"The Teacher" (warning for topless female)

#1

This is an illustration for text. In the text, this painting hangs on the wall in a bedroom. The woman is a vampire and casts no shadow, though she will have cast and form shadows on herself. Since it’s a depiction of a painting, I’m working it all on one layer as if it were an oil painting. I’m using nothing but Photoshop’s brush tool and trying to keep painterly brush strokes. As of right now, I’m working mostly on the background, having a lot of fun with pillow details, and concentrating on colour balance and lighting. I’m going for a mostly overhead lighting, but may fudge a little on the face if the shadows get too unflattering. There will be something in her upraised hand later on.

[img]http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/041/1/0/01_by_wist_aria-d5uk28h.jpg[/img]
 
 Larger images to come once all the pillows are defined.
 Now, to bed!
#2

Larger image with finished pillows.

Any thoughts on lighting, composition, and colour would be welcome. I’m considering adding a blanket or patterned fabric beneath all the pillows that would partially cover the seat, but I’m not sure.

Going to start working on the figure now.

#3

You can better see what I was describing with the shadows now, especially the cast shadow from her torso, which does not show on the pillows.

The lowered leg might be done. Debating whether the thigh needs more definition or not. Arguing with the raised leg right now, specifically the knee, so for the moment, I’m going to move to the hands. Any anatomical tips would be appreciated.

#4

This has really turned into a fascinating study in anatomy and lighting. Completed arm on the right, worked some on the upper right thigh, defined shape of hip, began detailing hair.

#5

Hey

To me there is not enough volume on her left side of her chest. It’s the first thing I noticed seeing this painting of yours. Can you check that again, in case you can, with photo reference?

#6

Thank you. :slight_smile: I was wondering about that. It’s a common problem I have, left over from decades ago when I was first starting to draw people, so it doesn’t surprise me that it’s happened again. Heh. I have a friend coming over tomorrow who has a similar body type, so I think I can do one better than photo reference. :smiley:

#7

That’s good, because her chest is all wrong - the breast is a teardrop shape, not a globe, unless a bra is making it into that shape. This looks like a figure wearing a bra, but it’s not rendered.

Also, you’ve made a very common mistake people make drawing the breast from memory, and even from reference - both breasts do not sit on the ribcage and point forward, they side off to the sides, at an angle to each other - if you are looking at one breast head on, you will always see the other at a profile, unless the pose, costume or props are effecting it. Another way to look at it is if you draw a line from the spine to the nipple on both breasts, you will get the angle that they are in to each other. (This can change due to weight, age, and gravity. The breast should slope from the chest muscles/plane into the fullness of the breast itself, and the lower edge will be round, from gravity pulling the mass down, thus the teardrop shape. It’s a very hard shape to draw accurately sometimes, it’s very complex curves and volumes. Your character is raising her arms, which will lift the breasts as the chest muscles move with the arm movement, but you stlll won’t see a round mass on top.

I learned this (and a ton of other tips like this) in an Anatomy for Artists class I took in college. It’s a peeve of mine how many artists starting out now think that breasts are the round basketballs that manga and actresses all have now.

I would also refine her ribcage more.

Hope this helps!

#8

Thank you very much! It amuses me that a guy is giving me, a woman, tips on how to paint breasts. All the same, those are some really good notes that I will definitely keep in mind when I get to that area, especially the one about the line from the spine to the nipple. That’s one I’ve not heard before and sounds really useful.

I learned this (and a ton of other tips like this) in an Anatomy for Artists class I took in college. It’s a peeve of mine how many artists starting out now think that breasts are the round basketballs that manga and actresses all have now.

Oh my gosh! My one anatomy class sucked so bad, I seriously considered demanding a refund. But it was my senior year and more than a refund, I wanted to graduate, so…I’ve been teaching myself anatomy ever since. I’ve learned far more that way than I ever did in that class! There is a pretty high chance, though, that this character would have artificially enhanced breasts. I’ll start with making them natural and tweek as needed.

I would also refine her ribcage more.

Definitely! I won’t have a chance to work on it today, but tomorrow I’ll start on the torso so you guys won’t have to flinch any more. Tee hee.

