Old guy... need help with fabric

[c4l3b]

I feel like I'm making progress. But I still keep running into brick walls.

here's about 45 min of work on an old guy. The picture is based on a picture I saw on digg today... I'll find it and post it eventually.

So I'm working on values and doing ok with the face. Much better than past attempts (I guess that's the way it works right? better every time?) . I'm actually pretty happy with how its going except I can't get the shirt or hat to look like fabric! Any advice would be much much appreciated!

[funfetus]

It's pretty solid overall -- the anatomy and proportion look spot on. I would like to see more detail, though, particularly in the eyes. I'd also recommend throwing a little more light on the cheekbone, because it kinda looks like it's sinking in right now.

The cap looks fine to me -- plenty fabric-y. The shirt, on the other hand, just needs more work. It has no form, no detail. You need to model the forms with light and dark. I know the wrinkles can be pretty intimidating (drapery is the focus of my study right now), but it's worth it to put in the time to learn it.

[c4l3b]

Yeah, the shirt and hat were both just blocked in. The hat looks ok, though I think it could use some texture. The shirt hadn't even been started on.


I added some detail to the eye, played with the shirt, and raised the cheek a tiny bit.

I still don't like the shirt. I've now found that the eye is giving me problems. Every time I start to put in a pupil or something, it just looks wrong. Would we see his eyeball? I dunno, I kindof like the eyes just shadowed. but I may just be running from the problem area.

[funfetus]

The shirt's starting to look a lot better. Make sure to get the folds on the sleeves. It also looks better with the cheek bumped up a bit.

I hope you don't mind -- I did a little paintover to show what I mean about the eye. They're definitely shadowed, but remember that shadows are transparen. You've got a lot of value range left -- you're a long way from black -- so you should still be able to see details. They'll just be darker. If you want to leave the eyes shadowed out, I think you should make the shadows darker. It looks strange with just a gray spot there.

[c4l3b]

I don't mind paint overs. I actually really appreciate them.

I see that I was trying to shape the eye wrong... no upper eyelid. I'll work on it.

I'm also trying to stay away from pure black. If you look at any of my other posts, they're super dark. I have a tendency to over do it. this is really a learning exercise.

[c4l3b]

I've gone through and smoothed it out a bit. I added the eye too.
I'm pretty happy with the eye, though it seems as though the eye itself is possibly off perspective.

I did some shading on the shirt but then stood back and looked at it and decided it should be much more wrinkly. I'll play with that later.

[c4l3b]

I realized that the shadow on the nose and the lips were throwing off the perspective. I changed it a bit and it seemed to help.


looking back over the thread, I kind of liked it more in a rougher style. Oh well.