Sepia Portrait

Oh Anna, I think she is lovely. IMO it can be hard to capture Asian beauty in a lifelike/realistic form. She looks very graceful and serene. Great job. :thumbsup


CC if you want it:
2 really small things - The details of her ear need a little work and the hairline on her right temple is a little thick (meaning at that angle we wouldnt see that much of it).

hehe thanks :) I love your lil avatar, so cute..

Thanks for the crit. Yeah I really can't paint ears, at first i was gonna paint the hair over her ear, but thought "nah i'll try it"

About the hair line, thats how it appeared in the reference shot i used. The lady is from "hero" can't remember her name. But i think what's happened is, in the reference her hair was up in a bun, so maybe i misjudged how the hair should fall, thinking it would act the same way? D'oh! lol.

You can see progress shots of this image here at this link:

http://community.imaginefx.com/forums/thread/36695.aspx

Sometimes it can be hard to give costructive crit, without seeing the reference photo, so please take whatever i say as suggestions to relook at something not as guidelines to change something.

I wanna see some more now lol .../bounces up and down :D

I hope you haven't found that kind of criticism here! You're quite talented and your crits and comments are very helpful so I hope that you've found TAC to be more welcoming. I think for the most part we aren't as pushy about things like that which are hard to prove. It is the artist's conscience that governs how truthful they are about their art besides there is no shame in paint overs and they can be excellent practice if you eventually go beyond them. :D I think that lack of respect for different art forms has caused so many communities to turn up their noses at various types of techniques, implying that they are less deserving in some way. It has caused people to feel not as welcome or less talented than those that do the "accepted: art forms. Which leads some people to hide what they do or even lie about it and that only hurts themselves. At the end of the day, each artist knows how their art was created and all the glory in the world doesn't count if you can't respect yourself. :)

All we nag people on are credits. ;)

That all said... She looks marvelous! Lovely job. The skin looks smooth. Nice work on the lips, nose and cheek bones. ( I struggle with getting cheekbone shading in the right place...but then I never know where exactly to put blush on either and my cheekbones are right there in the mirror :-( )

I would suggest blending those stray hairs across her forehead a little more. They look less smooth and more pixelated than the rest.

I would also suggest more shading on the right side of her face in order to better show the angle and distance away from the viewer. Not much needed but just a bit to give it more depth.

Hiya Mai,

I totally understand what you are saying when you go on about accepted genres, and methods of creating work. I personally think though if you do create an image and it has been a paintover you should say so... because its a form of deception, and makes you come across more talented.... I think any artist should say how an image was created, its just good mannors and that.....

I can post the photo reference if you would all like to see it. The shading wasn't as dark on the original picture so i tried to keep it as close as I could.... but i do think your suggestion makes sense.

The link you shared with the WIP had her shoulders and upper torso. Even unfinsihed it added alot to the composition of the piece. As it is here it looks like you have a floating head. Very nice work for a first attempt. :)

I totally agree,Lilliana. :) It is the attitude of photo manips, paint overs and sometimes even vectors as somehow being lesser that makes people not want to explain how they achieved their results and I think that is sad. Personally, I feel that you should be honest with yourself and others with how your art is created; it helps you learn and keeps your artwork coming from a positive place that you can be proud of.

Hmm, it might be one of those things that is hard to translate from the photo. I kept drawing and redrawing this one sketch where the mouth just kept looking weird. Finally in frustration I looked it over line for line,measuring the differences with the side of my pencil, and realized that it had been drawn as it was in the photo but it was looking larger than believable on paper. =/

I agree with Lunna, the in progress where you see more of the body was a nice addition to the piece. I think it was coming along nicely. :bunny2

I think i'll finish it when i feel more confident. This way i'll have two versions...people who like the head and full portrait :)

I think it is sad that people have to proove their work, the fear of not being believed, accepted, or to progress.

Well all I can say is its definately much better than I would have done freehand. I also think the attitude of the art community as a whole is really sad when it comes to one art form vs. another. For that matter at times even within the same art form you see so often one person putting down another just because they don't use the exact same methods to create a finished image. I''m gald we all get along so much better than that here and share our crayons :D

Yep, just watch out...Roz breaks them and Verileah bites them! :sad

Lilliana, have you thought of doing the 30 minute challenges that are up in The thing with the thing...or something like that forum?

Hiya Mai,

Yeah i did a challenge like that with mike, but it was an hair painting speed paint exercise. :)
Oh it really annoys me actually when you get people who say "this is the right way of doing it" They find it hard to grasp that people have their own methods.

Oh it really annoys me actually when you get people who say "this is the right way of doing it" They find it hard to grasp that people have their own methods.

Do you have something specific in mind when you say that?

yep, some people say its cheating using blenders, but its not.... some people blend tones together, others use layers of paint to blend.... everyone has their own different methods. :)

So true.
There is no "right way" to do art, anyone who says that is a fucking liar and should eat a dick and die .... What works for one person will not work for another .. why? .. because .. newsflash: We are all different! We dress different , we eat different foods, we like different music, we love one art thats different from the other etc etc ... So, whoever told ya that should STFU and die , they may be great when it comes to art but clearly lack common sense.

Anyways sorry got distracted. lol
Looks great. Specially when you do not do this often IMHO :D Main thing that really stands out is the hair and ears that have already been brought up , nothing super bad. I would suggest just doing some random ears at different angles to get a better feel for them, play around till you learn all the curves and feel comfy with them. I know you will pick them up in no time. You learn fast , or from what I have seen atleast hehe *hugs*

I agree finding your own way is key, however learning a method of doing things is often quite valuable.

I use a combo of smudgey blending and color layers on my freehand pieces. Knowing color layering is highly valuable. I used to really be annoyed when my instructors (for example) insisted on my doing things a certain way. But I have certainly come to appriciate letting go of that and learning something that, while not how I do things, is very valuable to my own personal methods.

lol well said hun :) and thanks