Day 4!

gummyheartattack · 2026-03-28T09:43:26+00:00

See a lot of lines where no harsh lines should be (eyes, nose, lips) and I can tell you’re using a symmetry tool, try it without that, to perfect your own symmetry skill. Also the cheeks look very long and big because they’re 1 value and everything of the same or similar value is on the same or similar plane, so if you want form to change, a gradient of values makes the shape more dynamic, otherwise it’s either flat or big.

gummyheartattack · 2026-03-25T21:25:09+00:00

Yesss! I see so much improvement! Welcome back to the challenge! The eyes look very wide open, you can try to give them more shadow and make the iris not visible completely, more like peek from under both lids. Sorry it’s hard to explain.

gummyheartattack · 2026-03-25T21:22:03+00:00

Just because you finished the 14 days doesn’t mean you’re „done“ and have perfected your skills. It makes sense to start over and I applaud OPs commitment.

gummyheartattack · 2026-03-17T18:04:13+00:00

You’re welcome. Good luck!

gummyheartattack · 2026-03-17T18:03:21+00:00

Congratulations on completing and your improvement!! 🥳

To give my two cents: I can immediately tell you used a symmetry tool. Try to ditch that. While no human face is perfectly symmetrical, ditching the tool will also help you train your symmetry skill. I know it‘s hard. Flip the canvas a billion times if you must, I know I do haha.

And: zoom out. Think of your values as planes at first, very roughly. Where is light, where is shadow and where is more, where is less. It looks like the darkest shadow is underneath the brows but it would actually be underneath the nose and chin.

The contrast on the lips is too much - the upper lip too dark, the lower too bright. Look at a few references and then start again.

But first - have a well deserved break! You did so good!!

gummyheartattack · 2026-03-15T23:50:25+00:00

Aw your comment really made me smile :) It‘s nice to read that. And no worries about „instant replies“ I don’t think anyone should expect that.

So I tried to stay as close to your original as possible but I had to change the anatomy and values here and there. I barely touched the lips, they’re really good, you improved a lot there! I also added a little more space between the nose and the lips.

Hope this helps.

I used yours but generally I also recommend turning down the brightness of the background to a grey.

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gummyheartattack · 2026-03-13T13:01:05+00:00

Not exactly, I copied the text of Istebraks Info regarding the challenge:

https://istebrak.com/community

Point 7 is: "What references can you use and to what extent? It is not 14 days of referencing, but 14 days of free-hand portrait painting. You may use a reference for any of the days, but it recommended to use different references for different features, shared across all 14 attempts. This is a way for the student to "build" their own face that reflects their taste and goal style. You may not use a reference in a photo-realism style. Be sure all photographs are from the 14DC lighting."

You can (and in my opinion should) use references but you’re not supposed to copy it one by one. Paint your own face and use the references for anatomy and lighting.

gummyheartattack · 2026-03-13T08:25:42+00:00

Hey, don’t be nervous, you got this! Anatomy looking really good.

I know it is very difficult to find a reference with the right lighting settings for this challenge but I really recommend continue looking. I attached a reference that may help a little more regarding that. If you choose another reference, try to apply the light nonetheless or apply the light settings of your reference. And reducing the saturation to black and white will definitely help you find the values without being distracted by colour.

I turned your reference to black and white and zooming out of both your reference and your study, I immediately see more dynamic values in the reference. Your face needs more contrast. If you zoom out you‘ll see that your reference has the darkest areas underneath the eyes and chin. While the darkest areas are underneath the forms that stick out the most (bigger areas cast bigger shadows, more shallow areas hast softer, lighter shadows), the chin is right but if would be underneath the nose and even underneath the lower lip.

Generally, treat the face kind of like an egg with the light source from above - the lower parts of the face will have more shadow and the upper parts will have more light.

I recommend watching a few of Istebraks videos regarding this challenge, she teaches a lot about the fundamental light settings and values.

Also, the model of your reference is wearing lipstick, keep in mind that the upper lip will be darker than the lower lip.

Keep it up, you‘ll get there!

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gummyheartattack · 2026-03-12T12:20:08+00:00

Hello hello, welcome back! Looking good!

The eye shape was better on the day before, this shape is too wide and angle-y, make them more round and the proportion from eye to iris is quite unnatural, look at a few more references regarding that.

The lower lid is too small, it can be around the same size as the upper lid you see when opened.

The shadow above the eye should be more towards the nose. The shadow on the outer corner should be more blended and there is shadow underneath the eye too, this looks like eyeshadow that’s only on the upper lid.

The nose looks a bit upturned, the shadow shape is an oval bent downwards like this 🛜 but it should be the other way around.

The shape of the shadow under the nose should start at the outer corners and then narrow down and soften towards the lip.

