Trying to paint semi-realistic/stylized (might be a bit NSFW)

pongstah

WIP PROGRESS






ANGEL ZONE

GOTHIC PUNK

Lineart

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Reworking this portrait. Any comments on what looks off or weird is appreciated.

I haven't added the darkest shadows, not sure how to go about it yet. I want the primary focus on the face, wings second. I'm using mostly Emma Watson pictures as reference for the face.

FredPez

Nice painting skills! It is looking very good.

I'm no expert in drawing >.< but i feel that her breast is too low, in pic number 1, though when you took her hand off it looks quite right so i'm maybe wrong. Plus, in case you leave the eyes I liked pic1's eye shadow most, it is subtle and gives kind of a mature look which suits her nicelly.

Keep up the good work!

P.S: I would kill you for your painting skills

pongstah

Hey Thanks FredPez! I hadn't noticed that it was low. I'll adjust it when I get to working on that area. Not sure if maybe I should keep the hand posed like that though, I might change it later. Not sure which eyeshadows color to use either, the subtle shade looks cool but I'm kinda liking these playful glittery pastel eyeshadows runway models put on, guess I'll see later which combination works best.

be right back with updates as fast as I can.

pongstah

Here's my current progress, still working on the volumes of the face and fixed the shading. Not sure how to tackle the hair yet.

pongstah

Played around with post processing for the final look. I'll continue painting in the details later. Tell me if anything looks weird so I can fix it. Thanks

pongstah

Played around with the lighting and colors some more. Harsh C&C please. Thanks.

FredPez

It is comming up nicelly the ribbon looks great, but the way it falls down looks unrealistic, whether you want it to be that way or not it is up to you, I have to say I actually like it a lot it gives some fantasy to the portrait which looks quite nice .

I saw something on the face yesterday but couldn figure out what it was, but apparently you manage it to fix it somehow so nothing to say about it.

P.S: Are you leaving the eyes closed in the end? Plus I feel her eyeshadow is too harsh, maybe if you bring it down a bit it would blend with her skin a little more?

pongstah

Thanks. I'll come back for the ribbon later in the final pass maybe, If I can. I think it adds some fun, factor to the design having these colorful accessories.

I'll probably leave it close, might ruin the perspective again if I need to draw them open. I planning to make the eye shadow sparkle with glitters so maybe I need to keep the base color dark to emphasieze them.

pongstah

I've added the hand holding the ribbon and refined the face. Thinking of adding a lamp to the wall so that it doesn't look too empty.

pongstah

I made a checklist of the comments and suggestions of what I need to fix so that I don't forget and skip some of them.

pongstah

Working on the framing and hand pose so that I don't have to move tham around later. Which pose looks nicer? Other hand pose suggestions is also appreciated, right now these are the only ones I can think of. Thanks.

FredPez

Well hello! Looking good

For hand pose I would either choose 1 or 2, especially 2 though it looks more relaxed and natural.

Now I just realised what I saw the other day on her face now that you pointed out what you need to fix on the list. just above her lip where you point out that she lacks cheekbone I whould say that litle bit there should follow a curve and be closer to the ¿Philtrum groove? (Don't really remmember if it is called that way)

Plus I think her lips could use a little more volume to look more filled, but that is just a personal opinion

Keep going on!You are doing a great job! Post-process sugestion looks nice by the way!

P.S: I read your comment about the Eye shadow, you are right if you want it to look gliterry you need a darker color so it stands out, nice observation

pedro8999

Really nice

pongstah

Hi FredPez, I also think number 2 is the most natural but still lacking some personality/playfulness. I'll try making more studies. Maybe I'll try a dunk pose with the arm stretched all the way up and the hand facing down.

I think you mean the laugh-line, I'll try to add it if I can paint it convincingly enough.

Yes the lips probably need a bit of poutiness. I'll fix it later, for now I take a break and work on the background. I'm thinking of adding a wallpaper and a lamp to it. Thanks!

Thanks pedro8999!

Softz

She's gorgeous .

FredPez

pongstah on 06-16-2015 05:29 PM
Hi FredPez, I also think number 2 is the most natural but still lacking some personality/playfulness. I'll try making more studies. Maybe I'll try a dunk pose with the arm stretched all the way up and the hand facing down.

That would probably work fine, you could even make her rest on the wall so it gives a relaxed feeling

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By the way I had some wallpaper designs stored at chrome, maybe they would fit in nicely

I think they will probably give a nice texture and depth to the background without attracting attention from the Lady

pongstah

@FredPez
Thanks. She looks a bit better now, I gave her some more rose accesories. Those wallpapers look cool especially the black one.

@Softz
Thanks, I reworked the face again based on the suggestions that I got.

FredPez

It looks nice, not sure about the smile though it looks a bit strange also the rose on her neck could be too big? I did like it more when the lace was going all over her back but leaving it bare, it looked better for me , don't know what you think

P.D: Jaw is to harsh, looks like a male type of face now that I realised. And just realised that part of the nose dissapears due to the light of it having the same colour as the cheekbone, don't really know if that should be that way.

pongstah

Some background studies.



