Started on teh second painting. In this one Egan is taking a special “test” involving walking across the surface of a shallow pool. Half-way across he sees a vison of his own death…
The small, dirty, thumbnail:
My little brother as an entire chorus:
The sketch so-far:
Your input is welcome. =)
Help? How do I make Egan look like the same person in both images? I’ve seriously already spent at least four hours on his face -and it’s still not reading that way…
As in your first illustration, I think it will help you alot to have a reference image you can refer to, to help you keep your character consistent…time to snag another photo of your little brother! 
I took a quick look at the new image of your character, and it looks like you’ve aged the boy a bit and added some feminine qualities to his features. Take a look at his left cheek and you can see that you’ve increased the curvature inward where in a younger person that is still quite rounded. Also, you’ve raised the hairline a bit, I think. Also, the nose and eye area…as in your first image, you’re having a bit of a problem there…you’ve narrowed the nose this time and made the tip a bit narrower…again aging your character by doing so.
I hope you don’t mind, but I did a quick sketch of your character to show what I mean…sorta. It’s not quite at the angle and turn that you have in the new image, but I was trying to understand the differences in your first one as compared to the second and it helps if I sketch it out myself as well. Anyways, hope that gives you some ideas. 
tatiana: Wow, thank you. Yes, I will snag another shot of the bro -and make him do the appropriate expression this time. Unfortunately Egan’s face isn’t really the same (not to mention my little brother is a bit older than Egan is supposed to be), so there will still be a lot of guesswork. I’ll definitely have your post printed for reference when I take another shot at the face (hopefully sometime tomorrow). Thanks again.
Only got a little time to work on it tonight. Below is the new shot I took and the beginnings of yet another face remodling…
And here’s just the zoomed out version as it is currently, for context:
WOWWOWI love your workssssI like your conceptand very nice colourgood job ~~~Keep it up ~~~~~~:bounce: :bounce:
Hi Laura, this is Susanne/Penywise I finally got around to creating an account in here (but damn, all usernames have been picked already!). It’s really good to see some WIPs from you again 
I have a few suggestions for the boy’s face:
In the first picture, his nose looks like it’s rather pointy, and in general, small kids’ noses are shorter in proportion than adults’. So I’d shorten his nose and make it more pointy. That oughta make him look younger and cuter
Second, I think you’ve made his irises too small again. Compare the eyes with the picture of your brother; his irises are much larger.
And last, there’s something wrong with his mouth. It looks somewhat crooked, and I think his upper lip should be thinner toward the edge…
I hope some of that helps.
Keep up the great work!
Hey Laura,
As Susanne/Penywise recommended, take a look at adjusting the nose and mouth. I’d also suggest adjusting the chin and jawline a bit…you still have more of an angle along the jawline, I think, then what your original…and that also ages your boy.
As far as the mouth goes, two things… First, you’ve got a longer upper lip here than in the original (#3). Second, I think that the angle that you currently have the mouth doesn’t suit the angle that you’ve got the nose and eyes set. See in your photo how your brother has his left eyebrow higher than the right? (#2) And same for the eyes…where your illustration has the eyes at almost the same level and the left eyebrow lower than the right. It looks like maybe you’re extending the jaw out too far and at the same time pulling the chin in too much (#1). I totally know you’re not copying your brother’s photo exactly, but comparison helps.
I’ve attached another quick sketch highlighting the areas that I’m talking about. Sometimes it helps if you show what you mean…especially us visual folks. heh.
minminxu: Thanks, I’ll try 
Golgi!: Susanne! Welcome =) Roger on the nose, eyes and lips. I hope this is better…
tatiana: I had your paint-over up on the side while I was working on the face below. I thank you for all of your good points, and especially for the visual -I definitely “get it” ten times quicker when I can see. I think a lot of the challenge in this comes from combining both a small child’s face (which I am still very new at) and trying to get a frightened sort of tension in the features.
I know he still doesn’t quite look like the same person as the first image, but I do think it is time to move on to other parts of this image (I can always come back to this eh?). Do you think the version below is better? What emotion do you read from it?
Much better! I look forward to seeing the final illustration.
If you revisit the boy’s face for any little reason…just double check that he’s looking in the direction you want…
t
Yes, that’s definitely a lot better
What emotion do I read from it? Well, unpleasant surprise and a little bit of fear.
tatiana: That I will do, it may be that the spot he’s looking at (the face of the boy in the vision) will move some before it is all said and done anyway.
I worked on the pool and vision, mostly just smudging and smoothing the colors I’d already laid down. I know the “illusion” of water needs a lot more work.
Golgi!: Good, he is supposed to be shocked and afraid -after seeing his own “death” and all.
I worked on the background children’s faces and also messed with their sizes and positions relative to Egan’s. What do you all think?
For some reason this image is still really bugging me. I think the colors are part of it, but I’m not sure what I should change… And I know the pool and vision still need major help.
I think the background children are developing pretty well. The only one that sticks out to me is the boy on the far right, the one with the hat. Not sure why, but he seems a bit awkward.
I’m also curious as to why the children aren’t looking at Egan, the main character? Are they not supposed to be seeing him? Are they supposed to be looking at the viewer? Maybe if they were all looking at Egan, or reaching out to him or something like that, then they wouldn’t appear to be so separate…unless that’s the effect you are wanting.
t
Two small issues:
The girl on the far left looks like she’s about to fall. There isn’t a straight line between her head and the midpoint of her feet, so she looks out of balance.
The perspective on the blocks of stone on the pool is off. Unless of course you want the blocks to be crooked.
I’ve made a draw-over with some lines to show you what I mean. The red lines are the current ones; they don’t fit together as they should. The blue ones are how I would say it ought to be. Again, assuming you want the blocks to be straight and all…
Gord MacDonald: Good.
tatiana: A very good point. I guess I was thinking that they were all in their own private “trances” due to the ceremony…but maybe they should be looking at Egan (as his pool experience is shocking and not ordinary). Maybe they should all be a little more shocked and attentive. About the boy on the right: do you think it is because he is not looking remotely toward the pool? Or is it his stance or features?
Golgi!: Yeah, I see what you mean about the girl -I’ll fix that. Ditto on the perspective. At one time they probably did line up but the pool has gone through a good deal of warping since then. They should be straight.
Thanks for the continuing help guys =) Keep the crits coming!
