Alright so long message incoming. I wanted to be transparent in my approach in order to get feedback and critique not only on what I'm attempting to paint, but also on my workflow. I hope you find this interesting.
1. Working in 100% vs 200%
So following the realization that I was losing a lot of details when I transitioned from 200% to 100%, I thought I should just paint at 100% but in the end I thought it was more difficult for some reason. Maybe it's a bad habit but I prefer to work at a higher resolution and scale down afterwards.
Still, I went straight to 100%. I put the astronaut as a the reference as a back layer to make sure my proportions will end up being right:
![[Image: iIRI4G0.png]](https://i.imgur.com/iIRI4G0.png)
2. Work process: outline
So the first thing I try to do is draw an outline for the face using the references I have and the paintovers. I usually draw half the face and then copy paste it and rotate it 180 degrees so that it ends up being symmetrical.
![[Image: IExDz6K.png]](https://i.imgur.com/IExDz6K.png)
I then paint the interior of the outline with the same color. I'll then merge the three layers and call that layer "face".
![[Image: cxCfGwq.png]](https://i.imgur.com/cxCfGwq.png)
3. Proportions:
Then, I'll look up the proportions for a female face:
![[Image: UuGYJh7.png]](https://i.imgur.com/UuGYJh7.png)
Source
Of course I need just my judgment here as my game doesn't have characters will realistic proportions. Also, the constrained proportions and small characters means I need to sacrifice some details.
My first attempt here at this new resolution is definitely not right for reasons I'll get in the next point:
![[Image: C0U7M8K.png]](https://i.imgur.com/C0U7M8K.png)
The main issue I can spot at a glance is that the head is too big and too large as well as being in a full front perspective as opposed to being 3/4 cavalier perspective.
On the bright side, I do like the hair a lot.
4. Attempt 7:
I decided to keep the hair as I thought it looked good and fix the rest. What I have in mind to fix the perspective is to move the hair line down so to speak.
The eyes looked pretty bad, glassy and expressionless.
This is my next take. Notice I tried to do the whole character that time.
* I used the same color as the hair for the clothes of the character.
* Changed the eyes. I think this is a step forward. I think I manage to convey almond shaped eyes here.
![[Image: fn51LJM.png]](https://i.imgur.com/fn51LJM.png)
5. Moving forward:
The way I see it, the face is likely still too big.
So that's it for now. Thanks for reading and any potential feedback.
Another attempt:
![[Image: MGU1vVj.png]](https://i.imgur.com/MGU1vVj.png)
(it looks worse but I want to keep all traces of my progress). and then another: ![[Image: CRPxqHl.png]](https://i.imgur.com/CRPxqHl.png)
And another take:
![[Image: ztdo1fx.png]](https://i.imgur.com/ztdo1fx.png)
1. Working in 100% vs 200%
So following the realization that I was losing a lot of details when I transitioned from 200% to 100%, I thought I should just paint at 100% but in the end I thought it was more difficult for some reason. Maybe it's a bad habit but I prefer to work at a higher resolution and scale down afterwards.
Still, I went straight to 100%. I put the astronaut as a the reference as a back layer to make sure my proportions will end up being right:
2. Work process: outline
So the first thing I try to do is draw an outline for the face using the references I have and the paintovers. I usually draw half the face and then copy paste it and rotate it 180 degrees so that it ends up being symmetrical.
I then paint the interior of the outline with the same color. I'll then merge the three layers and call that layer "face".
3. Proportions:
Then, I'll look up the proportions for a female face:
Source
Of course I need just my judgment here as my game doesn't have characters will realistic proportions. Also, the constrained proportions and small characters means I need to sacrifice some details.
My first attempt here at this new resolution is definitely not right for reasons I'll get in the next point:
The main issue I can spot at a glance is that the head is too big and too large as well as being in a full front perspective as opposed to being 3/4 cavalier perspective.
On the bright side, I do like the hair a lot.
4. Attempt 7:
I decided to keep the hair as I thought it looked good and fix the rest. What I have in mind to fix the perspective is to move the hair line down so to speak.
The eyes looked pretty bad, glassy and expressionless.
This is my next take. Notice I tried to do the whole character that time.
* I used the same color as the hair for the clothes of the character.
* Changed the eyes. I think this is a step forward. I think I manage to convey almond shaped eyes here.
5. Moving forward:
The way I see it, the face is likely still too big.
So that's it for now. Thanks for reading and any potential feedback.
Another attempt:
(it looks worse but I want to keep all traces of my progress). and then another: And another take: