WIP - Burlesque

[iadagraca]

looks like only part of the head(the face), i'm assuming your adding hair to fill the games right?

[Tao]

Yes, I am adding hair. I didn´t know how to draw the body and the face in one part.

[Tao]

I would be glad to read more comments, that help me to improve it :).

[seleneyue]

eyes are great.

The brows should be made up of small strokes, not one long thick one, lol.
The cheek on the viewer's right is a bit off. I'd make it a bit larger and nudge it a bit up to match the left cheek.

[Tao]

Thank you - I didn´t realize that the cheek is a bit off. Normally I always draw this small eyebrow strokes, I tried to imitate the painted eyebrows, that some burlesque dancers have and wanted to paint some hairs in them in the end. But it seems not to work.

[Tao]

a small update (without working on the eyebrows)

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/3128/18801417.jpg

[Goon]

Tao: you're doing a good job so far! But consider for your next painting starting with a background which isn't pure white. Not only is such an environment very rare, but it distorts your color choices and perceptions. For instance your highlights go to pure white, which is also quite rare.

[Tao]

Oh... you are right :hmm:. How can I fix this colour and highlight problem now?

[Tao]

Update - is it better now?

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/5233/39392269.jpg

[seleneyue]

eyes are still gorgeous. Cheeks are better. As for the highlights and colors, I think it's fine for now but first decide on a general mood/color key and adjust accordingly.

[nakatoni]

Looks very clean. I agree with some suggesting adding background - that way you will use background colors to blend the figure into it.
To me the skin lacks of complimentarty colors and thus it is a bit flat. Try to work with color wheel. Here I'd add cool dark green shadows and bright turquoise highlights, on new layers with low opacity.
Suggestion for eyes - adding shadow from top eyelid and eye lashes.
Normally if I was to paint a face with heavy make-up I'd still first get the skintones right, then apply make-up and all things making this look you are going for.
You're asking about resolution. Well, it all depends on what is comfortable for you and how big file your computer can handle. To me this size is way to small and for example for such portrait I'd choose something around 5000x8000px at 300 dpi, but I'm detail freak. There are no bad resolutions but general idea - the bigger the better, especially for printing purpose.
And I like the mole :)

[Tao]

Thank you both for your comments and help. I am painting with Paint Shop Pro (7AE, some functions seem not to work when the file is too big), there is no colour wheel. I want to paint a red curtain, black Pin-up hair, corset, feathers, lights and smoke in the background and more details (skin etc.).

What do you think about this (colour mood)? I am not sure, what colours I can take now for the shadows.

I am confused.

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/9691/99802302.jpg

or this?
or a more yellow skin tone?

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/3025/78441905.jpg

[nakatoni]

You can find color wheel online, anywhere, like here http://www.wordimagemedia.com/neg-space/Color/color_wheel.jpg
or here http://handsomeyoungthing.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/color-wheel.jpg

It still looks flat to me, it seems like you're afraid of strong contrast and colors. Layer by layer try to build tones of skin using really weird colors. Look into tutorial by Linda Bergkvist on painting skintones, maybe this will help you http://www.furiae.com/popup.php?text=skintutorial
As for the rest - I suggest first slapping some colors onto the background to see how they work together and then slowly looking for right shapes there. One color background will give you nothing, especially with such color. I'd try green, just for the start and I'm pretty sure I'd end up in some kind of violet/blue/yellow. It's not about matching perfectly everything from the very beginning like you did here: pink skin, dark pink background - it's about using as many colors as you like and then observing which colors don't work for your composition, mood, theme. Even from the very start you should try to set the lighting on the background layer, then you can follow it when painting your character.

[Tao]

Thanks for the improvement suggestions. I know this colour wheels, I thought it is a Photoshop function. The tutorial is great, know I understand what you mean.


It still looks flat to me, it seems like you're afraid of strong contrast and colors.
you are right :blush: and I work slow at the moment

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