Deb of night

[StefRob]

Here is my last one. Every advice or ideas to improve it is welcome.
By the way, a big thanks to Velocity Kendall for his precious advices. As you see I started my paint from the very begining, mate.

[Hexokinase]

I like the thumbnail, but upon closer inspection there's a few problems with this. For starters, the face is much more disproportionately polished compared to everything else. The lighting between the face and the body is inconsistent. The body feels rushed, and is even cutting into the desk. Above everything else, her gesture and face feel stiff and unnatural.

Set up a large mirror or a video camera at a desk, and act everything out. Note what body position feels comfortable. Note where your eyes tend to go when talking into a microphone where no one can see your face - I doubt most would stare blankly in front of them. The mouth just feels like it's open, but not like she's in the middle of speech. See if you can find video footage of radio pundits and note their mannerisms. A little bit of solid research in the beginning will go a long way to selling the piece as a whole.

[StefRob]

I like the thumbnail, but upon closer inspection there's a few problems with this. For starters, the face is much more disproportionately polished compared to everything else. The lighting between the face and the body is inconsistent. The body feels rushed, and is even cutting into the desk. Above everything else, her gesture and face feel stiff and unnatural.

Set up a large mirror or a video camera at a desk, and act everything out. Note what body position feels comfortable. Note where your eyes tend to go when talking into a microphone where no one can see your face - I doubt most would stare blankly in front of them. The mouth just feels like it's open, but not like she's in the middle of speech. See if you can find video footage of radio pundits and note their mannerisms. A little bit of solid research in the beginning will go a long way to selling the piece as a whole.

Wooops! Thank you for the advices. Especially the desk issue, I can't believe I missed that! About the shadows, I guess you're talking essentially about the left side of her body. I'll fix that.
While I agree with the stiff body (and I think I know how to fix it too) I don't know how to improve her face expression (not saying it's perfect).
I love the idea of watching a real radio show to find reference, it's never crossed my mind and I think I'll use it for this one and my future ones.

[Hexokinase]

I don't know how to improve her face expression (not saying it's perfect).

Watch yourself talking in a mirror. Observe people's mouths as they talk. Take screenshots from movies even. It probably wouldn't be hard to find photos of politicians where they were captured speaking.

If it were me, I'd have the mouth less open, but with more expression to the lips. Because she has no audience to face, I'd have her gaze lowered or to the side. Either way, draw up multiple possibilities on scratch paper before committing anything to canvas. Brainstorming is your friend, especially when you have references to guide you.

[tekkoontan]

hey man thnx for replying on my thread. now i am not a good artist myself but ima help you a bit. i dont know if this is a referenced painting. if it isnt then you are very good at choosing color. it look extremely realistic from afar. but when viewed closely it doesnt look that good. i think you need to improve on your female anatomy knowledge. you seemed to know how to blend and detail, maybe this is just a WIP so it looks imcomplete still, but if this is a complete piece, you need to work longer. i have a rule in life, you can apply it to yourself: if your work does not look good when it is done, then it is NOT done, go in there and work more. i hope my comment can help you get better dude.

[StefRob]

hey man thnx for replying on my thread. now i am not a good artist myself but ima help you a bit. i dont know if this is a referenced painting. if it isnt then you are very good at choosing color. it look extremely realistic from afar. but when viewed closely it doesnt look that good. i think you need to improve on your female anatomy knowledge. you seemed to know how to blend and detail, maybe this is just a WIP so it looks imcomplete still, but if this is a complete piece, you need to work longer. i have a rule in life, you can apply it to yourself: if your work does not look good when it is done, then it is NOT done, go in there and work more. i hope my comment can help you get better dude.

Thanks mate. No reference, all made from scratch. I'm curious, what do you think is wrong with here anatomy (excepted the lack of polish as mentionned by Hexoquinase)? I do believe her stiffness give a little odd look but didn't think it was related to anatomy. Help is always welcome as it's difficult to spot his own weakness.

[Velocity Kendall]

Use ref use ref use ref use ref!!!!!!!!!!!!
also do more thumnails, the composition is very flat and boring, which thumbs help eliminate. im not sure which piece of advice you meant, but starting paintnig from the beginning without sketching first is wrong.
i know jack about anatomy but her head seems very big and im pretty sure hands dont look like the one clasped round her elbow.




[IMG][/IMG]

[StefRob]

Use ref use ref use ref use ref!!!!!!!!!!!!
also do more thumnails, the composition is very flat and boring, which thumbs help eliminate. im not sure which piece of advice you meant, but starting paintnig from the beginning without sketching first is wrong.
i know jack about anatomy but her head seems very big and im pretty sure hands dont look like the one clasped round her elbow.

Oh come on! You're breaking my heart here, lol! It's that bad? Don't you think it's better than the first one I showed?
About the advice, I was talking about starting with a united color palette.
Concerning the references you gave, thanks! It's very useful. I don't know what to say about the composition, I like it this way eventhough it's not original. But I'll definitively work anatomy and pose.

[StefRob]

Here is the improved picture. So, what do you think?

[Velocity Kendall]

ah i see, yeah the colours. yeah seem fine. but that hand.. dude. i dont know why you wont use ref but that hand is wrong in a big way. wheres her thumb?