I need help on improving on realsim

[Kay-Cee]

I need help on improving. I just finished a drawing and critique on it would help me to realize what NOT to do next time I paint. First I did the whole thing in grey usig pen pressure. Than i blended it using the smudge tool and than for the colors I just created another layer on top of everything and used multiply. By the way I use photoshop 7, and I used no refrences so thats why the eyes are so ridculously large (I didnt realize this until I was practically done with the whole thing.) So, any tips on how to improve?

[J-qb]

At 4/22/11 10:56 AM, Kay-Cee wrote: I need help on improving. I just finished a drawing and critique on it would help me to realize what NOT to do next time I paint. First I did the whole thing in grey usig pen pressure. Than i blended it using the smudge tool and than for the colors I just created another layer on top of everything and used multiply. By the way I use photoshop 7, and I used no refrences so thats why the eyes are so ridculously large (I didnt realize this until I was practically done with the whole thing.) So, any tips on how to improve?

I dont think the eyes are that large; they are a bit far apart though (rule of thumb is one eyes width between the eyes) the mouth is a bit small too.
I think this is a decent drawing... I personally hate smudge, but there are plenty valid artists that use it so thats up to you. I think its a shame that you put the hood there, imo its the weakest part of the drawing. all that blur and textures dont work for me.

[Vonschlippe]

At 4/22/11 10:56 AM, Kay-Cee wrote: I need help on improving. I just finished a drawing and critique on it would help me to realize what NOT to do next time I paint. First I did the whole thing in grey usig pen pressure. Than i blended it using the smudge tool and than for the colors I just created another layer on top of everything and used multiply. By the way I use photoshop 7, and I used no refrences so thats why the eyes are so ridculously large (I didnt realize this until I was practically done with the whole thing.) So, any tips on how to improve?

I think before anything else, you should check your anatomy before even starting to color. It's something you must train yourself to notice as soon as possible, otherwise the drawing is screwed.

I also believe you're using the wrong brushes; every detail in there is made using a soft brush, which makes the image blurred out. Soft brushes are usually used to blend details in, but contours should be made using harder brushes. Another thing, never touch the smudge tool, as it is very weak in terms of control and effect. Using a multiply layer to insert some colors is not going to do you any good in most circumstances, as you will get only darker shades and you won't be able to paint light colors. Try painting colors using a normal layer.

One last thing, get rid of that automatic texture effect on the hood!

[Kay-Cee]

Yeah you are right, the hood does sort of take up too much of the picture. Besides smudging, how else could I draw it, I use smudging so I can try to make the skin look smooth, is there some other technique I can use?

[Kay-Cee]

Im going to be practicing alot more on proportion as you said, since I clearly need to. Actually, I did use a hard brush I just used the smudge tool and a very low guassian blur because apparently I thought that was going to make the skin appear a lot smoother. I used texture on the hood because I couldnt think of any other way to make the hood actually seem more realistic, but it turns out the texture just probably made it look a lot worse. Do you have any advice on how to make the skin look smooth without using the smudge tool? Or how to make clothes more realistic without using the crappy texture I used(which I see now, did not in fact make it appear more realistic)?

[Vonschlippe]

Lower the opacity of a soft brush (20% to 30%), and smooth one color into another. When you're using a brush, pressingAlt is a quickswitch to the eyedrop tool. That way you can easily blend colors into each other.

By the way, you don't necessarily want to paint skin smooth. I tend to get away from that now, as skin should not look like plastic.

[Kay-Cee]

Alright, I'll try what you said but I dont exactly understand what you mean by "smooth"? Is that a tool? Or do you mean, when you have two different shades next to each other you choose anoother color thats sort of inbetween the two on the color changer, and than paint that "in between" color where the two different shades meet?

[Vonschlippe]

Option 2.

Let me give you an example.

In the first panel in there, the skin not smooth yet, since the edges between the brush strokes on the cheecks is visible in the form of blobs of different, hard colors. That is the result of a painting quick using hard brushes. However, by the third panel, the cheecks are already rounded and you can no longer see the blobs of hard color present in the first panel. That is achieved by painting a median color in between the two zones, so the eye sees a natural transition.

You can get more skin realism by using a brush that incorporates random elements (like mine), but there are also more advanced techniques using noise, grain and adjustment layers to make sure the skin does not look like a plastic barbie doll, which I used further in the drawing process.

[Kay-Cee]

Okay, I see what you mean, I'll keep on practicing so I'm going to start trying to get better at anatomy and coloring. Thank you for your help and advice!

[Jester]

The eyes are fine but you need to widen the mouth and chill out with the hood, it looks like she put on a hoodie and pulled the strings as tight as humanly possible.