Psychotime's New Hilarious Problem

[Psychotime]

Yeah, I know I've gotta finish Ugolino's Room of Narcissism, but I do get bored doing one drawing over a long while. Plus it's good to try out something I've never tried before!

I've never done a digital painting portrait before, and I never REALLY painted in Photoshop until about a month ago. I use photoshop all the time, but I'm dead serious about that. I only draw, not "paint". But now that I've dipped my toes in it, it's really interesting.

So for fun (and experience) I thought I'd paint Bryan Cranston's head from a photo (posted below due to the automatic thumbnail).

Yep.

[Frida Bergholtz]

I'm not sure if you were aiming for a perfect likenes. But it seems to me that you have idealized his features quite a bit. Rip Kirbyfied him if you get my drift?

[Legohaulic]

The lighting on the skin looks great as well as the texture. I feel like the whites of his eyes are a bit unrealistically white. His facial hair also seems to lack a lot of the darker tones in the reference image.

[Psychotime]

I'm not sure if you were aiming for a perfect likenes. But it seems to me that you have idealized his features quite a bit.

Yep, after looking at something different after an hour or two, and can see some of of my mistakes. Head's too long, nose too thing (and I'm missing the distinguished concave part). Chin isn't wide enough...

Rip Kirbyfied him if you get my drift?

Wait, you mean his neck and trapezius? That was just for fun, haha. It made me laugh.

[Vandall]

Youre painting symbols, painting what you think you see, which is why it feels like you've lost similarity as you render. Run back across it and try to rebuild the distinct planes of his face.

[Psychotime]

Hmm... Let me try a new one. Pencil is a hell of alot fast than any digital stuff.





Dammit! Now his nose is too small! The front of his face is squished in!

This is getting fun.


Tried to do that photo again. This time in pencil.



Bah, too thin!

[Avvatar]

You're getting the basic proportion and placement all wrong, as well as the general shape of the features. It looks like you are focusing on individual details rather than the face as a whole. It's a good start, just keep doing more studies!

[arenhaus]

The lighting on the skin looks great as well as the texture.

Sorry, but they do not. The lighting is almost monochromatic, it has even less color variation than the already subdued photo source; and the texture is like crumpled plastic, due to using lots of very small brushstrokes instead of defining the planes of the face with a big brush. If you think this is a good skin tone and texture, you might want to train your eye a little more.

[Psychotime]

Sorry, but they do not. The lighting is almost monochromatic, it has even less color variation than the already subdued photo source; and the texture is like crumpled plastic, due to using lots of very small brushstrokes instead of defining the planes of the face with a big brush. If you think this is a good skin tone and texture, you might want to train your eye a little more.

Ah, that's better. Much much better. Thank you, arenhaus.

[arenhaus]

Always remember to start with BIG strokes. They define the overall form.

Then you'll need much fewer tiny strokes to add the requisite detail - and less detail is required to describe the face than most people tend to add. (Me included).

[Frida Bergholtz]

Yep, after looking at something different after an hour or two, and can see some of of my mistakes. Head's too long, nose too thing (and I'm missing the distinguished concave part). Chin isn't wide enough...



Wait, you mean his neck and trapezius? That was just for fun, haha. It made me laugh.

I'm sorry if I were unclear. I meant about what Vandall said about painting in symbols. Someone told me once that when you are drawing a portrait you should be spending more time looking at the subject than your own picture. You gave him very iconic male features like you would see with comic heroes in the forties. That suggest to me that you have been depending to much on your own vision on what he should look like and to little on what he actually does look like. And yes I was wondering about the neck ha ha! It were those muscles that made me wonder if it were even intended to be a faithful portrait to begin with.

You might consider practicing your painting and photoshop skills with some simpler shapes to get he hang of it faster and continue as you have done here practicing realistic portraits with a medium that is more familiar to you. That way you don't have to split your attention.