#9

Hey

Learning anatomy is by LOOKING at your reference very closely. Proportions and positions of the forms are the most important thing by drawing from life. Remembering all those things when you draw from memory are even harder I experienced after countless anatomy drawings. I also makes those mistakes but teaching is learning twice(Bobby Chiu):wink:

#10

Didn’t get as much done as I wanted tonight, partly because I was distracted by music videos and partly because I really need a massage on the shoulder of my drawing arm…which was why I was watching videos instead of drawing. ^_^;

Did get a lot done on the torso and breasts, though. Haven’t touched the shoulder much at all. Worked in some rebounding lights and now I think I might need to refine the shadows on the shin of the raised leg. Wondering if the creases under the breasts should be darker, but…I kind of like them light. Also thinking the triceps of her right arm might need a little more thickness. Her palm seems wider than her upper arm and that bothers me. Or maybe the hand needs to be narrower.

#11

More work, mostly on the raised knee, cleavage, shoulders, and general colour correction. Not happy with the neck yet, but I think everything else (except the things I’ve obviously not touched yet) is done now.

All comments appreciated.

#12

Final post. Still open to critiques if you see anything that needs fixing.

#13

Hi,
I think that the hands are beautifully done, but pretty big, especially the right one.
You painted the color reflections of the hair and background on her skin, but you didn’t paint any reflection on her hair. Adding darker shades in a different color than yellow to the hair may be better for the sense of volume in the head. Also, I liked more the breast when the middle part was more difused, now is a little bit square shaped, but that’s only my opinion.
Hope this helps!

#14

Hey DorothyTRose

Now the anatomy of the head seems out of place. For example the vertical position of the eyes, and the rest, should be higher. Normal the vertical position of the eyes is in the middle of height of the head or do you want to go away from those basic proportions? In that case you should move the mouth more down because the eyes and underside of the nose are lower also what’s good already. I hope this helps. :slight_smile:

#15

Hi,

I like your use of colour, but there are 3 points that still bother me :

  • Something feels off with the neck, as if it didn’t fit with the current placement of her body. Might be a weird angle of the spine, or its very straight pose that works against the overal curve, I’m not sure. If you can, try to have a friend hold that pose and check it.
  • Her right shoulder is held very high, as if her elbow was resting on a solid surface that pushed it upwards - something one wouldn’t expect from a soft cushion. The easiest fix, I think, would be to lower the entire arm+shoulder.
  • Her belly feels hollow, to the point of looking unhealthy. In her current pose, I’d rather expect the weight of organs pushing against the abdominal belt to give it a beautiful curve.
#16

Yes, the others mentioed most of it, but you also forgot to add cast shadow on the pillow shes sitting at, theres cast shadow on her leg but it dissappears on the pillow. Also make the pillow feel softer, she’s gotta sink into it a bit. Not really sure about the “panties” i think you need some cast shadow from it too. And it being bound aroud the hip, it has to sink into the flesh a little bit. Cast shadow from her left arm (our right) on her foot? and the pillow and the block thing shes sitting on as well.

About the hair, it feels like it’s made of soft material, har should be shiny, especially with that kind of lighting add some dark values and get a reference on blonde hair.

One last thing, would those pillows below her right(our left) elbow really support her weight like that? If I try to sit like that I fall off to the side abit, but I’m not entirely sure about this.

Well, just my 2 cents. Otherwise I really liked the lighting and the eyes ^^ Anatomy could be worked on, but it’s not bad! The hands are well done as well, maybe a bit big but yeah.

#17

Are you using references for this? There are some anatomy issues that would be helped by having proper references (and I don’t mean piecing together various photos to form an Frankenstein). Shoot some references of yourself or friend/family with this exact lighting (preferably with similar setup of props too) and you’ll have a much more solid base to work from.

Her breasts seem a bit high, due to the fact that the perspective of her upper torso being incorrect. According to the overall torso, her upper torso should be leaning forward some, but how you’ve placed her collarbones, it’s as if her torso suddenly bent back once past the starting of her rib cage.

