Sep '19

Decided to do another value study earlier.

malcomModerator
Sep '19

Welcome to the forums. :cb: Glad to have you. I think these value studies are nice. The one thing I would recommend is to work on having more hard edges. The face is is a good example of things feeling too soft. I am a fan of the dog study. Keep up the good work.

Sep '19

Thank you for pointing it out. I think I went overboard with the smudge tool. I think i ended up using it like an eraser unintentionally. It also caused me to muddy all the values up.

Sep '19

Another study trying to grasp value and its impact on form. Looking at the clock on this one and I lost focus and spent too much time on areas with little payout. So I decided to call it quits on this study for now and revisit later when I have a new set of eyes.

cedricgoModerator
Sep '19

Nice! I really like that cloak /fabric study. Looks pretty cool.

As for the last portrait study you did, I don't know what size you use for your brush, but don't be afraid to use a large one, especially in the initial stage. I'm saying that mostly because the part of her jaw on the left looks a bit messy with all those small strokes. I guess just taking a few minutes to blend could also have solved this.

Beyond that though, I think it's a solid study. Keep it up :smile:

Sep '19
1

I noticed when i start getting to smaller brush size is when i start to lose mental focus and spend a lot of time accomplishing very little. the jawline is tough for me especially when trying to read the form connecting with the neck with the chin casting shadow (I don't think I explained that as well as I could...)I think it's related to my issue with choosing soft, lost, hard edges. I did choose to leave jaw/cheek unblended for now since I went overboard with smudge tool previously. I'll attempt this study again soon and try to work it more. I Maybe i'll trying to work on blending without relying on smudge brush only...

Sep '19

A study in progress...rotation is a challenge. Trying to take into account consideration of sharp and soft edges. The nose rotation and proportion is off but I wanted to correct it after I took a break from looking at it. I started to go down the rabbit hole of trying to use smaller brush size. So to break the habit I figured I'd come back to it with a fresh set of eyes...

Sep '19

I think i'll push this study further than the others. WIP so its rough. Still working on rotation (esp. since plane of the teeth is visible) and trying to learn from the earlier study where the values were super contrasted yet the image still felt flat.

Started drifting into the small brush territory so I decided to pause this one for a short while. Just noticed how odd the overly smudged studies i've done look weird.

Sep '19

wanted to keep up with other studies while I spend some more time on the previous one. I wanted to try something with more facial expression/wrinkles. I think this one really exposed some areas that I don't have much of an idea on such as mouth/teeth, etc. During the study I decided not to spend much time on it since I'll have to do more detailed individual studies with the features isolated from rest of the face. Learned a lot of where I need to break down the face and also where I need to build up my visual library. Finding where soft and hard edges should go is also an area i'm trying to sort out...

Sep '19

Decided to stop here as I felt I was devoting too much time to this one with diminishing returns. Rotation of the mouth looks to still be a problem area, i'll probably begin a dedicated study on mouths/lips. Left the brushes rough to remind myself of that problem area. Still trying to find the balance of soft/hard edges. Conveying different material and their reflective properties is also something that caught me off guard. So it was an experiment of sorts. Definitely have much to study up on and I'll switch from full portrait to more specialized studies. When I do revisit this one I really want to incorporate some story telling potential such as in the reflection of the visor, etc. But I wanted to let this one rest for a little while and get back to more structure studies...

Sep '19

just thought gonna drop some info here about how to determine where are hard edges and where they are soft.
Try learning planes of the face with Asaro Head. There are loads of pictures online and even 3d models.
So basically, you need to figure out what planes of the face receive most of the light and what planes receive less. And building your values correctly in the picture will also help you with making objects appear more 3-dimensional.

Don't know what else to add, I personally learn a lot by observing things (photos with good light setup, masters works, artists that i like - i turn everything in greyscale and analyze how light shapes up the form of an object, i think through about where are the lightest and darkest points etc)and i also try avoiding blackest black. I go near it but never 100% (or at least i try) same with white. Reflection cannot be brighter than a light source, unless the object is very shiny.

Here's also a 2hr video about light, edgework and smudging

Hope it helps, or somewhat useful :wink:

Sep '19

Thanks for the insight on the edge issue i've been struggling with. So to make sure I am understanding correct. If i'm looking at the asaro head, the areas where there is a big difference between light and shadow = harder edge correct?

Also confused when i export from PS, the image looks much more contrasted than my psd. Is this related to export settings or color mode? My monitor needs calibrating? Thanks for any advice.

Sep '19

Difference between your photoshop file and the file u uploading on the net can be cause by your colour profile in Photoshop.
Go to photoshop > Edit > color settings > working spaces > RGB = should be set to sRGB as it is a main spectre for viewing picture online, however some people prefer to work with "adobe rbg 1998" but it tends to be more saturated overall.

Going back to the Edge issue. the edges between those planes CAn be smudged a bit but the main idea is to keep value of each plane distinct without sharing any unnecessary gradients. (just dont over smudge it? practice working with your brush flow or opacity instead of using smudge tool of any sort or an airbrush)

13 days later

Oct '19

It's pretty surprising how much catch up and warm up is needed after a week or so of not doing something every day. Anyways, i'll be back to more consistent work. Taking a rest from human faces as I do some more studies on the planes...Values still seem to be an issue. Took a break to do a quick block in of another dog. Void of texture but trying to grasp just a familiar shape and basic angle of the top of the nose/snout. In this odd phase where I don't really want to push things further rendering wise. Maybe lack of confidence in the basics? Like they say building a house of sand. Most likely... Will probably make a more inclusive post of my more current studies soon/later. Planning out a more set path for progress and did this one for fun in the mean time.

Gave up smudge brush for the time being and just sticking with same square brush, i'll have to remove the odd texture it has in the preset.

1 month later

Dec '19

haven't posted in forever but I have been studying regularly and frequently. I have big issues with understanding rotating objects and form. I've been gathering resources and references off sketchfab and similar so I can rotate the objects to better understand. Also been playing with blender to accomplish better understanding of rotating objects. plan to tackle lighting eventually but did this one a few weeks back and very purposefully tried to stay away from high contrast values.