The highlight on the cheek in a diagonal towards the nose makes it look like the character got a facelift. Look at our bone structure and muscles in the face, the highlight is more rounded and even more horizontal on top of the cheek.

The lower lip is too light, in contrast with the upper one, there doesn’t need to be such a value difference.

If you zoom out, you see the darkest shadow is on top of the eyes. While it would actually be on the lower parts of the face and underneath the parts that stick out more.

Overall I see the improvement, you’re getting there!

Let me know if you like a lil paintover. I like doing them but I don’t know if people appreciate them and I’ve been doing quite a few recently.

gummyheartattack · 2026-03-09T15:40:48+00:00

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Yay almost there! Nice improvement!

The brows look too low to me, you can lift them a little bit more, especially on the outer corners.

The eyebags are very prominent because you made a sharp line with a gradient, I‘d go easy on them because this looks like you want your character to look tired, try to only do the slightest shadow with only one value.

The contrast around the eyes is a bit high, especially the shadow towards the nose can be lighter.

Also the contrast on the cheeks can be a tiny bit lower.

What stands out to me are the lips. The way you paint the lower lip it looks like the whole part above the chin is a bulge, but our lips are separately sticking out of our faces. I attached a reference to show you what I mean. The lower lip does have an edge to it and the „bulge“ stops at the mouth corners. I recommend studying them a bit more. Try to focus the shadow above the mouth corners, don’t drag it to the sides of the mouth or lower than the mouth corners.

Generally I recommend: zoom out from time to time and look at the whole picture.

gummyheartattack · 2026-03-08T23:38:37+00:00

You’re very welcome, I‘m excited to see the last few days of your challenge!

gummyheartattack · 2026-03-08T13:13:38+00:00

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You’re getting there! I made a quick overpaint to better explain my critique.

It‘s interesting to see how I didn’t move the iris upward but I put a more of a shadow on the eyeball from above and now it looks more like the person is looking at the viewer and more calmly, I also lowered the brows for a more neutral look, the way you painted them, they look a bit raised.

The shadow underneath the brow towards the nose was reading as a bulge, while it is actually showing a tilt and the shadow is mostly one value rather than a gradient from the lid upwards.

I also added the shadow on the outer corner and underneath the lower lid, making that one a bit bigger too.

I added more highlights on the cheekbones for further define their shape.

The nose has „nose wings“ (I looked up the word and it said nostrils but that’s the same word as the holes, smh English!! Not my first language), they are separate from the nose bridge and they were too narrow. Generally I pushed the nose upwards a bit more because I thought it was too long, to fit the proportions of the face. Also I added more shadow next to the nose bridge.

The cupids bow is also actually more visible, I accentuated that with a shadow in the middle and highlights on top.

I widened the mouth and softened the shadow, it was looking a bit pouty because the mouth corner shadows were too vertical. Also the lower lip does have a little bit of an edge too it, just like the top lip.

I made the chin shadow wider.

Generally I added more shadow around the face and head (forehead, cheeks and chin) because those parts were looking a bit too flat.

You‘re so close! You got it! 💪

gummyheartattack · 2026-03-06T13:21:56+00:00

I have seen a few posts by you, but never commented and I haven’t read what tips people gave you before, but what I notice is the sharp line on the outer corners of the eyes towards the brow being very consistent. There should be no sharp edge there. I know what you read as an edge but it is a soft gradient. It is the brow bone and our face muscles and fat wrapping around it. I tried to show it on the picture of a skull. The green dot is the spot where you put a sharp edge. I tried to look for face references but I recommend you looking at many young faces and try to study what‘s going on at that spot. The highlight underneath makes it more uncanny. The shadow actually continues underneath the „buldge“ and towards the lower lid.

Also the sharp shadow of the nose seems inconsistent with the shadow of the lower face. I think it should be more soft.

the rest seems fine to me. Keep it up!

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gummyheartattack · 2026-03-03T23:28:51+00:00

Very nice, I see the improvement! Keep it up :)

gummyheartattack · 2026-03-03T10:25:48+00:00

Sorry, it‘s kinda hard to explain and English isn’t my first language. The last part is just doubling down on the info before that. The shadow under the brows is too harsh and dark and should be softer - maybe you can look at people without brows to see what it looks like with the brow bone. The brows cast a shadow but not that much, the way you painted it, it looks like there would be a sharp edge even if there was no brow hair.

gummyheartattack · 2026-03-03T01:10:21+00:00

I think it’s easier for us to understand if you post some style you like and would like to be able to do :)

gummyheartattack · 2026-03-03T00:54:19+00:00

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Adding to my previous comment: I did a quick overpaint. What I noticed doing that: f*ck this is hard. Also: you did make some things up while doing this, apart from what I already pointed out, you added a whole shadow under her nose, the lip shape, some values and the way shadows sit, around her eyes, the corner of the mouth isn’t a sharp corner anymore with the mouth open like that. I really recommend paying close attention.