Her lower torso also seems a bit skewed, as if the right side (her right) is a little short (even considering she’s got that leg up).

Her face’s structure looks off too (her right facial contour), as if the area below her right cheek has caved in, including the jawline.

Her hands are too big–especially her left hand. Usually a hand fully extended would be the length from the chin to the middle of forehead. This kind of standard proportion is really important to memorize, because they allow you to be able to draw figures correctly even without references.

Her right deltoid needs to be rotated to the left (our left). Her left deltoid looks a bit suspect too. You should check anatomy resources on how the deltoid really connects to the bicep at those angles of arm rotation.

BTW, in case you weren’t aware, the girl in your avatar–her neck is broken. This is a common mistake I see artists make, including professional artists who are quite well-known. For some reason, people tend to rotate the head way too much when depicting someone looking back. You pretty much can’t rotate a head past 90 degrees in the Y axis, or the neck will break. That girl’s neck’s pushed just beyond the breaking point by about ten degrees. Her neck’s also a bit too long.

Probably more information than you needed/wanted, but I thought you might want to know, and alleviate her neck pains. :slight_smile:

#18

Alright! I had to take notes, but I think I’ve addressed everything. Breaking out Photoshop’s other tools and adding more layers to make corrections. Now I’m really glad I didn’t go the traditional route!

Alecrim:
*Large hands–Fixed
*Hair reflection–Originally, I was going for an effect in which her hair seemed to glow, almost as if it were luminescent. If I give it real shadows like natural blonde hair will have, it will ruin that effect. However, I did push both the shadows and highlights and I agree, it gives it more depth.
*Diffusing cleavage, breast shape–Oh gosh! Not the square breasts! >_< Hopefully that is fixed!

Patsa53:
*Facial proportions–Thank you for the detailed explanation. I actually had several photo references for the face, but I’ve tweaked it according to your suggestions. Hopefully, it’s enough.

TheArtySquid:
*Angle of neck–I’m really not seeing this one. Does it still look off after all the other corrections?
*Lower right arm and shoulder–I noticed the hair created an illusion of a sharper curve than there actually was. Following your suggestion got rid of it, I think.
*Fill out belly–Check

Atlanca:
*Cast shadows–I know about the missing drop shadows. That’s intentional. It’s one of the rules of the universe in which the girl lives.
*Cast shadow on leg–I was originally thinking her arm would go behind her foot, but upon studying it further, I’ve added a drop-shadow to the toes.
*Pillow “seat”–This one I intended to be kind of flat like the green one beneath it. With that in mind, does it still need work? I have sunk her raised leg a little, but without cast shadows, it might not be immediately obvious. Dipped the corner beneath her thigh to indicate pressure there as well.
*Panties issue–Tweeked it a little.
*Dark value in hair–Done. See responce to Alecrim for further notes
*Support pillows–That has bothered me from the beginning and I’m not sure what to do about it other than some major overhaul and I’m not willing to do that at this point.

Lunatique:
Oh geez! You don’t hold back at all, do you? lol.
*Use of reference–Well…yes and no. I made much use of an anatomy book and several photos, as well as a life sketch. So, probably not what you’d consider proper reference.
*Lower breasts/tilt torso/short on one side–I think these are all interconnected. The effect may come from the fact that the crease in the side of her torse that she should have from such a sharp curve seemed unsightly to me. Now, I think, maybe it’s not so bad. See if this helps.
*Right side of face–Not entirely sure what you’re talking about here, but maybe it looks better after fixing Patsa’s suggestion.
*Right (and left?) deltoid–Oops! That was an accident. I know better than that!
*Girl in the avatar–Hey now! :stuck_out_tongue: Okay, fine. I’ll see what I can do about that, too. It’s all traditional, though, so I’ll have to make digital edits. FYI, ten-year-old coffee and tea smells really bad after it’s brewed. >_<

Thank so much, everyone! <3

Here’s a new update:

#19

Derp! I totally forgot to raise her cheekbone with the rest of her facial features. Updated portrait:

#20

Hey DorothyTRose

Her mouth still need to be lower or closer to the chin in vertical position. If not it’s anatomical not possible. :slight_smile: