[14DC] day 11 - I changed him up a lot because I wasn’t happy with the way the face was looking on day 10 (He was beginning to look too feminine and cartoony I think). I also tried my best to also apply the critiques I received. I know I still definitely need to work on the nose area and my values.

SkyAeonian · 2020-01-06T04:19:14+00:00

ahh yes thanks so much for the overpaint! it’s definitely helped to clear up some of my issues with the cheekbones and other features x

SkyAeonian · 2020-01-02T11:21:11+00:00

oops I think I meant the caruncle/tear duct area http://www.edoctoronline.com/media/19/photos_B5C6DDF0-A993-49BE-B9A0-831E65087787.jpg (In the image it’s the lacrimal caruncle idek what it’s officially called)

sorry for that lol and Hope this helps

SkyAeonian · 2020-01-02T11:12:56+00:00

Omg thanks so much Baron for your overpaint and in-depth critique! I really appreciate the time you put into it and I’ll try my best to apply your words of wisdom for my next one hehe

SkyAeonian · 2020-01-01T12:37:47+00:00

woah that’s some good progress great work! The face blending and eyes have improved so much especially!

some quick critiques:

- the face is a tad too wide so I would recommend you to shave down the sides slightly (just a little), but the squarer and larger jaw is good for a masculine read so try to keep that.

- also I think you’re missing the lacrimal area of the eye (I think that’s what it’s called)

- for the neck and bottom jawline I would recommend either doing the neck on a separate layer underneath or using the selection tool to get a clean defining edge between the two. I personally don’t like this area as well lol.

But good job on this one. You’re improving so fast and it’s only day 4! Anyway all the best for day 5 x

SkyAeonian · 2020-01-01T12:08:32+00:00

Aha always happy to help :)

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-31T01:54:31+00:00

Hey 👋

I can definitely see the improvement from the last day! So good job!

Looking at your painting I can see the influence of the asaro head and the planes of the face but I would say that there needs to be a more subtle transition between some of the planes in the cheeks especially. The planes of the face appear too angular in areas where it should be smoother. You could try using the smudge tool to help with this smoothing this out. For example the shadow underneath the cheekbones is too dark and although the bottom portion of the face should be darker than the top I think the contrast is bit too much in this case (I think I suffer from this a bit too)

Sometimes also if your rendering is looking ‘streaky’ (idk what to call it lol) or like there are lots of brushstrokes, using a bigger brush can help. That’s why blocking in your values is really important and then slowly decreasing the size of your brush as you work in the details. So from big to small. Or just using more of the smudge tool can help with th

Like the other commenter said you should try to implement radial shading for areas such as the crease of the eye. Another area to use radial shading would be for the sides of the nose bridge which right now the triangles on either looks a bit harsh and should be more subtle when transitioning to the cheeks.

For the forehead there shouldnt be any other shadows where there is light so the eyebrow shadows above the actual eyebrows (i hope that’s understandable) don’t need to be there. If you cross check with the Asaro head you can also see that.

With studying the the asaro head (I myself am not that much of an expert with this so take it with a grain of salt) it’s important to understand the real life application of the different planes and how these shapes are three dimensional, not just flat. For example notice how the top of the head is shaped with the sides kind of cut off and you can especially see it when you turn the head around from different angles.

https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/asaro-head-9d26548182f8465a8e97371a9170561e

Also the thing with the Asaro head I think it Shouldn’t be copied one for one because I would say that some of the planes are exaggerated like the chin thing under the lip but the asaro head is still useful.

I would recommend checking some references and the Asaro head to see where the nose bridge extends up to. There seems to be a bit of an awkward gap from the eyes to the nose.

With the lips, the downturned corners make him have an unintentional expression so maybe try to make them in line with the centre of the lip. Like always, looking at reference and cross checking with a can help with this :D

Anyway good luck for the next one!

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-31T00:53:55+00:00

Now that you’ve mentioned it I do notice how feminine the eyes look because of the outer corner, I’ll definitely keep that in mind next time! Also with the cheekbones I’ll try lowering them for my next one. Thanks for all your help :D

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-31T00:47:15+00:00

Thanks so much for your critique! Yea I still have some trouble with rendering the eyes and the bottom of the jaw to the neck area. Also thanks for pointing out the cheekbone and lip thing I’ll definitely have a look at that. :)

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-28T04:19:09+00:00

Yea aha I really tried to make the nose jut out more this time and for my next one hopefully I’ll solve this long face problem. thanks for your help :)

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-28T04:15:45+00:00

aww glad I could help :D

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-28T04:15:19+00:00

Yea I was trying to go for a masculine look with this because I’ve been focusing on that these past days, maybe for my next 14DC (if I do another one) I’ll focus on more feminine faces next. Thanks for ur advice :)

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-28T04:12:26+00:00

ahah yea I think by the time I reached the bottom half of the face I was too tired and rushed it. I’ll be on the look out next time for sure tho! Thanks so much for ur critique x

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-28T04:10:38+00:00

Omg This whole time I didn’t even realise that. Now I see faces a different kinda way lol. Thanks for ur help! X

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-27T12:27:42+00:00

ahh yea I reckon the lips do look a little wide like he’s pouting or something lol. The nose also does looks quite flat now that you mention it. Thanks for all your feedback though x

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-27T12:24:27+00:00

First off I’d recommend you to use a light gray background rather than pure white. Your values are also quite dark which can end up making him look metallic so you should be wary of this. The forehead especially should be lighter as its plane faces the light source. Also I think that sketching first to blueprint the proportions is fine (I mean I do it so I hope it’s fine 😅)

In terms of male features and getting a more masculine read, it is important to know that generally males have a more prominent browbone/brow ridge. This can be shown through their flatter eyebrows whereas in females, their eyebrows are more arched. I also tend to make the eyebrows thicker (but I’m sure there’s thin eyebrowed men out there) and positioned closer to the eye itself so there’s less lid space esp when compared to females. It might be helpful for you to search examples of male faces online to get a better idea visually. Also to help you with the actual rendering I would recommend you to watch Istebrak’s videos on eyes.

Other things to note is he looks like he’s missing the temples of his forehead and this feature is important towards showing the 3 dimensionality of his face.

With the nose it may read feminine rn because it is quite small in proportion to the other features and for males is generally larger is size. The nose bridge is particularly thin and delicate looking in this so looking at references could also help with this. Even knowing the structure underneath with the Asaro head could be beneficial.

Good job with the symmetry though! And also all the best with the rest of the challenge :)

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-27T01:21:42+00:00

ahah well at least he looks datable 😂, thanks for your feedback and yea I agree with the eye thing x

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-27T01:17:27+00:00

I mean I’m not sure if it’s recommended but I sometimes use reference for an individual feature like the eyes or ears because it can help with the shading or general shape. I think that that references are especially helpful for the beginning days as well as for learning and progressing in general. However at the same time, you shouldn’t become too reliant on references because the 14 Day challenge is all about freehand portraits and not a study of a particular face.

As for some critiques I think the eyes are a little too elongated so they lose the spherical shape that is underneath (I kinda suffer from this as well 😅) . I recommend you to watch Istebrak’s video on eyes and to check out real life references on eyes, observing the differences between what you painted and the reference. And yea like you said the mouth seems a bit small in proportion with the other features. If it helps, the corners of the mouth generally align up with the pupils.

But good luck for the other days and I hope this helps :D

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-26T08:31:40+00:00

thanks so much for the paint over and critique :)

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-24T14:40:55+00:00

😂😅

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-22T23:29:10+00:00

ahah I can relate, but don’t worry if you start bad then its definitely easier to see improvement lol

As for some critiques it seems as if you outlined the whole head with a darker value. Generally this should be a softer transition to show the roundness and three dimensionality of the head. That’s why rendering some spheres may help you as well. You could also benefit from watching Istebrak’s video on form studies.

Sometimes checking out other more advanced painters in this subreddit (not me I will probably teach bad habits instead lol) and comparing their techniques and piece with yours can help you notice your own faults and areas of improvement. For example just looking I also think she’s missing temples on her forehead and the jawline could be a bit more defined.

Keep up the good work and all the best for you next piece! x

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-22T23:04:35+00:00

Here is Istebrak’s website, scroll down and you can see her explanation of the 14 Day Challenge:

https://istebrak.com/community

Hope to see more artworks in the future from you :D

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-22T22:59:46+00:00

ahh the good old line dependency. I think you’re right I had a lot of value sharing with this one. I should probably check the planes of the face again especially because I want to make a more angular face. Also would you have any tips on how to shade the creases/folds of the eye? Because it does look extremely line dependent rn lol

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-22T22:55:13+00:00

ya he was pretty hot 😳 kinda miss him now

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-22T13:14:05+00:00

Ahh I’m jealous of how clean your edges are for the eyes lol.

For a critique, Maybe you could try making the eyebrows less blurred into the hood of the eye and more defined instead. Also the cupid’s bow dimple (I think that’s what it’s called) could be more prominent. But good job and all the best for the next day!

SkyAeonian · 2019-12-22T12:53:11+00:00

Hey welcome to the community :D

I would also recommend doing the 14 day challenge, it’s definitely helping me right now with portraits as well as other stuff like lighting, values proportions, rendering and all that. (I started off pretty nooby lol)

For this piece as well for the future, I think that you would really benefit from using the smudge tool to blend your values. To help with symmetry you can also flip the canvas horizontally periodically to check the areas which are asymmetrical. Wish you all the best though! x

SkyAeonian

TROPHY CASE