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billcunningham
07-22-2005, 05:44 AM
Hi there!

I've been lurking around these boards for a while, trying to work up some artwork I felt was good enough to post.

However, the quality here is so consistently high that I'll never post anything if I don't post some fumbles first, so here they are, and I'd welcome any advice:

Working in Corel Painter, trying to paint a man's face from imagination (no source material)...

Here is a first attempt, which seemed lopsided to me:

http://photos21.flickr.com/27705004_5aafb03205.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/52992523@N00/27705006/in/photostream)

Then I thought I'd rework it as an older face with shorter hair, but gave up in despair at this point:

http://photos23.flickr.com/27705005_29bc8d1fbd.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/52992523@N00/27705006/in/photostream)

Finally, figuring my problem is the proportion and relationship of the features, I tried smearing out all the detail and pushing around large vague blocks of color to try to get things close to proportional. I'm closer to happy with the result:

http://photos21.flickr.com/27705006_77162f97c5.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/52992523@N00/27705006/in/photostream)

I may move forward with the blurred image, or I may go back to the first one and try to fix it...

What do you think? What is wrong with these faces?

Thanks!
mechaniac
07-22-2005, 08:22 AM
first things first:
nice progress, keep going!

your proportions arent that wrong.

its mainly the shading and all the details that are messing up these drawings a little.
best thing to do is to reduce the whole head to its basic shape and block out the form with light and shadow.

youre worriing about detail at an too early stage.

best regards,
christof
rokxal
07-22-2005, 03:14 PM
Work with value only first aka black/white and just light passes. Color value is the best way to define form and lighting so work on that first. It also helps to use photo references to learn facial contours. Just google a model, desaturate the image, shink it, and try to draw it large/blown up to get use to proportions and curves. Block in general colors first and stick with one brush size and a maximum zoom for each light pass. Decrease brush size for every subsequent pass. Just stick with one brush and a light stroking pressure with the pen.
billcunningham
07-24-2005, 10:35 AM
Thanks Christof and rokxal!

I tried to put your advice into practice on a new piece, which I posted in a thread titled "Murderer" (I'd link to it, but it hasn't shown up yet, as it's only my second thread and I'm still on "posting probation" I think. It should show up soon).

I started with a low rez canvas, blocked in simple color and shapes, and slowly built up detail over multiple passes, increasing resolution and decreasing brush size as I progressed.

Please take a look and let me know what you think. I think it's an improvement over these efforts, and I really appreciate the advice!
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07-24-2005, 10:35 AM
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