The psychedelic wallpaper looks nice but it made the composition feel too soft. Keeping it in my library though until I figure out how to integrate it into the painting.

Looking at it now, I see what you mean. I've lost the subtle intereaction and overlapping between the elements of the composition. I'll try to see how I can fix it.

Thanks for the comments on the face. This helps me know where I've overdone the details.

pongstah

Haven't gotten much detailing work done, just playing around with the overall concept. I think with this iteration the thoughts floating in my head are finally comming together. I think now it looks more interesting and fun to bring to completion.

pongstah

Played around with the adjustment layers some more. Thinking of adding a Cinderella style head board behind her.

Max668

I feel like the purple flower is too distracting. Its too much in your face.
When you move away from the monitor and look at the image the first thing you see is the big flower. Think about the eye movement of the person that is viewing and enjoying the painting. Im sure you dont want that person to be stuck looking at one object.

pongstah

Worked on the face shading, tell what you think looks off.



Thanks for the feedback, I'll think about how to make the composition more harmonious.

I'm going for sort of Tim Burton/Alice in Wonderland/ gothic design for the character. Not really sure about the details I'm putting in since I'm not an expert on this so any suggestions on what to add to the dress are welcome, same goes for the background and composition. Thanks.

FredPez

I think Tim Burton's Alice is based in ¿Victorian England? or that is what I feel when I see the dresses.

I have to say her face creeps me out a little now,and I think her jaw line it's too sharp.

Her eyes and nose are great now, I really like them, keep going! You are doing great!

Quick edit:

Try this smile, it isn't as strong and looks more natural.



You said you where using Emma Watson's pics for reference right?

Spearhafoc

I agree with FredPez that the smile seems a little forced in the last batch. I think the corners of the mouth go out too far.

I really like what you're doing with the hair. Keep up the good work!

pongstah

@FredPez

Yes I think the time period is Victorian England, but in the scenes in wonderland she wore different kinds of dresses that I think are from different places. I'm going to stick to the prom dress she wore to the dance and modify it.

The features of her face are very interesting to paint, she has these childlike qualities that I want to capture in the illustration. But yes her jaw is very angular in some of the photos, It's probably due to how she faces the camera. I'll try to soften the transitions some more.

Thanks for the reference. she has a nice smirk in this photo and I think this upbun hairstyle also looks better and more elegant.

@Spearhafoc

Yes, I probably exagerated it a bit. Thanks for pointing it out, I'll try
FredPez's suggestion.

Here I tried to push the likeness a bit more. Tell me what you think. I'm going to paint the purple rose dissolving into or forming from the black cloudy particles.



And some references for the hair.



http://www.stylekuw.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/elegant-chic-braided-updos-hairstyle.jpg

FredPez

Hi!
I think you will be hating me in the end ! but I think I liked her hair more when it wasn't all tied up, can't say much more as maybe you would leave lose strands of hair aand would look perfect, I'll just have to wait and see

By the way, disolving the rose in the black "fog" is a very nice idea and I am excited to see what comes out of that

pongstah

I did a quick lighting study and made a mess of it again but hopefully the face looks better now.



Thanks! I think the hair looks more elegant like this, it looked a bit messier before.

TomGT

Some good progress!

I'm no expert, but I think you need to step back and reevaluate where you are putting your highlights. If you desaturate the image, you'll notice how the face has very tame values even though it is the main selling point of the portrait. If you colorpick directly, the values are all very midtone, almost no highlight or dark shadows.

Her shoulder actually has quite nice values going for it, but the first thing people will look at is the face. Desaturating the image to black and white once in awhile really helps checking values.

Hope this helps!

pongstah

Thanks for the feedback TomGT. Here I added some shadows but not very dark, I'm still unsure if I want to heighten the contrast or keep it subdued. For the time being I leave it as is while I go and work on the the background. Here I changed it again, into a forest scene. Tell me what you think.

Spearhafoc

Ooh! I'm really liking the face in that last one.

Are you planning on integrating the purple flower more? Right now it doesn't look like it belongs with the rest of the picture. Maybe it can cast a shadow or something.

pongstah

Thanks Spearhafoc, I think I'll just put a ribbon on her hair and attach the flower to it so that it doesn't look out of place, and add more shadows like what you suggested.

pongstah

Took a step back and did some rethinking on which direction to go with this.

Wolthera

Hey, I know you're not doing the smile any more, but I was super curious to see what may have been the problem.(It's like solving a puzzle )

Yes, the smile was a little too wide. The corners of the mouth generally don't go further than the outsides of the iris, and that is certainly a wide smile.

