need some help on my studies

[poyo]

hey guys, I've been practicing everyday, focusing on portraits, and I am obviously not good yet, but making steady progress.

I just did this photostudy of a man's face, and while it is a big improvement from my previous face photostudies (finally fixed some brush setting issues) it is lacking vibrancy. The whole area seems like it is in diffuse light, and the forms aren't clearly defined. I tried to punch up the contrast, but then it starts to seem like there are lines around where the value changes instead of transitions.




For this second one, I tried to do a checkpoint to see how much I have learned, and did an imagination face. I know there's a bunch of anatomical issues with this one, but I included it to show you what I mean, on the dark side of the face, the shadow forms what I think looks like an unnatural border.

Also would appreciate some tips about how to avoid this artificial smoothness that always happens when I try to draw from imagination.




If you decide to leave a comment or paintover (even a quick one without explanation would be great) thanks a lot! I've been working hard but I can't seem to get over this without an example.

[ruffledo]

hey man,

Great job on your studies.
I'll just give you some pointers on how I fix my head drawings. I start by drawing in facial landmarks first before I put the features. Here's my quick guideline. (*this is not perfect, but I hope you'll see where the planes on the head are facing)



I also played and replayed this video until I get the hang on this process. If you can find Hogarth's book, that would be a treasure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S66wc0Z2BXU

Others prefer Loomis
http://www.alexhays.com/loomis/

Whichever guide that's easy for you. Focus first on the form and planes of the head, then worry about rendering later. Rendering comes naturally if you figured out the planes.

That's it. Hope I've helped you with this one. I'm no pro, and on bad days I encounter the same problems also. So just keep on studying. Good luck. :)

[Wardy]

just as a note, it's useful to attach a photo of the reference you used when you post studies, otherwise its hard to crit ;) that said, keep it up!

[poyo]

thanks guys, my anatomy has been imprroving bit by bit, I'll keep practicing!