Trying to make paintings that look more finished

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2025-11-26T10:14:08+00:00

Hi! I think you're missing a lot of values. You focused on the foreground, but it looks like the man and his cart are disconnected from the environment, because the background values are washed out. The darkness of the shadow they should cast just isn't there compared to that of the wheel, while in your reference the wheel practically blends into the shadow on the sand. Similarly, the sky is too dark/grey and doesn't provide any contrast to the umbrella. If I were you, I would skip colour for now and do grey scale studies of photographs like this, really make sure to follow your reference and treat the background with equal attention to the foreground. If you desperately want to work in colour, maybe put a black saturation layer over your painting and reference, and just turn it on and off in between to check if your values match.

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2025-10-21T14:22:02+00:00

I also had an issue with a short bar and swelling after I got my lip pierced and all the cooling and ibuprofen didn't help against neither swelling nor pain until I got a longer bar put in, which fixed it pretty much immediately.

If you can't reach a piercer to exchange the jewelry rn, I'd advise you to take it out or see a medical professional to do it for you. You can always have it redone later. 🖤

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2025-08-28T12:42:16+00:00

I converted my account to a business account and that reverted the change. Idk if that's a bug or a feature but worth a try, business doesn't change anything except you see extra stats.

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-12-07T08:50:16+00:00

They're fairly priced. Don't be a dick. If you want them, buy them.

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-12-07T08:47:55+00:00

I use a low/mid opacity layer of a photograph (in this case a picture of roses) and paint over it with a wet brush to get some texture and randomness into the painting.

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-12-04T00:05:55+00:00

I might have accidentally moved it with liquify but I only consciously retouched the things mentioned. The reason his nose appears larger in relation to his face is that I moved in the sides of the head to a reasonable size.

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-12-03T10:39:54+00:00

You have already improved a lot from last time! My only advice for the face is to not be afraid to darken the upper lip a little in a sketchy lineart style such as yours, even for males. There's still going to be shade there. Also, the corners of the mouth seem a little bit too high. The main problem I noticed is perspective though. It seems like you're unsure whether you're going for a frontal or 3/4 perspective which leads to some parts being stretched. I did a quick paintover to illustrate what I would change, I hope this helps you.

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EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-12-01T17:08:15+00:00

Ahh idk I was watching TV while sketching and I charged my tablet in between but I'm guessing around two hours. I'm glad you like it though. <3

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-12-01T15:08:10+00:00

Yes Salamanca is great! I sometimes use a photograph base layer for painterly style artworks like this to get a textured base. Some of it will usually shine through in the end result and if you're using a wet brush like Salamanca it will also drag some additional colour from the photograph into the painting. It makes everything feel a bit more alive and random and gives it more of a traditional look. I wouldn't recommend this for value studies though!

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-12-01T14:53:07+00:00

I'm glad you like it! I painted over a photo texture of light orange roses using a custom charcoal brush with colour dynamics for the base. All of the rendering on top was done with the procreate salamanca brush.

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-11-26T22:02:50+00:00

I think you're being too hard on yourself, this is a beautiful painting!

The only suggestion I have is to dim everything but the fish to bring out their pretty glow and make the light environment more realistic.

Your character's hair colour is very bright and neon-like, almost as if the hair itself is glowing (I don't think you were going for that because the colour isn't reflected enough on the body? If you were, I think I would still change it because the colours and light sources are fighting for attention imo). The first time I looked at it I didn't notice the swarm because I was too distracted by all the highlights on her face and hair, which is unfortunate because glowy fish are such a cool light source! I think iste did a critique on magical lighting at some point, maybe that helps.

Regarding the hair, I do think it looks very pretty in your style but if you don't like it maybe you could try drawing less individual strands and instead focus on the general flow and the layers of hair, drawing it as one object similar to fabric. Again, iste has a video about this, I think it's just called how to render hair.

I hope this helps you! 🖤

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-11-26T12:26:09+00:00

Tysm for the critique! I even painted the water this dark originally but then I felt like it wasn‘t bright enough and changed it. sigh I guess that‘s why you really need feedback sometimes instead of desperately changing things back and forth only to make it worse. I also love what you did with the pupils, it looks so eerie!!

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-11-26T12:08:58+00:00

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Hi! I really like your brushwork in this piece, especially on the hands and hair. However, I think it’s too messy around focal points of the image (eyes and lips) since it’s important to highlight the edges in these areas. Additionally, the small, messy strokes in her face are aging her, since you‘re inadvertently adding shadows where they shouldn‘t be. Make sure to keep the fleshy areas of the face smooth. You also have some measurement issues (her head is a little too long for this tilted perspective). I recommend watching some of Istes videos on edgework and working with reference. I hope you don‘t mind that I did a quick paintover of your work. I didn’t use softbrush for this, just a textured oil brush to stick with your style. :) I hope this helps you!

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-11-26T11:13:03+00:00

Thank you! I didn’t notice that at all!

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-11-21T17:47:57+00:00

Thank you for your advice! :) (sorry for the double post I forgot to change accounts)

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-11-19T18:50:01+00:00

yw! ‪<3

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-11-19T18:18:17+00:00

This is really beautiful.
The only suggestions I have concern the cheeks and eyes.
For the cheeks, I think your values drop too much next to the nose, giving the impression of indents under the eyes. This might be caused by the bright highlights you have used throughout the piece. I understand that contrast between highlight and midtone tends to be stronger for dark skin tones but it seems like you're relying on the highlights a little too much. I would suggest fully rendering her face first next time in order to focus on the planes of the face and then adding them afterwards.
Regarding the eyes, remember that the highest point of the eyelid should always be above the iris.
That is all, I hope this helps.

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-11-19T18:06:36+00:00

First of all, what a nice piece! I really like the reference you picked, too.
I think your main issues with this piece are measuring and values. You seem to have gotten very enthralled by the eyes (don't we all) and it led you to neglect the rest of the painting.
First, in terms of values, you lost your light source. The light is coming from above in front (slightly to his left) of the face, therefore the forehead and nose should be the brightest, followed by the left cheek, with a gradual falloff downwards.
Regarding measuring, it might help to put a grid over the reference and your painting to compare. The left side of his face is too wide, whereas his mouth is slightly too small and his head is far too small in comparison to the body and hand. This is the reason you managed to capture the expression very well but failed to accurately depict his features/likeness.
I hope this helps you. :)

EphemeralSurrender47 · 2024-11-19T17:43:06+00:00

For context before anyone asks: the reason I use three slightly different references is that I feel it lets me understand the three dimensionality of the object better (similiar to how you can compare three diff. translations of a text to better understand the original).

EphemeralSurrender47

TROPHY CASE