I also found adjusting the way the lips wrap about the teeth helped a little, because if you smile in the mirror, and smile more to one side than the other, your lips and skin move to that side. I also noticed that with myself, my teeth would show a lot more than your drawing did, so I adjusted that as well. It's still not a perfect smile, but perhaps this can help you in the future when drawing smiles.

pongstah

Wolthera wrote: »

Hey, I know you're not doing the smile any more, but I was super curious to see what may have been the problem.(It's like solving a puzzle )

Yes, the smile was a little too wide. The corners of the mouth generally don't go further than the outsides of the iris, and that is certainly a wide smile.

I also found adjusting the way the lips wrap about the teeth helped a little, because if you smile in the mirror, and smile more to one side than the other, your lips and skin move to that side. I also noticed that with myself, my teeth would show a lot more than your drawing did, so I adjusted that as well. It's still not a perfect smile, but perhaps this can help you in the future when drawing smiles.

Yes it has become a sort of puzzle solving exercise because instead of copying from reference or photobashing i'm now trying to reconstruct the face in 2d using different disjointed images as reference. It's not really an efficient method but it's still a fun exercise.

Thanks for the tips, you are very observant. This will be useful when I work on the smiling version.

Here I'm still experimenting with the pose and composition.

lotet

so much better, was actually gonna point out that it looked better on the first page, but you figured it out yourself

pongstah

Thanks for the comment lotet, glad you like it.



later I'll be in the lens flare everything phase.:D

Wolthera

It may be worth investigating if you can push a little bit more darker values near the extreme creases(you know, the places that we usually bake AO maps for). Right now the image looks a little over-exposed, and there's a couple of places where the elements look a bit pasted together, floating, and my instinct would be to increase the contrast in the areas where no light should be able to get.

No idea if it's actually what you are going for.

pongstah

tbh I don't really have a solid well thought out plan for this illustration. I'm still feeling my way through it so everything looks sloppy every now and then.

I agree, it looks overexposed right now, I'm not really sure how to light it. I want it to be backlit by the sun while still keeping the shadowed areas bright enough to see some detail. If you have examples of this lighting please share them or paintover the image so that I can understand better how to apply it.




So here I did a quick contrast fix. Thinking of making the ship in the background more alien like to reflect the sword design in the foreground. Something that looks like megatrons' jet mode would probably make more sense.



Leaning more towards this pallete, has a subtle surreal feel to it.



and lensflare

pongstah

I think I finally found the perfect sword design for this composition, a scifi crystal short sword or scifi crystal double bladed short lance to give her weapon a bizarre alien look. I'll try to render it like a blurry mirror.



So now I think the character design is close to being final, it might be time to texturize it. C&Cs welcome.

pongstah

Detailing the face.

pongstah

Added more detail. This time using photos of Kristen Stewart as reference.

FredPez

Hey pongstah! just came by to say that I love the direction you are taking with your portrait and it is looking quite nice She looks totally badass!

pongstah

Thanks FredPez. I'll try my best, there is still some problems with perspective. I'm painting in a single hue for now so that i don't get confuse me. Later I'll overlay it with other colors to simulate bounce light etc. Paintovers are welcome.

pongstah

So a start on detailing the hair while I think about how to orient the head. I'm not sure if I want it to be leveled or tilted back slightly which is what is causing it to look like a UV unwraped texture. I tried rendereing the hair in solid volumes but decided to just paint each strand instead because it was killing the highlights of the hair.

pongstah

Daily update. Trying to work out the details a few hours a day, I'm hoping to get faster at it.

Here I repainted the ears.

lotet

I think the face looked better before you started detailing it. overall I think you should wrap this one up, or at least block something down thats working for you. you've been going back n forth with this one for a looong time now. you should really commit to a version and get this done even if its not perfect. stop detailing and focus on the overall illustration.

pongstah

Yes you're probably right, I'll make some thumbnails for the comp once I get my thoughts sorted out.

Yes, no I'm not too concerned on making her look perfect more concerned of getting the major anatomical landmarks of the face and body lineup so that she doesn't look grotesque. I apologize if she looks disfigured at the moment, I'm still learning how to do this.:D

Here I widened her shoulders a bit, probably can widen it some more to make her look older. Also made some thumbnails to help see where I need to add contrast and light/shadows. Paintovers and suggestions for the composition/environment are welcome.

pongstah

Daily progress.

Quite happy with my progress here, I think i've gotten a bit better and faster at this style. Faces and hair are a bit of a challenge though.

*Also did some research on thumbnailing, I think I found a style suited for this using shaded boxes as stand ins for the pose instead of lineart that I initially made to help judge the lighting early on. I think this is one of the more important discoveries for me so highlighting it for anyone reading this.



Looking at photos of Kristen Stewart and Jennifer Sullins for reference btw.

lotet

Looks good! the black n white thumb has a pretty good read, might want to lighten/darken the BG some, or darken/lighten the hair, it looks like they are blending together.

pongstah

Thanks man, yes moving on to the hair next. I'll try to make it more readable from the BG.

Here I worked on the body a bit, I feel that I can still widen and define more volumes on the shoulders though. Looks a bit flat and warped. I'll get back to it after fixing the hair.