[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/simages2/56_ill_portraitL.jpg[/img]
Trying to create something that looks a little more painterly then my usual stuff.
More laying of picked colours, less blending and merging. Using photoshops wet brushes and wet edges.
Photo ref used. Not perfect by any stretch but I am quite happy with how it came out.
one thing I'd like to suggest and see you try, is to make a palette knife brush for the smudge tool -- a horizontal line with a few breaks of imperfection in it (the knifes edge), set it up to be as fluid and smooth as possible, and angle set to directional.
The reason I'd like to see you try this is as a tool for refinement which mimicks that of classical painting. Instead of blending into things, the palette knife lets you move mass of paint around at different stages of its drying phase, and "scratch" paint into contextual directions... I think that would work quite well to retain your lines and stroke work, but allow you to refine at any chosen level for any area of the work (eg, breaking up the hair line, and scratching suggested layering into the hairs highlight).
anyways, just a suggestion really, I thought it may be something you'd be interested in trying out if you hadn't already [:)]
Sorceror Bob: Thanks, its easy to fall in to repetition even with learning exercises. I keep trying to pull myself up and think about where I am going. I so want to apprentice myself out to an old master *sigh* I don?t suppose you can do that anymore oh for the renaissance.
J.I.Styles: Thanks its definitely something I?ll have a stab at, it sounds interesting. Thanks for the directions.
Pantmonger
[img]http://www.pantmonger.com/scraps/ill_helga.jpg[/img]
While I?m at it tonight have another one, this one is a gift art. It?s a portrait of a friend of mine from a photo of her. I hope she likes it.
Pantmonger