07-02-2013, 12:36 PM
Hey there poyo! You've got a great sketchbook going on, keep up the good studies, you're making progress for sure! Just give it more time and patience, you'll be surprised how quickly you improve.
Here's a quick paintover to hopefully help you with your edgework a bit.
There's a few main points, most of which are written on the paintover, but mostly I think what you need to work on is cleaner edges, which is mostly about gaining a sensitive hand and brush control. Practice practice practice until you're comfortable with your tablet and your edges will automatically improve.
Edit: Also another thought on edges, a big part of edges is simply brush and control and being able to put the strokes where you want them, but another big part is having and understanding of form. When you're rendering light on form, edges are the direct result of what kind of form you're painting. For example, spheres have soft edges because they are soft, rolling forms, whereas cubes have hard edges between light and dark because they are sharp, planar transitions. The same happens on a human face or anything else, it just gets more difficult because the forms are something in-between spheres and cubes and they often melt together to form more complex forms with multiple edge types. SO, another key to improving your edges is to study the forms of your face; if you know exactly where one plane ends and the next begins, you can make a confident, clean edge between the two. The more you understand the planar structure of your subjects, the more you will know WHY the edges are the way they are, and the more confidently you will be able to paint them. :)
Also be more mindful of your values while painting and try to keep your lights and darks more separated to help achieve the feeling of light.
And lastly, I'd definitely recommend you work from reference if you're not already; painting from your head is good to see what you've learned, but to "study" you almost always want to be looking at something. Artists are students of life, so unless you're observing life you're pretty much just rehashing what you already know. Painting from reference will also help you with your edges a lot because you can see the edges right in front of you and can do your best to mimic them.
Edit edit: Also, if you're specifically studying portraits right now, I would highly recommend you watch Stan Prokopenko's tutorial videos on the subject: [Link]. They are some of the best information you'll find online, they're free, and he covers both overall head structure as well as the individual features. I think going over these will greatly help you understand planar structure and improve your edgework. :)
Sorry this is a bit hastily written, I've gotta run in a second here. Let me know if any of that doesn't make sense and I'll try and explain better. Keep up the great work, can't wait to see more studies! :D
Here's a quick paintover to hopefully help you with your edgework a bit.
There's a few main points, most of which are written on the paintover, but mostly I think what you need to work on is cleaner edges, which is mostly about gaining a sensitive hand and brush control. Practice practice practice until you're comfortable with your tablet and your edges will automatically improve.
Edit: Also another thought on edges, a big part of edges is simply brush and control and being able to put the strokes where you want them, but another big part is having and understanding of form. When you're rendering light on form, edges are the direct result of what kind of form you're painting. For example, spheres have soft edges because they are soft, rolling forms, whereas cubes have hard edges between light and dark because they are sharp, planar transitions. The same happens on a human face or anything else, it just gets more difficult because the forms are something in-between spheres and cubes and they often melt together to form more complex forms with multiple edge types. SO, another key to improving your edges is to study the forms of your face; if you know exactly where one plane ends and the next begins, you can make a confident, clean edge between the two. The more you understand the planar structure of your subjects, the more you will know WHY the edges are the way they are, and the more confidently you will be able to paint them. :)
Also be more mindful of your values while painting and try to keep your lights and darks more separated to help achieve the feeling of light.
And lastly, I'd definitely recommend you work from reference if you're not already; painting from your head is good to see what you've learned, but to "study" you almost always want to be looking at something. Artists are students of life, so unless you're observing life you're pretty much just rehashing what you already know. Painting from reference will also help you with your edges a lot because you can see the edges right in front of you and can do your best to mimic them.
Edit edit: Also, if you're specifically studying portraits right now, I would highly recommend you watch Stan Prokopenko's tutorial videos on the subject: [Link]. They are some of the best information you'll find online, they're free, and he covers both overall head structure as well as the individual features. I think going over these will greatly help you understand planar structure and improve your edgework. :)
Sorry this is a bit hastily written, I've gotta run in a second here. Let me know if any of that doesn't make sense and I'll try and explain better. Keep up the great work, can't wait to see more studies! :D