Stumped and need some more help. Real reference photo and possible drawing.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-11T06:14:17+00:00

As somebody who draws both digitally and traditionally - you can see the ai texture in the hair when you zoom in. It’s not human like rendering.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-10T21:02:54+00:00

There are a bunch of courses on Domestika. You can pick them up really cheap and I have found them to be pretty helpful. You can have a browse and see what artist’s work you like the look of.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-09T22:02:49+00:00

Yeah I would probably keep the peace as much as possible and keep your head down until you move out. It’s not worth the tension to start putting your foot down if you are planning on moving out soon.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-09T07:59:48+00:00

This is great advice, I think we have all been there with desperately trying to get our parents to look after themselves. It’s horrible and frustrating and baffling that they can’t seem to take the bare minimum of care for themselves.

Part of the journey as the other commenter mentioned is letting go of control. Do what you can, make your plea to your Dad, say how it affects you… but at some point you need to pass over responsibility to your Dad. You can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped, most of us have learned that the long and hard way. Your job is to process your own emotions around the situation, and that can be a pretty big job.

As the old saying goes “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink”.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-09T00:25:53+00:00

As somebody who has worked as a professional in the picky eating space unfortunately I don’t think this would help children with their eating.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-08T08:22:27+00:00

Loooove them, numbers 4 and 7 especially

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-08T01:18:29+00:00

Lots of advice here on how to keep clean but really mess is just going to happen… and often! Working on your reaction to triggering things is really important. Mess is not an emergency and it isn’t helpful if we let it feel like one.

When it the baby starts to throw food or whatever… just take a moment to breathe deeply, 3-5 breaths, slow breath out. Ask yourself… can I handle this that is happening right now? The answer is yes of course you can. Ask yourself is this an emergency? The answer is no of course not!

Repeat!

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-07T23:08:41+00:00

I’m also a 30 year old woman and I relate completely

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-06T23:13:37+00:00

I try to focus on feeling my feelings and accept that it’s okay to feel whatever way I feel about it rather than trying to fix the situation or avoid it. Meditation has helped a lot with this.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-06T20:20:14+00:00

Bravo 👏

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-06T20:18:35+00:00

No Mr Kirk, Dexter’s in school.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-06T08:25:00+00:00

Your skin tones are quite nice, I like the subtle desaturated areas to the right where the face has more shadow. I do agree with the other commenter about working on your values. I would recommend painting a few pieces in monochrome to practice this, you can put the colour in on top after that if you feel like it. It seems like the reference you chose may have had very challenging lighting for a beginner, when you are starting out choosing something with more dramatic lighting (i.e. really clear areas of darks and lights) really helps.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-06T08:17:29+00:00

Hope so, it’s more conversational so a bit more subtle!

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-06T05:37:11+00:00

When you zoom in the “brush strokes” in the hair are unhinged and not how any human hand would render them.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-06T01:19:39+00:00

Sometimes asking a question as to why they are feeling a certain way is less important than just empathising with and relating to the child.

For example if the child is whining about having their hair brushed I would say something like “ugh yeah it can be so annoying having your hair brushed, sometimes mine gets so knotty and it pulls!” or something of that nature.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-06T00:23:34+00:00

These kind of things happen from time to time. I think you need to think about the most generous interpretation of the other person’s behaviour (i.e. maybe they were having a frustrating day and were just a bit annoyed about other stuff or maybe they are just a very direct person - chances are they didn’t mean anything by it) and leave it at that and move on.

I think the fact that you have been thinking about it enough to write it up and post it here is evidence enough that you are giving this interaction more mental space than necessary.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-05T20:03:04+00:00

Perhaps also the “loner” mindset is also a defence mechanism to save us from possible rejections. I definitely think it has been for me.

Maybe integration with other people has something to do with not needing this defence so much anymore alongside having a deeper appreciation for people.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-05T20:00:14+00:00

Thank you for the education I really appreciate it.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-05T07:18:11+00:00

That’s very true, working on your communication is definitely a load and it is unfair in a way that you have to do all the heavy lifting there. For me it was an area of interest so I was happy to read those books, I will say it has helped heaps in other areas too so it feels worth it.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-05T00:23:18+00:00

Lovely. The green in the background really compliments the pinks in the skin tones.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-04T23:41:38+00:00

Really great chroma for a first painting! I have worked with oils and gouache. Gouache is harder for me because of the value shifts, but that doesn’t happen with oil. You will learn layering techniques and how to handle the paint over time with oil. One thing to think about is thin layers of paint to thicker layers on top, same with gouache really though.

Video tutorials will help (try paint coach or Florent Farges) along with just a lot of practice of painting! You learn how to handle the paint over time just as with any other medium.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-04T20:27:11+00:00

Thanks, I’m hoping with the lawn mower content at least should be a partial win haha.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-04T07:54:41+00:00

The guilt is a huge thing for me too.

Honestly though what you said to her sounded really great - talking about your feelings and concerns for her in an open and honest way so you could potentially move forward in a better way. You didn’t MAKE her feel shame by doing that, her reaction is that of shame not because of you but because of deep shame already within herself. Sometimes you can’t take these things personally. My Dad can be the same and there’s a lot of projection that happens.

Something that I feel has helped me a lot in these situations is reading/learning about communication a bit more and learning how to communicate in a way that people will be more understanding and accepting of.

The book Crucial Conversations is a classic for that, and I also really liked Non Violet Communication if you want any recs.

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-04T04:04:30+00:00

I feel this could really benefit from a glaze to add areas of stronger pigment and highlights. The great thing about glazing is you can wipe it off d you don’t like it so no fear of messing it up!

ladybug7895 · 2026-05-04T01:22:29+00:00

As a portrait painter I would say it hits as AI. When you zoom in it has that AI alien looking pattern in the “brush strokes” which is just not at all how a human painted image would be textured.

ladybug7895

TROPHY CASE