^ Thank you. It's appreciated! Once I got the mouth down I realized it was rather easy to do again. As for realism, I'm going for that "obviously a drawing but I recognize that guy" realism. I don't want photorealism because I could just take a picture. Anyhoo, thank you for the tips. I'm trying to cram all of this into my head. J.
Try to avoid hard lines. Use shading to show ridges. Its hard to explain. I wish I could show you. This is a picture I did many years ago. The female is better but in general this is just so so work on my part. Notice the shading around the nose mouth and eyes. You cab get good practice from copying photos. This is Tony Orlando and one of Dawn.
The picture still appears flat. I see the shading but its not enough. When doing an outline of a face, make the lines very light and shade inward to give depth and roundness. The lines on people faces are actual grooves or creases. You have to consider...where is the light coming from in this picture and what is the angle of viewing.
That's probably the most critical thing about doing portraits. Here's a sketch I did tonight (of actor Nathan Fillion). Although the sketch does kinda resemble him, it's really not very accurate. I think I got the eyes mostly right--and they took a LOT of effort and retries. After I scanned the sketch, I thought "I can see some obvious problem areas...let me try to fix them in Photoshop." So I tweaked my sketch by moving some parts around and came up with this, which I think is a whole lot better: As a continuation of what Lanz said, I'd also say that certain proportions are critical to get right. I think the second image above is a huge improvment over the first, but I only moved things a little bit: lowered and slightly rotated the left eye, decreased the space between the eyebrows and the hairline, shortened the chin, etc.
Paladin. More work on the shading. The harsh lines make it appear as a caricature. Its just soo flat. Ya gotta create depth. For example, under the chin, the neck area. There should be more shadow and roundness. Look into a tool for shading. It looks like a pencil. Or you can use your finger to smear the shading. Sorta like smudging an area to create the shade needed.
Anyone who is pondering shading, check this link out: http://www.rebekahlynn.com/free/tutorial/shading_tutorial.html I think it does an excellent job of explaining things conversationally and with good visuals to go with it. Although, I think Mewa is drifting his critique from the technical and into the realm of his personal preferences where portraiture is concerned. Always remember, when it comes to criticism to use and discard advice according to what you are trying to achieve, since art and hobby art in particular is very personal.
I was an art major in college. I choose not to post pics from my portfolio. These guys are doing alright. But harsh lines in portraits turn it into a cartoon or caricature. If I had a very large scanner I could post some of my better work to move the lesson along.
