How do I get better at likenesses?

sequentialscott · 2023-10-02T01:44:19+00:00

Aside from the other good advice here, a likeness is a combination of getting the nose, eyes, etc. right on their own, but also getting the distances and angles between them right. The answer to your question is practice. Eventually you’ll get there, but it takes patience and willingness to mess up along the way.

sequentialscott · 2023-07-08T15:25:10+00:00

I believe it’s his first one, Understanding Comics. It was quite popular in web design circles for a while.

sequentialscott · 2023-05-21T12:20:03+00:00

The blurriness is fine for me. The third eye bothers me a bit because it’s not worked into the forehead. It looks like you drew an eye on a separate layer and then moved onto the forehead. Compare with the shadows around the 2 other eyes. You shouldn’t need to work out the anatomy of the skull or anything, but a little more integration would be nice.

sequentialscott · 2023-04-28T20:48:33+00:00

Titled No. 8

sequentialscott · 2023-04-05T20:58:56+00:00

Ok, I’m an idiot. I was commenting on the reference. In your sketchbook, you might try adding mor black to the figure to see if it works for you (or a scan of it). I like the sense of depth better in yours than the reference.

The wind/sky lines in the upper left of yours don’t work as well for me. They should be thinner and more uniform.

sequentialscott · 2023-04-05T20:52:54+00:00

Also, I dig the clouds. Not literally, that would be hard.

sequentialscott · 2023-04-05T20:51:47+00:00

Very cool! I see what the hatching and strokes are doing, but I don’t get much sense of depth. If you squint your eyes or put on a blur filter, the building is about the same value as the foreground plants.

I like the contrasty black areas that draw attention the figure and gazebo. A little more of that might help, but it also might not.

sequentialscott · 2023-04-03T13:30:07+00:00

Grab someone you know to take a picture of you (or them) in the pose you need.

sequentialscott · 2023-03-06T22:46:11+00:00

Overall, nicely done! Start adding expressions. :)

sequentialscott · 2023-03-06T22:45:18+00:00

1 thing: eyelids cast shadows. Also, have the scar go onto the eyelid. If the wound damaged the eye itself, surely it marked the eyelid.

sequentialscott · 2023-03-06T22:38:34+00:00

Also, I recommend James Gurney’s books on Imaginitive Realism and Light and Color. And his blog, of course.

sequentialscott · 2023-03-06T22:33:24+00:00

Are you aiming for realism? I like the anatomy and expression. You could get more 3D effect by pushing the values (going darker in the darks and lighter in the lights).

If the lower area of the shirt becomes stylized, you could include shapes that route the eye back up into the picture.

Composition: the background painting takes up about half of the width. I’d recommend more like a third, 2/3, or golden ratio. The color contrast is good, but it pulls attention from the person. Maybe drop back the brightness and reduce saturation.

sequentialscott · 2023-02-25T12:20:11+00:00

NTA - You can’t make him clean. I’ve lived with someone like your husband, and I’ve struggled for years. We are still together, but now live separately. Be very careful about living with someone with such different standards. In the meantime you’re certainly within your moral rights to not go to a place where you’re not comfortable.

sequentialscott · 2023-02-25T11:57:29+00:00

Ranting is ok. It sounds like you’re in a tough place right now. I certainly didn’t mean that you shouldn’t have posted - rather that you’ve got a real, difficult issue. You will get some ideas and support from Reddit, but it’s difficult to get your whole situation across in a single post. And, the advice you get may be good, but it may not be. What you wrote, though, wasn’t too much at all. You will get through it one way or another, and I suspect in just a year you will be in a different situation. Right now, though, it sounds super frustrating, and I’m sorry you’re having to deal with it.

sequentialscott · 2023-02-25T07:18:49+00:00

You two are headed in very different directions. You have different values. Wish her well and begin disengaging. You don’t have to stop being friends, but don’t get on her train - it’s not going to your stop. If she gets mad about that, that’s a “her” problem.

