CGMythology's Sketchbook (nudity)

I think I'm going to be focusing a bit on portrait work as I'm tackling some complex illustrations for various clients, so doing something simple on the side that I enjoy I feel is the best way to go about it while avoiding burnout.   I finished up a sketch of 'Jade' from the 'Mortal Kombat' series.  For the face, I tried to capture the likeness of actress Tati Gabrielle who will be portraying her in the upcoming movie.  Overall I was very satisfied with the sketch so I went ahead and proceeded with some quick color tests.   My favorite by far is 'A', I feel it pops the most which is important for a piece like this.  I'm open to hearing suggestions or any feedback on the sketch/color tests, so please feel free to let me know what you feel works best!  Below is the sketch and color tests.

 

 

 

I think I like B. A might end up looking a bit too monochrome green but I agree the two first might "pop" the best.

Charlotte:  B is a great choice as well.  I did want a darker vibe for the image overall, so I ultimately decided to go with A. Hopefully it was the right choice!  Thanks for your input as always

...................I finished up the painting process.  It was pretty straight forward and it didn't take as long as I anticipated.  I'm pretty pleased with it overall.  There's still time for tweaking and such if necessary, so if something feels off please feel free to let me know.  Below is the current progress followed by some steps for those interested.

 
  
 

Time for a new painting!  I had this image in mind for quite some time, a portrait of Hera.  I spent a lot of time on this one especially in regards to the character design and I'm overall pleased with it.  Any input would be appreciated, will begin work on some color tests shortly! 

 

It's probably due to the tangents between her fingertips and the bodice but it looks like she has six fingers on the lower hand...

Charlotte:  Those damn tangents   I colored it in so the fingers are more obvious, I'll take care of the tangents as I continue to work on it.  Thanks for your input as always!

................Finished up some color tests.  My personal favorite is the last one, F, and it's not even close, so I will be developing that one! 

  

I like the shadow of the eyelashes on the previous pic. It's a lovely little detail that emphasises the lighting and realism.

Valence:  Thank you, glad to hear you enjoy that.

...............

I finished up the painting.  Everything went fairly smoothly thankfully and I'm fairly pleased with the painting.  Of course there's still time to make changes if needed, so if something is majorly off please feel free to let me know.  Below is the current preview followed by the steps for those interested. 

 

There's nothing major "off" and I really like her face, but I do have some "preferences" I guess you can call it. I'd rather have liked if her clothes turned out more blue-green like the colour sketch you went with, instead of this slightly purply blue but that's really minor. I also would have preferred a different colour than red for her crown - it just doesn't seem to match the rest of the colour scheme. I might have perhaps gone with amber, myself, even if it isn't a precious gem. Lastly, while the tight folds on her dress works fine, I'm not convinced her "veil" would fold the same way. It makes the fabric look kind of thick and fluffy, a bit like a luxury towel on her head... In the sketch the folds were sparser, and I honestly think you could have made them sparser still on the "larger areas" (i.e. below her shoulders) - Actually now I look more carefully I'm not sure if it's a veil falling over her shoulders or if the veil and a mantle kind of "merge" visually? If the latter, maybe the veil edge lines should have had a steeper incline than the mantle ones, since they look like one and the same shape, but then the hems at the front make no sense...

Anyway, mostly thinking aloud. Still really love her face - the look seems very fitting for Hera.

Charlotte:  Glad to hear it!  I agree about the colors of the clothes, so I reverted it to a more greenish hue.  I experimented with different colors for the gems, such as amber but it didn't pop as much as I wanted so I think I'll leave it as is, as it brings a lot of attention to the face which is intentional.  Great point about the veil, I think it works well enough but I might revisit it in the future.  I uploaded the updated version on my official website here if you're interested in seeing how it looks like now!

.....................

Time for a new illustration! I'm in the mood to paint something Boris Vallejo-ish as I haven't done that in quite a while, so I created a sketch based on some figures from Grafit Studio.  Pretty pleased with how the sketch turned out overall, and I think I'll begin work on some color tests soon... but until then please feel free to let me know any input as I prefer doing corrections early in the process, just makes the painting process easier for me and can save a lot of time!  Below is the current sketch: