05-21-2021, 07:29 AM
Oooh I really like your latest color studies and figures. Beautiful brushwork, full of energy!
So, about that paintover. You're learning fast, but hopefully the tips are still of help in building imaginary faces.
Skull and Ears
The ears placement stood out for me in the elf portrait. Ears are hard to place, and most construction methods try to shoehorn the entire ear onto a random location based on eyebrows height or something that falls apart as soon as you have a head with a different ratio or exotic-shaped ears. These methods don't make sense because they're based on coincidental alignments of idealized facial features, not actual anatomy. Like, ears aren't all the same size for a start.
The ear holes, on the other hand, can be reliably found if you know what you're looking for, and you can easily build entire ears of any shape and size around them.
So first tip: Find the ear hole. To do so locate the line coming from the bottom of the eye socket/top of cheekbone, then find the middle of the skull. The ear hole will be around there, usually behind the vertical line dividing the skull when you have flesh on the face since faces are rather thick (5mm+).
Volume then light
The second tip is to try to figure out the planes of the face to then do the lighting you want. That's because how the light and shadows will be distributed depends directly on these planes. Avoid getting hung up on features for as long as you can. Imagine the masses of the head instead, try to see the surface of the face:
As a demo here's some sloppy volume work. Ignore style and proportions shift.
1-3 - Minor eye and ears placement correction
4 - Volume work. Imagine there's a soft light slightly in front of the character and work from there. If the final lighting is similarly positioned you can try to go for it already; if it's something bold and complicated it's better to stick to this neutral fill light first.
5-7 - Even if you don't intend to draw the rest of the body knowing where the shoulders would be helps with the neck and the bits of clothing you're showing. I like to know where the sternocleidomastoid is even if I'm not detailing it because it's a handy muscle and pretty easy to locate: It connects to the clavicle and that bone protrusion under and behind the ear canal. Also, don't be afraid of merging layers and moving things if necessary.
After a quick volume rendering it gets easier to cast different lights on the subject—just follow the surface. More sloppy examples:
That's it. Keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to see more lovely studies from you!
So, about that paintover. You're learning fast, but hopefully the tips are still of help in building imaginary faces.
Skull and Ears
The ears placement stood out for me in the elf portrait. Ears are hard to place, and most construction methods try to shoehorn the entire ear onto a random location based on eyebrows height or something that falls apart as soon as you have a head with a different ratio or exotic-shaped ears. These methods don't make sense because they're based on coincidental alignments of idealized facial features, not actual anatomy. Like, ears aren't all the same size for a start.
The ear holes, on the other hand, can be reliably found if you know what you're looking for, and you can easily build entire ears of any shape and size around them.
So first tip: Find the ear hole. To do so locate the line coming from the bottom of the eye socket/top of cheekbone, then find the middle of the skull. The ear hole will be around there, usually behind the vertical line dividing the skull when you have flesh on the face since faces are rather thick (5mm+).
Volume then light
The second tip is to try to figure out the planes of the face to then do the lighting you want. That's because how the light and shadows will be distributed depends directly on these planes. Avoid getting hung up on features for as long as you can. Imagine the masses of the head instead, try to see the surface of the face:
As a demo here's some sloppy volume work. Ignore style and proportions shift.
1-3 - Minor eye and ears placement correction
4 - Volume work. Imagine there's a soft light slightly in front of the character and work from there. If the final lighting is similarly positioned you can try to go for it already; if it's something bold and complicated it's better to stick to this neutral fill light first.
5-7 - Even if you don't intend to draw the rest of the body knowing where the shoulders would be helps with the neck and the bits of clothing you're showing. I like to know where the sternocleidomastoid is even if I'm not detailing it because it's a handy muscle and pretty easy to locate: It connects to the clavicle and that bone protrusion under and behind the ear canal. Also, don't be afraid of merging layers and moving things if necessary.
After a quick volume rendering it gets easier to cast different lights on the subject—just follow the surface. More sloppy examples:
That's it. Keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to see more lovely studies from you!