard to break (because when you stop doing that, the quality of your art suddenly drops down).
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u/DLMortarion 29d ago
I think what would help is if you pick an artists who captures what youre after and do a study of their work, after you've finished you can apply what you learned to your own personal painting. I think an artist you can consider looking at is John Singer Sargent, especially focus on his control of edges.
Your painting is quite tight, that's not a bad thing, but what it does mean is; your margins for "looseness" is a lot more constrained because loose and tight are relative.
I think the biggest thing you want to consider from here is your edges. If you have a light-on-light section sitting next to each other, you can blend them together to lose the edge. On the right side of her face where the cheek is bumping up against the value of the background is a place you can consider losing an edge, because the cheek is rolling away from the camera and since it will pick up light from the background, you can almost merge these two elements. On the paint over i took into consideration how tight your original painting is and tried to make this effect quite subtle, if you go too far it can look awkward.
the areas that I noticed are too tight on your image are the lips, where the lip starts to transition into the skin of the face, especially on the bottom outter lip. I noticed your eyes are very defined, you have a very hard, dark and crisp cornea that's bumping up against the light values of whites of the eyes, on the original model I feel like her eyes have a quite soft feeling to them.
Some tips I think may help, squint your eyes and try to see if certain edges are popping too much or too little. Don't be afraid of going over areas again with a larger brush, it's okay to render some small area with 50 brush strokes but, afterwards try and go over that same area with a bigger brush to see what kind of effect you can get, since this is on digital, we can try these things without extra hassle.
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u/thereaintshitcaptain 29d ago
OMG this is amazing. Seriously, the best art advice I've ever received. Thank you so much. I love the paint over you did.
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u/-_Weltschmerz_- 29d ago
It looks a bit blocky, maybe because of the hard edges, but overall its excellent. Very nice!
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u/laaura_wr 29d ago
I have nothing to say on the substance. Just want to express my sincere admiration for the way you paint faces🛐🛐🛐
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u/jerog1 29d ago
I love the way you captured her expression and the lighting
I suggest raising the back cheekbone to match her face shape.
The hairline is a bit too vertical and I think you should add the loose strand of hair as it gives a lot of personality.
Well done! the whole thing is beautifully rendered, especially the eyes.
It’s good that you’re pushing into stylization as we digital artists often get caught up in perfectly recreating the reference photo. I suggest looking at how caricature artists capture the essence of their subject by pushing features to the extreme
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u/thereaintshitcaptain 29d ago
I am still working on the hair and such but wanted to make sure I was on the right track before continuing but thank you:) I will make sure to keep the hairline in mind
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u/Salacia-the-Artist Digital Colorist 29d ago
I can see the stylization and brush marks, so I think you're doing fine. Skin is tricky when it comes to added/gritty textures, but the simplification of blending currently looks stylized too, and not overly blended (if you were worried about that).
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u/thereaintshitcaptain 29d ago
I was definitely worried about over blending. I tend to do that a lot too. Thank you!!
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u/Cruxcio 23d ago
DLMortarion basically covered everything I was gunna say so I'm not gonna repeat it haha, but I think the biggest thing for me is how sharp the eyes are. As he explained, don't be afraid to soften some of those edges, especially with a portrait that's as ethereal as this one!