General Scribbles

Didn't really get the lighting on the face right for this but I sort of had fun doing the vivid sky. Sort of.

Was that an Aliens pun?

Well, I enjoy looking at that vivid sky even if you only sort of enjoyed painting it!

I got some pretty awful news yesterday that kept me up all night.
The up side was that I managed to get the second piece for the winner of my giveaway completed all in one sitting.

Not sure I should have though as there’s areas I really don’t like about it. I really need to post these things here and then sit on them for a day or two.
Still the winner said she loves it and is getting it printed professionally to sit along side a portrait of Freddie Mercury that she bought from a ‘real’ painter. (My words not hers)

Here’s Bonnie and Clyde.

I like how you can make a simple out of focus background and still get both context and detail (like the cracks in the red and white post behind them).

I also think her face came out really nice and the shading between her neck and hair is satisfyingly dark without looking out of place (which my dark shadows always seem to do ).

Nitpicks would be that the far side of Clyde's face feels a bit indistinct in comparison to the rest of their faces, and that streak of shadow between the white and the grey just behind him is perhaps too distinct instead, making it a bit of a focal point (at least for me). But overall I do think you should be satisfied!

"Real" painter?!?

All your recent pics have been looking very cinematic and not just because of the subject matter. You do a great job of capturing and controlling the colour and light to give everything that feeling of a movie.

Here's mine for today...

Yeah, it didn't go well so...
Wasted two hours trying to do something with detailed, realistic skin textures and it ended up being a shapeless mess. Whenever I try to focus on texture in that way the form just seems to fall apart.
Didn't bother saving.

Thanks both.
@charlotte. Yup those were the exact bits I didn’t like too but the biggest problem for me is that green/blue shape behind Bonnies head. Should have worked that bit up more.

I was so inspired by your recent Rick Pic I thought I'd do another one too.

You’ve really got that boney/muscly physique of his down. And his tattoos too!

Tonight’s was just a quick nose & lip study from me because I’m up early on the morrow.

That's nice!
The subtle warms in the skin tones make it look very lifelike despite the abstract cropping. Good stuff!

Mine was another disaster today. I did save halfway through at a "decent" stage so I may try again with it later but... I'm not sure it's worth it.

No hands, no feet and I got pretty fed up with painting her hair. That far cheek isn’t vertical enough either for a true likeness. Ho hum.

Wow! That gaze is stunning. The way you've captured the light reflecting at the surface and then penetrating to reveal the structure of the iris beneath is really beautiful.

The far cheek looks fine to me. The only thing that sticks out to my eye (and I say this without seeing the reference) is the far corner of the mouth. I sort of want to reshape it a little and push the bottom lip further out. But again, that's without seeing the particular photo, the expression may indeed be like that in the ref so don't think about changing it. Just feel very satisfied by what you've done there


I'm getting very frustrated with my efforts. So many consecutive failures that I'm starting to go through the "Why do I bother?" phase.