Mech girl- WIP

**theBoognish** · January 18th, 2010, 07:09 PM

Hi there! This is my first serious attempt at completing a digital painting. I am a 3d modeler by trade, and have recently been trying to learn how to paint. Please critique this work in progress, I am sure there is much work still to be done in all areas, one section which is causing me particular trouble is the mouth. Thanks in advance for your feedback!

**Little Sloth** · January 18th, 2010, 07:28 PM

It's quite nice. One thing I notice is the neck looks really thin and seems to be lacking the neck muscles that attach to the clavicle and shoulder. Of course I don't know if it is done on purpose to look more alien. I think the face needs a bit more depth as well, it is just a bit flat. The temporal and parietal areas of the skull don't look like they are curving away as much as I think they should so it makes the face look wider... or it might just be because of the neck but I'm no expert.
Don't trust me too much

**Swamp Thing** · January 18th, 2010, 08:58 PM

This is AWESOME!! Especially for someone who argues to have just been starting to draw!

What leaps to my eye first, is that some shadows are too faint. Especially on the forehead, I'd add more intensive shadow (like the one below her chin), coming from that mech stuff over it.

Further, at the parts, where the mech stuff grows out of her temples (near the eyebrows), I'd make her skin look more "baggy" to have it look more like it goes past/into her body. Also try to add a main color in another layer, that influences the color of mashinery and her head, to prevent from making it look like mashinery and her head are 2 different pictures, edited to one - can't guarantee that this suggestion works out fine. However the color and contrast difference - dark and bright (between mech and girl - try adding strong shadow on her skin maybe) is the main problem, making it look kinda "distant" from each other.

**LaurenMagpie** · January 19th, 2010, 06:40 AM

I like this a lot, only its looking pretty obvious you duplicated one side of the painting to make the whole image. You could try adding some more asymmetrical objects/details to add more interest and make the viewer's eyes want to explore the whole image.

**ScottDotNet** · January 19th, 2010, 04:22 PM

Yeah, it's really good.

The upper lip is too full around each end. There is also no shading of the filtrum.
The nose is too round looking. The nostrils look like they are holes in a pipe rather than them having their own definition.

The chin is a little sticky outy at the very bottom, but this might be intentional.

The lips are rendered really well as are the eyes.

I like the H.R. Geiger bio-mechanoid feel. It's different, which is always good.

**theBoognish** · January 19th, 2010, 05:09 PM

Thanks everyone for the very insightful comments, this is exactly what I was hoping to get from posting this image here. I will do my best to address the areas you guys have mentioned, big thanks again for taking the time to help me out.

**dnakayama** · January 19th, 2010, 11:16 PM

The face is striking, but lighting on the metal parts doesn't seem consistent. Did you want them to have a matte or reflective finish?

**theBoognish** · January 20th, 2010, 04:34 AM

Dnakayama : Thank you for pointing that out to me, I would like to metal to look more reflective, do you have any tips for doing this? I guess that I need to add more contrast and tight highlights to the surfaces that should be metallic?

**Mick2006** · January 20th, 2010, 06:56 PM

I love it! Can you tell me how did you get the symmetry so accurate on the face? thats a problem I have with most of my paintings.

**xAndrew Dittox** · January 20th, 2010, 08:14 PM

the forehead is a little flat
also i agree with the neck being to thin. it just needs to be widened at the top and bottom a little bit.
i didnt really notice that it was perfectly symmetrical until it was pointed out. its not that big of a deal but you should do a couple things to make it a little bit less symmetrical. symmetry makes things appear more static while asymmetry has a flow that the eye can follow
lastly some of the stuff thats on the face mostly on the nose and the rectangle over the eye dont really look like they are on the skin and are helping to flatten out the face

**theBoognish** · January 20th, 2010, 08:53 PM

Here is a quick update, I've tried to address some of the things mentioned on this thread. Thanks for everyone who gave input so far, it has been very helpful. Here I am playing with having some orange under-light, not sure if I want to keep it so I haven't cleaned it up yet.

@DemonMick: Thank you, actually this sketch began as a test of the new quick sketch feature in Zbrush. Basically it lets paint on a plane using all of the features of zbrush, including symmetry, and the move and smooth brushes. It's great, but now I need to find ways to add asymmetry.

@AndrewDittox: Thank you, I think I will try painting out the tatoos and redoing them in PS, hopefully following the curves of the face better. Too bad they arent on a layer already because of the process described above

**aedman** · January 21st, 2010, 03:16 AM

Symmetry is a strange thing. Our brains favor more symmetrical faces, finding them more attractive- but when the symmetry is too exact than what is found in the natural world, it gives an unsettling off putting sensation to the viewer. I think that is happening a bit here, though that might be an effect you like for the concept of this piece. Just something to think about. I think you should try really pushing the intensity of the color in the lighting behind her- push it farther than you think is a good thing, then scale it back. Don't be afraid to make bold, dramatic design choices, all the tricks are fair game as long as it helps to tell the story and grab the viewer's attention.