beginner portrait WIP, could do with some help

[Schoende]

Your chading color is really brown that's why it looks like that. For shadows you should mix your main color with red untill it fits in (so the skin mid tone you use) and for the highlights you mix the mid tone with very light blueish white. Adding other colors can work too but most artists work with a warm shadow color and a cold highlight color to get a better contrast and it just look better. Skin shading can be hard if you just start ;).

As for the teath I'd personnally would pick an other shadow color for them too... the yellow green brownish color you have now make her teath look dirty somehow :S :P. Maybe a little cold blueish color would make them look more fresh, and you should try to make them less shaded one by one the effect almost always is a turn off make them more solid example: http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=31&t=480880

Is it allowed to edit to show what I mean?

about the proportions they seem all right to me. She just seem to have a bit unatural position or something... but it really looks great for a first digital painting!!!

[NR43]

There are great tutorials on how to paint hair, skin, eyes, lips and nose by Linda Bergkvist.
You can find them here at cgtalk (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=226083)and at her own website.
I think they will really help you.

[Ney]

thanks for the help, she is starting to look a bit more human now!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v484/aneurin/LUCIE8.jpg

[NR43]

It occurs to me that your background remains completely neutral.
I think it might be a good idea to add one because it can have a big effect on your color usage for the main subject, with respect to the light source(s) position, strength and color.
Otherwise I think your subject will most likely not fit well into the background or you will have to spend a lot of time trying to fix that.

Once the background is in there it might also be a good idea to check your values.

[Ney]

well... I'm only just starting, and i don't really know much about that kind of stuff. what exactly do you mean by check the values? and how do you go about making something fit with a background? apart from making sure all the shadows go in the same direction.

[Schoende]

the eyes look a little bit too dark to me. Maybe you should really start adding a background, because what NR43 means by checking the values is checking the color values if they fit in the picture and with the background.

Best way is to fit a background is to check if the highlights are coming from the same light source, the shadows are casting in the same direction and on the objects, the highlight has a color that fits with the highlight colors you used on the face and hair.

It should also fit the scene you make, just doodle around and chose one of the doodles that fits best as backround (that is what I would do) and then work it out if you don't have a specific idea.

[Ney]

I was thinking of doing something basic like this, maybe with some animals or something in the empty space, what do you think?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v484/aneurin/LUCIE9.jpg

do you know where I could find a tutorial about drawing this kind of background? especially about getting a realistic looking grass texture.

[ramijames]

I think the thing that makes the girl's face look "off" is that the light hitting her face seems to be coming from every direction. I've taken the liberty to quickly dull some of the light from the side closest to us, especially on the nose and the forehead. I've also added a small reflection of light on the jawbone to bring it out. This creates a much more realistic effect.

As for the background itself, I'd take a look at how some of the masters painted open areas. If you're looking for a quick fix for grass, i'd recommend looking for some photoshop brushes.

Remember that the farther away from you the grass/mountains/houses/people/etc are, the more blue-tinted they become.

[ramijames]

I think the thing that makes the girl's face look "off" is that the light hitting her face seems to be coming from every direction. I've taken the liberty to quickly dull some of the light from the side closest to us, especially on the nose and the forehead. I've also added a small reflection of light on the jawbone to bring it out. This creates a much more realistic effect.

As for the background itself, I'd take a look at how some of the masters painted open areas. If you're looking for a quick fix for grass, i'd recommend looking for some photoshop brushes.

Remember that the farther away from you the grass/mountains/houses/people/etc are, the more blue-tinted they become.

http://www.uboodu.com/dump/b.jpg

[NR43]

Here are a few links to help you:

how the very talented Henning Ludvigsen paints (http://www.henningludvigsen.com/wordpress/?page_id=23)

(there are many other interesting tutorials on his site)

Rebecca Kimmel's Anatomy Review 003: SHADING TUTORIAL AND HUMAN SKULL EXERCISE (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=199&t=259291)

Some of the basics (like what values are) are explained in the above thread by Rebecca Kimmel. She has another post somewhere with a specific explanation of the difference between values and hues if I'm not mistaken but can't seem to find it right now. will edit this post if I find it.

Basically what I would do with the painting now is convert it to greyscale and add highlights and shadows where needed. For instance, the shirt she is wearing is not affected by light at all. the hari doesn't seem to be much influenced by it either.

There is a lot to know about all these things and (un)fortunately there is only one way to master them... dedicated practice!

have fun creating ;)

[Ney]

Thank you all for your help, I've learnt a hell of a lot from this.
this is the finished picture, there are still a lot of things I could improve, but i've spent far too much time on it, and i really want to start some new stuff now that I have a better idea of the right way to do things.
and besides that, her birthday was a few days ago, and she loved it! got some serious brownie points there, so thanks again for that.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v484/aneurin/LUCIE16.jpg

[NR43]

mission accomplished then :)

Just keep practising as much as you can (every day if possible) and you will keep impressing your friend ;)

I strongly recommend starting a sketchbook (traditional one) and a sketchbook thread...
There's a lot of progression visible in this one piece alone, so I think if you practice a lot you will lift your skills quite rapidly.

Well done!
Have fun!

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