3rd practice attempt

[kippaxblue]

The pic looks a little whiter than it is as the flash on the blackberry hates me nearly as much as thinning the AA paint does. please criticize all you can as the more advice I get the better I seem to try lol. I have only laid down the white so far.

[shane]

wow that's a lot a white! nice features and nice design tho, i think maybe i would push back the white just a touch man, but i ain't no pin up painter tho.:1eye:

[russ63]

looks petty good so far, i havent done any faces but i,m wokin on it

[jeair]

Keep up the good work.

[wolfwarrior25]

I havent done hardly any faces, There are others that have far more experience than me, but heres my opinoin, go in with a little white and build with lighter coats rather than one big thick coat. you can always add but real hard to take away the white. Im still trying to learn that also..lol. but the fondation looks real good. Michael

[horse painter]

Nice job. I would take your white and build up some of the highlights in the hair. The more info you can build into it now the easier it will be later to build up your shadows. Watch the hairline. Right now you have a pretty solid line separating it from the face. Look at the photo, it is very irregular and could use some nice dagger strokes. At least at this point build up some more white so it's not so abrupt. Also watch the iris's, they should be about the same size. Her one eye in your portrait is bigger than the other. I would also lighten them up for now. She has blue eyes. Watch her lips.....you have the highlight on the top instead of the bottom. Really study the photo. I would try to finish off the hair on the left side instead of just stopping it where the photo did. I would also try to make the fade at the bottom a little more irregular instead of a straight line. It often looks good to do almost a triangle down from the shoulders to a point about mid chest. For a beginning try though your on the right track. keep up working at it.

[kippaxblue]

Firstly thank you for all the help and advice given to me. I have tried to take it all in and this is the result please feel free to criticize and rip it to pieces as hopefully that will help me improve.

[stretchnutz]

thin and soften the brows just a little and add some more detail to the eyes and the mouth other than that its coming along rather nicely i want to see it when you are finished

[shane]

wow man it looks a lot better! her cheek still looks a little bright but other then that i like it!:em3600:

[TrikerJim]

I would darken up a couple areas. The right side where the jaw and cheek are close to the hair, appears too light to me, also the hair at the top just above the forehead. If you look at your reference photo, those areas are dark. I think you have a good start. Keep us posted on your progression.

[horse painter]

Nice fixes. Are you done, or have you just finished the white?

[TrikerJim]

Nice choice of subject matter. You've inspired me for my next try. I found a b&w of her with a beanie style hat that I plan on trying. :)

[kippaxblue]

Finally finished (well at least until I get my mojo next week) ytried to take on board all the great advice offered and added some detail to the eyes and mouth (not to sure about right eye). I am quite pleased with the result and feel I have learned a great deal thanks to the great people here.

[TrikerJim]

Nice job! I noticed that your black did the same as mine, when you try to go over the white. It turns just a little brown. Damage said to add just a drop or two of red in your black to get rid of the brown tone. I haven't tried it yet, but intend to.

[shane]

this brown shift black has come up a couple times now, there's a couple different theories out there on how to fix it, first why it happens, some blacks are brown shift and some are blue shift, sems is a example of a blue shift, hok is a brown shift, its the stuff they use to make black, sem uses carbon black, hok uses a very dark black dust pigment, so if you don't want that brown look when you shoot black over white use a blue shift black, or black candy (black candy has a deep blue shift, kinda like a moon shadow) if you have to add something to it like another color of paint then you had better shoot some samples before you use it on your panel, or art work, it can have very unsatisfactory results.
I kinda like mikes and most of the other great artist's advice to really limit the use of black, they use a combination of purples, reds and other colors to achieve a very dark mixture that's not black. I use black candy and i know im most likely wrong on that because mikes shadows look one heel of a lot better then mine do, but to me the black candy looks a lot better then using black base coat. Hopefully mike will post up his formula cause its the best one out there i think, but you also have to keep in mind what color your shadowing or shading if you using black over white on a red piece then i might use red, if i was using black over white on a yellow piece then i would not use red.
shit some one help me splane this better!

[kippaxblue]

I actually tried putting a little purple in as mike suggested on the bellyguns dvd and it seemed to work first time around so i kept the mix but the second time i used it it had a slight brown tint to it, I cleaned the brush carfully stripping it down and using thinners so i guess it must either be the color combination or it just doesnt keep when mixed. ( Using AA paints so that maybe why). Many thanks to everyone who has helped me and offered advice along the way.

[TrikerJim]

Great topic Shane! Of course the best idea, is to not put too much white down in the first place, but when you do, it's nice to be able go back and tone it down. I may need to order me some black candy.