New style.... What do I need to change?

[Mikee]

Hey everyone.

I've been experimenting with a new style other than the cartoony looking stuff, and I'm beginning to like it. However; I know I'm doing something wrong that's taking away from the pictures. So this is my latest work. If I could get a few indepth critiques about what looks strange, what looks right? Maybe some pointers would be great. Again... I'm a new digital artist and I'm not so sure how to go about this stuff. I'm using Photoshop, and I love it, so even though you all have programs that you like better, I'll stick with this, unless you've got some fool proof evidence that I NEED to use something else. lol

And for those of you who I fought with over the Spartan. I apologize. I appreciate the critiques. I just didn't like defending my imagination as I didn't even use it for that picture. This one is actually a portrait of a good friend of mine. It's a photograph I took when she fell asleep one day, but the lighting was bad, so her face was a bit difficult to determine. Meh. I tried.

Hope you like it, and again, I'm sorry for being such a bitch in the last few posts.

Spoiler

 

[mufffin]

I thought you were making wip for chrismast :lol: , anyway dont use black on youre colors it ruins it.

 

[Mikee]

I thought you were making wip for chrismast :lol: , anyway dont use black on youre colors it ruins it.

I have no idea what you mean about the Christmas statement.... but yeah. What do you suggest instead of using black? That's how I shade the color. Should I just use darker colors on my palette to shade it? I usually just do the entire picture in light and dark grays and then paint them all over with the colors on a multiply layer. But if you can suggest a better way, I'd be happy to try it.

 

[Mascarpone]

Dark blues and purples are wonderful for shading. Or if u want to keep it earthier go more for a brown. But the general rule about black is use sparingly if at all. It's great for like, cartoony outlines but beyond that it sucks the life out of whatever you're drawing

Also that pic's pretty wishy washy. In the background it'snot as bad because things that fall to the back do tend to go out of focus, but since the whole thing is so muddy it really flattens the picture out. Try to bring more definition and sharpness to the image in the front. The girl i'm assuming.

Also ur cloth folds don't need so much white on them. Strong highlights go on things that actually reflect the light in such a way. If that's a blanket or a shirt the near-white on it makes it look very plastic. They're also lighter in the area that looks like it should be shadowed by her body and dimmer on the upper part where the light source has the most access to. So you're kind of breaking the laws there.

I think that covers it.

Incidentally i like this better than Master Tits.

 

[mufffin]

You can use black color too for coloring but its way better to use other colors and apply toning values,not just by "spamming" smudge or opacity . Heres link to read regarding colors and coloring, im also trying to learn coloring so i hope this would help. Btw the fonts you used makes it good for christmas postal card, its just my personal notice :smile:.