08-01-2020, 06:30 PM
Hey, here's a quick paintover of that mermaid. I focused on the texture for this one, although there's a lot more that could be changed.
The main problem i have with the texture is, firstly, that uniform godawful pattern you got going on on her stomach. It's way too contrasting and detailed and takes the attention away from the focal point, and it's completely out of place next to the nice water brushwork you got going on. I just kinda smudged it away, but i think you should (if you think this is a painting that you would want in your portfolio) try to imply it with some brushwork similar to what you've already got around the pic, rather than completely describing it with an artificial looking texture. Detail and texture should be used sparingly, and with a goal of guiding the eye toward your focus point.
Another thing with the texture is the value range. If you want her skin to be shiny (which i would guess it is), you need it to be dark enough so that the you can add the shiny specular highlights (i posed an example of a still life by Sargent because it's much better than the shitty job i did with painting over it, but you get the gist). Your skin was way too blown out to have space for a highlight.
You have the same blown-out problem going on in the sky. Even if the sky is the light source, having it uniformly completely white all around is not helping the composition. Rather, I would darken the values on the edges, and keep the lightest part around her head. That way you frame the silhouette (which is already stronger by darkening the skin) and reinforce her face as the focal point. I also added some subsurface scattering on her ears, since the light is behind them.
Another thing concerning the composition is the way you have your rocks set up. They could be framed differently to guide the eye toward the figure, and you could also have a few more plans in the background to add depth (again, shitty paintover but you get the idea).
I also think you need to do something with the balls to either have them be the primary focal point more clearly, or the secondary focal point more clearly. What i would do is focus on the head as the primary, and either darken, desaturate or lose edges on the balls to have them jump out a bit less and create some hierarchy.
![[Image: Vm9icmD.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/Vm9icmD.jpg)
![[Image: hrAWHye.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/hrAWHye.jpg)
Btw good work on the werewolf! The composition is much much better with the great big curved gestures of its back and the moon (which is completely white just like the sky here but you used it as a tool to frame the figure and it works so much better). The only thing i would think about changing is the branches that create the other curve around the moon. I think the curve is great as an echo but they're just a bit too uniform and seem kinda staged because of that, so i would add some more randomness to them. Other than that, real good job, keep it up!
Ps. Andrew Gibbons posted a paintover of the same painting while i was typing this out but i think i focus on a slightly different thing so im postin it anyway
Every other time i want to do a paintover i see Andrew's already done it :0
The main problem i have with the texture is, firstly, that uniform godawful pattern you got going on on her stomach. It's way too contrasting and detailed and takes the attention away from the focal point, and it's completely out of place next to the nice water brushwork you got going on. I just kinda smudged it away, but i think you should (if you think this is a painting that you would want in your portfolio) try to imply it with some brushwork similar to what you've already got around the pic, rather than completely describing it with an artificial looking texture. Detail and texture should be used sparingly, and with a goal of guiding the eye toward your focus point.
Another thing with the texture is the value range. If you want her skin to be shiny (which i would guess it is), you need it to be dark enough so that the you can add the shiny specular highlights (i posed an example of a still life by Sargent because it's much better than the shitty job i did with painting over it, but you get the gist). Your skin was way too blown out to have space for a highlight.
You have the same blown-out problem going on in the sky. Even if the sky is the light source, having it uniformly completely white all around is not helping the composition. Rather, I would darken the values on the edges, and keep the lightest part around her head. That way you frame the silhouette (which is already stronger by darkening the skin) and reinforce her face as the focal point. I also added some subsurface scattering on her ears, since the light is behind them.
Another thing concerning the composition is the way you have your rocks set up. They could be framed differently to guide the eye toward the figure, and you could also have a few more plans in the background to add depth (again, shitty paintover but you get the idea).
I also think you need to do something with the balls to either have them be the primary focal point more clearly, or the secondary focal point more clearly. What i would do is focus on the head as the primary, and either darken, desaturate or lose edges on the balls to have them jump out a bit less and create some hierarchy.
Btw good work on the werewolf! The composition is much much better with the great big curved gestures of its back and the moon (which is completely white just like the sky here but you used it as a tool to frame the figure and it works so much better). The only thing i would think about changing is the branches that create the other curve around the moon. I think the curve is great as an echo but they're just a bit too uniform and seem kinda staged because of that, so i would add some more randomness to them. Other than that, real good job, keep it up!
Ps. Andrew Gibbons posted a paintover of the same painting while i was typing this out but i think i focus on a slightly different thing so im postin it anyway
Every other time i want to do a paintover i see Andrew's already done it :0
Drain gang