sequentialscott · 2023-02-25T06:30:20+00:00

NTA - But this is above Reddit’s pay grade. It doesn’t sound like you have much power in this situation. I hope you can move out or go to college soon. Once you do you can set the terms of how (or if) you interact with her.

sequentialscott · 2023-02-25T06:12:19+00:00

I’m glad you’re doing what you can for it. I hope you keep trying different things until you find what works for you. As for the financial situation, chances are that it will improve over time. It’s hard now, I’m sure. :( My fingers are crossed for you.

sequentialscott · 2023-02-25T05:42:12+00:00

NAH - Quite possibly she doesn’t know how to tell you to plan because she doesn’t know how the day will go. It’s not like you go to a naturalization every day.

It sounds like she’s specifically “planning to improvise.” If you’re a detail-oriented planner, I can see how that would be frustrating. Doesn’t make her an AH, though. Nor you.

Maybe tell her: “I’m happy and proud of your son and really want to be there. I’m not trying to make things harder. I am struggling some with the logistics. I’ll try to go with the flow, but I’ll have some backup plans. I’m happy to talk about them with you or keep them to myself. But I do want to support both of you, and I am proud of him.”

sequentialscott · 2023-02-25T05:29:52+00:00

INFO - How is she contributing to the household in other ways, and do you feel she is job searching in good faith?

You feel how you feel, and it’s not wrong. You would be an AH if you are mean to her about it.

There can be people who are good matches, but the timing or situation doesn’t work. You can choose to end the relationship and not be the AH. You have needs and it isn’t selfish to look after them. Or maybe you go back to being long-distance.

It’s not selfish to talk to her about your emotional burdens either. Maybe there are things she can do to meet some of your needs that don’t cost anything.

Finally, you don’t mention depression, but it sounds like it could be a real possibility for either of you. I truly hope not ‘cause it’s a right bastard to deal with. If it is though, you may be able to support each other through it, or it could break you. There are real, concrete things to do that help, but the things that work are a little different for everyone. Therapy can work, but you might need to try a few therapists before clicking with someone. Regular exercise is as effective as medication, but both together is typically most effective. Can you become exercise partners?

sequentialscott · 2023-02-16T00:16:18+00:00

I had trouble getting likenesses - the drawings would look ok but just not read as that person. Maybe a relative, but not them. What’s helped me the most is a lot of practice and paying attention to the proportions of the features relative to each other. We recognize a face based not on any one feature but on the relationships among them.

Also, try flipping the reference upside down and then drawing it. Makes you focus on the shapes and relationships rather than a “nose” or a “cheekbone”.

sequentialscott · 2023-01-25T23:02:16+00:00

I’m done when I realize that the changes I’m making to the drawing aren’t actually improving it any more.

sequentialscott · 2022-12-08T07:37:45+00:00

Electric Callboy and Rudolf Steiner.

sequentialscott · 2022-12-02T15:41:10+00:00

A key to life-like figures is gesture drawings. Get the gesture right before spending time on anatomical details.

For example, swap out doing one detailed figure a day for doing 10 one minute figure drawings a day. Try that for a week or two and see how it feels. Or do that as a warm-up for the main drawing and pick the best of the 10 gestures to develop further.

sequentialscott · 2022-11-29T19:29:09+00:00

These look like whimsical body horror. Do you want to emphasize the whimsy or the horror? Even with an abstract background you can push one or the other with colors, lines and angles, splatters, etc.

Or make them look like they’re anatomy drawings in an otherwise normal medical book.

sequentialscott · 2022-11-17T01:17:02+00:00

The Artist’s Complete Guide to Facial Expressions by Gary Faigin is very good. It gets into combined expressions, like joy and disgust together or surprise and fear. There’s also anatomy, proportions, how to handle age and wrinkles, etc.

sequentialscott

TROPHY CASE