Welcome to Gaia! ::

This is the first time I've attempted to do a realism with a face and I can tell that there's something very wrong with it, I just can't pinpoint what. Critique please!

Original
Edited

Let me preface this by saying that I have never done realism in my life nor can I draw very well, so I am just commenting through mere observation. :'D

01 I think the general positioning of her eyes on her head is alright - it's just that there seems to be a small misalignment between the angle of her face and the angle of her eyes. This is best observed by covering the top half of her face (see that the bottom half of her face suggests that her face isn't tilted) and then covering the bottom half of her face (see that the top half of her face suggests that it's tilted slightly to our left). To fix this, I would suggest you to bring down her left eye so it is more level with her right eye.

02 This isn't really a big deal, but her fringe looks a little two-dimensional at the roots... I don't really know how to explain this in words, so do you think I could give it a little paint-over? >_<;


Other than that, I think you did a mighty fine job for a first attempt! I especially adore how you did her nose, it looks perfect ; 3; Also, the way you painted her skin is really natural and works really well too. Very impressive * U *

I think this looks really good. The only thing that pops out is how everything looks like it's a different piece.. it doesn't look like the hair is sitting on the face, nor the eyes, or lips. I also suggest using that dark value on her neck, and bring it onto her face as well. I think that might make it interesting. =)

I think that it looks alot better already!

Just as a warning, I'm no pro at realism, but I'll try my best to convey the basics of what makes a realism portrait realistic and 3 dimensional.


PROPORTIONS; this isn't so tough. Eyes are naturally positioned in the middle of the head (yours were very close, though!). The bottom of the nose meets with the bottom of the earlobe, also our eyebrows meet with the top of our ears (I've put two horizontal lines depicting this). The bottom of the nose is positioned at around 1/3 of the face, from the bottom of the chin. I don't remember about the mouth, though... aslkfnalks My bad D:
Both eyes are separated an 'eye' length. It helps to draw an actual eye in the middle of the nose bridge to position the eyes.
Also, women cheeks tend to be less curvy on its side because of the fat. Men faces, however, have their cheeks super defined on the sides because they have less fat and more bone definition. Go figure.
3D VALUES; this is the creme of the crop. This depicts whether your realism portrait is 3 dimensional or 2D, aka flat or non-realistic. Strengthen your shadows, strengthen your highlights. If you play too much with your 'gray' or 'medium tone' values, then the depth will be ultimately lost. Try looking at your picture at a distance. Can you see, not believe, where the bottom ridge of that nose is? Can you see where both ends of the mouth are? Can you really see the 'mood' or the portrait? If it's blurry, retouch your shadows and highlights.
TEXTURE; This one's the icing on the cake, which means that you should not do it until your proportions and values are as accurate as they can be. It's like putting icing on your cake before it has been baked. Not much sense, thar. A general tip is to soften your shadows and sharpen your highlights. That's it, really. Not too complicated. o_o But the average artist likes to put those 'finishing touches' before they can remotely finish their under drawing, which is the downfall of many. When you put a highlight on the eye and go "Oooo that's so pretty" but then you need to redraw that eye due to anatomical errors, you're less likely to do that because you don't want to sacrifice the "ooo pretty highlight". This is why. OTL




AAAAAH I should've written a book, instead. OTL