09-15-2014, 03:02 AM
To expand a bit on the studying aspect, If you're interested in planar heads but cant buy or make one, google asaro heads and you'll find a bunch of nice reference from a bunch of angles to study from. Pair that up with some portrait studies and still lives to learn about form and you'll be able to render in no time.
and a tip, it can also be helpful to start your own work as if it was a planar head, to help you visualize all the forms so that you can light them really easily. Its easy to think that a "rendering" of something is to get in and work out all the little details and make it all smooth and shiny, but really the crux of it is form and lighting which should be established fairly early on. Trying to make too many perfect little gradients everywhere can ruin your painting and the feeling of form and structure that you're looking for
and a tip, it can also be helpful to start your own work as if it was a planar head, to help you visualize all the forms so that you can light them really easily. Its easy to think that a "rendering" of something is to get in and work out all the little details and make it all smooth and shiny, but really the crux of it is form and lighting which should be established fairly early on. Trying to make too many perfect little gradients everywhere can ruin your painting and the feeling of form and structure that you're looking for