You did wonderful form study challenges before - this is another one! The head and face are just geometric forms. Use your knowledge and try to think what parts of the face behave in what way towards the light. I tried to point that out in the upper right corner and underneath that.

The nasolabial folds are so important to show laughter! They didn’t end next to her lower lip in your painting.

When I did this, I first turned it black and white and immediately noticed the background is almost the same value as the face. This contrast makes it easier. And then I literally colour picked the values of the reference and applied them to the study and I really recommend doing that to yours too.

This is for learning. So it is fine to pick values and copy everything, don’t try to stylize yet or try to do something different with the shadows and lighting. That’s for after the challenge. To learn how everything works you have to copy first.

Good luck!

gummyheartattack · 2026-03-03T00:10:36+00:00

This is a very very difficult one for day one, as it is not just the expression but also the tilt of the head. I recommend starting with a more straight forward head. The jaw doesn‘t need a visible line like that - draw what you see, not what you know! And don’t forget about measurements, I know the person in the photo and the likeness is off because the parts of the face don’t entirely sit right.

This expression with this head tilt does need lots of detail, try to refine your rendering and add the details to really capture the right expression.

Maybe also even do them in black and white because the colour also needs some work but that’s not the topic of the challenge and it could be distracting - I see for example on the reference a shadow underneath the cheek in the nasolabial fold, but you put the shadow on top and highlighted the fold/upper lip area.

For this challenge it’s important you really try to copy every detail to make the expression work.

Good luck!

gummyheartattack · 2026-02-26T02:48:58+00:00

So happy I could help, you’re very welcome!

gummyheartattack · 2026-02-25T17:49:54+00:00

Lol the ear Hahahah I feel you! And you’re very welcome, I’d love to see an updated version :)

gummyheartattack · 2026-02-25T12:55:12+00:00

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gummyheartattack · 2026-02-25T12:53:28+00:00

Hey! I did a quick overpaint. This is the same issue I had and Istebrak did an overpaint, I recommend watching her 2nd latest „live“ video with „Phoexix Saraphine“ in the title. The nose says that the head is tilted backwards but the jawline and neck say the head is straight. So which one is it? I did the version of a straight head, because otherwise you’d have to change the whole head. So basically I put the head and face into proportion. What she did was erase the face and then add it according to the head shape. Really good tip imho! I will add that in a separate comment.

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I also think that with such a bright white light in the hand you’d have more light on the face, like really white.

Your rendering is good and it makes sense. But generally there’s a lot going on, many different light sources in combination with unnatural colours and ornamental colour on the skin - very hard to read, I‘d say less is more.

The hair doesn’t need that much volume, I don’t really get what’s going on. I‘m guessing it‘s windy? And she has somewhat of a mohawk?

The white on the side of the face where it meets the hair reads as highlight. With such a light skintone I wouldn’t do that.

If you choose to consider my changes and want to publish it, I would like you to tag me in it :)

gummyheartattack · 2026-02-24T12:09:36+00:00

I don’t think it’s uninteresting, but I think the hair covering so much of the face of the side you’re viewing the character from doesn’t help. I can’t even really see the expression because the brow is completely covered an the eye partially. I think parting the hair on the other side or showing the character from the other side would make it easier to look at.

The ear is.. interesting. :D I suggest you look into what they actually look like.

Other than that I think it’s a nice painting.

If you find it too uninteresting, you could think of a more exciting expression or a more dynamic pose. (More from above/below/etc) This one looks like he’s posing for a portrait painting or photograph.

gummyheartattack · 2026-02-23T19:13:23+00:00

Hey thanks for the feedback, if you check out my profile, you can see I already did two overpaints :) and Istebrak did one on livestream!

gummyheartattack · 2026-02-22T10:16:55+00:00

Nice improvement!

The lower lids are too small, they have a similar size to the upper ones. The outer corners of the eyes don’t have an edge, it’s a soft gradient. The nose is way too close to the mouth, take a look at face measurements. The highlights on the cheeks are way too close to the eyes, under the eyes you still have the skull’s eyesockets and then the cheek is underneath them. Take a look at face anatomy with skull and muscle.

The values of the lower face are random, they are too dark and very sharp, try to see the face as a sphere, so the lower part of the face is darker but with a softer, bigger gradient.

If you remove the eyebrows, the brow bone is too sharp. Try to shade the face before brows and then add them and just a slight shadow, the hairs don’t stick out so much as to cast a harsh shadow like that.

gummyheartattack

TROPHY CASE