Neither of these are done, which is kind of disappointing. I wish I had more time or less work in other classes to complete them, but I am hoping to finish one or both during winer break.
I really don't like the first one I made of daenerys, so I just stopped drawing it and never finished it. The blood texture was hard to replicate and I wasn't a huge fan of the dry medium.
The second one was my favorite, if you couldn't tell by the quality and how much more detail it has. In traditional media, I would choose oil paint, so painting it with wet paints was a blast and I really enjoyed it.
Both of these pieces have specific spots of really great rendering. For the first one, it's in the general mouth region, and in the second one it's in the armor.The way you use highlights in both of these really bring out their forms and put them in more of a believable "space". On that note I would definitely bring out some more darks, mainly to define shapes and clean it up a bit, especially in their eyes.
ReplyDeleteI really like the detail in the chainmail of the second picture - really captures the eye. Also the skin tones on the second one, too. The only thing that's putting me off a bit is that they're both kinda fuzzy. I think the solution to that is just getting a harder brush (or maybe a different tool? Chunky pastel?) or a firmer hand when doing stuff with shadowshapes and hair.
ReplyDeleteTHAT CHAINMAIL!!!!! You're moving towards some really great stuff here that's exciting to see. I think the big thing is that the spots of high rendering often sit on top of softer textures, which causes them to stick out in the composition. You might be really into Fiona Staples who also does these really high contrast digital painting although in a less realistic manner.
ReplyDeleteThe quality and detail you're getting into these portraits is pretty impressive and it's evident you're getting a better grasp on it by the second portrait. I do agree that some parts are better rendered than others, specifically in the second portrait. I think more experimentation and incorporation of personal style would push portraits like these to the next level in the future.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely have to say the second one is my favorite as well! I love the composition and idea of both of these, though. Daenerys kind of blurs into the background, which somewhat distracts from all of the detail you've brought into her face. The second one is an awesome balance between lined details and soft strokes of color. Maybe the grey background could be messed with a bit, grey behind subtle neutrals can tend to drain out the life from the rest of the colors. I just wish your .gif was slowed down slightly so I could decipher your process!
ReplyDeleteyour modeling for these is really nice and there's alot of great textures. it looks like you had a better handle on the wet media. and the girl from game of throne of out of focus. i that maybe you blended a little to much.
ReplyDeleteYour dry media one is actually so creepy..which i think is a good thing considering the intensity of the scene you're working from. I get sort of a creepy doll vibe from it because the brushes you worked with are so soft and glowy. I wish there was more detail in her eyes and her hairline, but overall its a solid piece.
ReplyDeleteI think your wet media was the most successful because you used more texture in it, and were a little more free in your detail work, not as specific. The abstract mark making gives the piece a lot of character.
Even though you said you weren't a big fan of the dry medium, I really like your Daenerys piece the best. It feels like theres just this nice aura too it, and the colors are spot on. I felt like you were handling the blood texture really well, and I'd like to see that piece finished! As for your second piece, that one is very nice as well. I think removing just a bit more of the linework might really help the piece, but at the same time I really like what you did with the linework on her chainmail and bracers. Also a more defined background would really help to ground her in a setting. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteIn the case of Danearys (or however you spell her name, I can never get it right) I think you may have gone overboard with the blending and muddied an otherwise very good portrait. The color and skintones are very good, but you lost a lot of definition by blending to the point where there are no hard edges left to her. The other big issue is the fact that the eyes feel like an afterthought. Eyes are a scary thing to paint- they can make or break a portrait depending on how they're handled and I can understand the urge to work minimally on them, but they feel underdeveloped here and it creates something of a Soulless effect (which, coupled with the blood winds up looking rather unnerving) Just work in some harder, bolder edges and brush strokes, touch up the eyes and you've done her justice.
ReplyDeleteYou did a lot of this in your second portrait and it's the stronger by far- those defining edges go a very long way in strengthening the image. You balanced the blending and got a much more pleasant (and realistic) looking image overall. There's still the trouble with the eyes being rather flat, however. But all in all a vast improvement!
I can definitely tell that you felt better working with the wet medium, I can see the looser, less controlled brush strokes helped you focus more on lighting, which was a huge success in the second portrait. Your use of lights in the face and hair are really convincing and looks very painterly. your use of texture and detail also helped this one out a lot. I think using those looser marks in your first one could have improved it, and maybe a lighter background or something a little less neutral. Overall, both these pieces are really great!
ReplyDeleteAh! Super cool ladies. LOOOVVE DAENERYS. I think that the anatomy and the drawing is pretty spot on, but in terms of painting, it's a little bit spray-paint-y. I'd love to see that spray paint quality combined with some really hard edges to keep it interesting to look at. When it's all the same type of mark, it gets a little flat and dull. I also think that you could use less white and more bright colors. Maybe bringing out the under tones of color in the skin. Sometimes making your canvas background color a neutral, but still saturated color can help with that. I think that the grey made it kind of make it a little dull too.
ReplyDeleteI think there are a lot of really great things starting to happen in these - it would have been fantastic to see them when you were done with them. I think for now, I can say that it's really neat to see your process. It looks like you start with a sketch that segments out your figure, then do each piece by piece. That's a really interesting way of painting - and probably a lot of fun since you get to focus on each part at a time. I think that right now you can tell that some areas are more rendered than others - probably because of that method. I think it would be good to see how you could bridge the colors between areas in the figure even a bit more. I think a color overlay at the end would help harmonize everything for sure - maybe it's a slight opacity of the background color, or the color of the "light" or whatever that atmosphere has. I think that the second one really has a great, natural pose, too - it's really dynamic and has a nice composition. That one would be a killer portrait when finished, I'm sure - just because you can play with the depth between the arm, chest and items in the foreground -- even playing with atmosphere (and blurring out some items in the background of the figure for some really cool depth-of-field looks). I think it'd also be neat to see her face have a bit more color to make her feel more flushed / alive! I'm sure that part would come when you go back to it, but it is worth mentioning!
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