Lighting and Form Critique

[Zimatrix]

Hey guys so... as you may have already guessed I'm new to painting -I work in a very cartoony style so normally when I colour I go for a more cell shaded look with a little bit of blending here and there to create soft shadows where necessary.

Thing is, I don't want to be limited to that and I think that learning to paint properly is going to teach me a lot of things about form, light and colour which will make my cartooning work stronger.

So here is my first attempt at 'painting' one of my characters, this is in no way finished but I've hit a bit of a wall so decided to seek out some help

I'm having particular trouble with the nose and how it joins on to the face, I don't really know how to convey the form (having a similar problem with the eyes)

I greatly appreciate any critiques, particularly ones focused on light, form and colour. I know the lineart and anatomy are by no means perfect but that's not what I intended to practice with this piece (although if you notice anything you think is worth mentioning I'll still be happy to hear your thoughts)

Thanks in advance everyone!

[JeffX99]

The problem is you're just trying to make this up, it seems anyway? Form is conveyed by light and shadow - how the light illuminates the form and how the shadow describes the volume of the form.

What I would suggest is sculpting up a simple head maquette or two to study how the light and shadow work. Of course a mirror is good for that too but the maquete is a little more flexible and can be observed under a variety of contolled light easier...while you sketch.

[Zimatrix]

The problem is you're just trying to make this up, it seems anyway? Form is conveyed by light and shadow - how the light illuminates the form and how the shadow describes the volume of the form.

What I would suggest is sculpting up a simple head maquette or two to study how the light and shadow work. Of course a mirror is good for that too but the maquete is a little more flexible and can be observed under a variety of contolled light easier...while you sketch.

If by making it up you mean working from imagination then yes I am, I should have probably attempted some referenced paintings before jumping in to this one, I think I got a little carried away after finding an artist that really inspired me today and jumped the gun a little XD

I have never tried sculpting before and highly doubt I would be able to pull off creating a realistic human head although I definitely see the benefit of having something like that you can manipulate and view in whatever conditions you want... perhaps there's some online resource that has a 3D model I could turn and rotate?

I'll have to see what I can dig up thanks for your suggestions

[Stoat]

Also, what you've got is a colored drawing. In other words, you have a strong line drawing with color behind it. There's not a thing in the world wrong with that -- lots of awesome art from comics to Arthur Rackham work on this principle -- but it's a whole different set of challenges from painting, per se. You have to balance how much form will be expressed with the lines and how much with the value and color. It's a much more stylized approach to rendering.

[JeffX99]

You're welcome - but don't look for a 3D model...just sculpt something. It doesn't have to be super detailed...buy some sculpey and just do it - it isn't hard. Here you go: Gurney on maquettes. For more on maquettes just search his site.

[Zimatrix]

Also, what you've got is a colored drawing. In other words, you have a strong line drawing with color behind it. There's not a thing in the world wrong with that -- lots of awesome art from comics to Arthur Rackham work on this principle -- but it's a whole different set of challenges from painting, per se. You have to balance how much form will be expressed with the lines and how much with the value and color. It's a much more stylized approach to rendering.

You make a good point That's definitely something to think about. I do like lines but I want to be at a level where I don't need to rely on them, like you said it's stylised and really a case of personal preference once you have the ability to render however you choose.

I think that during my learning process I'll start with a line drawing, define the major forms within the lines with colour/value (as I've attempted here) and then try to paint over the lines until they aren't necessary any more.

[Zimatrix]

You're welcome - but don't look for a 3D model...just sculpt something. It doesn't have to be super detailed...buy some sculpey and just do it - it isn't hard. Here you go: Gurney on maquettes. For more on maquettes just search his site.

Thanks for the link I'll give it a go if you really recommend it that strongly, just dive in and see what I come out with - everything can always be fixed