my wife - portrait in progress

[that mike guy]

Hey,

This is painted with a wacom table in photoshop.

Still in progress; gotta finish off the shirt and her right arm, but I set it up this way so i could sorta 'jump ahead' to see what the final will kinda look like.

Something is bugging me about it though...

Anything look kinda "off" to you guys? The eyes maybe?

[Jriddim]

uhhhhhhhhh......... you need to stop posting here! j/k that is tooo good.. holy frekin crap how long did that take?

[Jriddim]

did u use a picture refrence or from life? I love the smooth quality

[balou]

Wow! Only spot that doesn't feel right for me is her right arm - the one that's on the chair - looks unfinished. Very nice!

[Drorain]

this picture is great...I'm just wondering if the contrast simply needs to be built up on the clothing, you see a great amount of colors on her skin, but the shirts looking two tone. maybe a brighter set of highlights and some more darks on the clothing, but you said also its not complete so I'm sure your nearing doing that.

also the eyebrows, are they that fine in the picture, or do they show a little light here?

[reuber1]

Still in progress; gotta finish off the shirt and her right arm, but I set it up this way so i could sorta 'jump ahead' to see what the final will kinda look like.I heard ya, Mike.

So far it's looking damn good.

EDITED for the addition of the word DAMN above, because just saying it's looking good wouldn't do it justice.

[Navian]

I heard ya, Mike.

So far it's looking good.

I agree.

I'm curious, are you going to smooth the transitions from light to dark on her skin (arms, hands, and face)?

[Logo-Mechanix]

Dude, if I owned Wacom I would be hiring you to promote the thing. The only part that looks off to me is the parts that are unfinished. Nice work.

[that mike guy]

did u use a picture refrence or from life? I love the smooth quality

Ya I used a photo reference...thats the good thing about having dual monitors.. i can set up the photo on one, and photoshop opened up on the other monitor.

I'm curious, are you going to smooth the transitions from light to dark on her skin (arms, hands, and face)?

..... the smoothing process has been a non-stop battle.....it keeps going back and forth from 'too much' to 'not enough'...

This is the first time i tried painting something realistic (at least since my 'paint and canvas' days back in college) so i'm still playing around with the brush settings....

I'm fighting the urge to use straight 'fuzzy' brushes lol

[that mike guy]

Dude, if I owned Wacom I would be hiring you to promote the thing.

Bah! lol

Anytime i think im starting to get good, i'll take a look around on the internet and find artists that ABSOLUTELY KILL ME.

And the sad thing is they're usually still in high school, lol!

[Logo-Mechanix]

Yeah, these younguns really got a handle on the technology crap.

[Jriddim]

haha, I wish I had dual monitors

[Navian]

..... the smoothing process has been a non-stop battle.....it keeps going back and forth from 'too much' to 'not enough'...

This is the first time i tried painting something realistic (at least since my 'paint and canvas' days back in college) so i'm still playing around with the brush settings....

I'm fighting the urge to use straight 'fuzzy' brushes lol

Only if you had one of these wonderful tools:

http://www.reuels.com/reuels/media/lc/lc894.jpg

:p

[Logo-Mechanix]

Those tightly wound pieces of paper do work wonders when blending pencils or charcoal.

[reuber1]

I hated those paper pencil things. It always sent a chill down my spine when using those. Ughh.

[Navian]

Kinda like those really crappy no.2 pencils with the metal wrapping at the end near the eraser? I cant use or think about those without the cringing chill. Its like when your skin is dry and you touch chalk and a chalkboard then someone runs there nails down the board. OY!

[reuber1]

^ Arghh, exactly. Just looking at them makes me want to punch a wall.

[Navian]

Thank god for dry erase boards, I'll never touch a chalkboard again! Ever!

[JStephens]

Man, good job it is turning out great. The only thing that stands out to me is the lighting on the chair. Especially under her arm. Also the background (outside the window) is too cartoonish for the picture.

[Jriddim]

Those twisty paper things.... looks like I wanna light one end and take drag hahaha, I think those things work alright for quickly bangin somthin out but I would never use them for real... I think sharpening your pencil every 5 seconds and lightly layering shadows is the best way especially if ur tryin to get that smooth quality.. I ve never used them with charcoal though... maybe they work wonders for that.

[reuber1]

Jriddim needs a taco.

I always used tissue to blend, rubbing from lighter to dark. Has always worked well for me. Whatever gets me away from those doobie-pencils.

[flutterby nut]

i just noticed there's another person sitting behind her...i think you should edit her out so the focus stays on your wife...just thoughts...

[Navian]

Pencils, colored pencils, charcoal, pastels, crayons. are great to use those rolled up paper things.

Professional artists who use the above mediums use those rolled up paper things alot. Its for smoothing and slighly bluring certain areas or all of the piece.

It takes a steady hand to use those aswell as the pencil.

You can take the sharp pencil and shade for hours, I'll use the side of a pencil and then smooth it out with the rolled up paper thing.