Aristocrat & Fairies WIP

[MashPotato]

Hello!
I've been working on this picture of a French aristocrat being dressed by fairies (yes it's extremely girly ^_^), and while I'm not finished yet, something seems a bit off to me... I'd like some second opinions as I continue to work on it.  Is there just not enough contrast?  Boring colours?
I was also trying to make her skin very fair with made-up pink cheeks, but does it just look creepy/ugly?  Does her face look strange in general?
Should the little fairies be stay naked, or would clothing be better?
All crit/suggestions are appreciated ^_^

(PS: background suggestions are welcome, the one I had planned was pretty darn ugly...)

[LimpingFish]

Very nice work.

I would suggest maybe making her dress a richer pink and maybe try adding more contrast between the tones of her skin and layers of her skirt. At the moment, as you rightly point out, they are a little too similar.

Also (but this is just personal preference ) directing her eyes to the fairy at her sleeve might add a little interaction between the characters.

But very nice work indeed.

[ildu]

It's simply wonderful, mash . I think the character itself is great. Just one crit for the char: There's somewhat of a lack of a specific light source, and the lighting is very stable, without many really dark shadows. I can totally understand why this is, imagining her in a large palace filled with light coming from every direction on a mild spring day. But just to emphasize the form, you might wanna strengthen the shadowing on for example her backside. It's just that you have a lot of highlights on the butt, which makes it kinda look flat.

As for the fairies, I don't mind them being nude, but they probably should have wings (which is most likely in your agenda already). The mirror needs a lot of detailing which is already probably on the agenda. The mirror placement looks a bit odd though, looking like it's tilted a bit too much towards the camera for it to be logical. But maybe that's just me. And for the background, I'd suggest a lavish open-ended lighted hallway disappearing into white mist, or a girl's chamber.

This reminded me a lot of Marie Antoinette, the movie. Ah, I loved that film so much , although it was a bit of chick flick. Nevertheless, I found there's nothing sexier than Kirsten Dunst in a victorian nightgown having just woken up all fuzzy to a crisp and chilly spring day. Oh how I would've loved to be Louis XVI... except for the guillotining of course .

[sergiocornaga]

I think it looks really good. The mirror though, while obviously not finished, has kinda ugly colours.

[thewalrus]

     Way to go Mash!!! Haven't seen you around much lately but awesome work on the image!!!

[Ghost]

Great work. But I really would add one colour to her dress that serves as a contrast to the pink/creamy white. A few lines or dark green would work nicely I think.

Out of (professional ?!) interest, how do you do that stuff? Is that a sketch painted over, or completely done in a paint package?

PS: May be off topic, but thought this might add some reference material 
And a laugh.

[MashPotato]

Thank you all for all the kind words suggestions so far, I have tried to address them in my latest version:



@LimpingFish: I deepened the pink a little, and gave a slightly more purplish tinge to the underskirt.  I changed the eye direction as well, that was a good idea; I will probably play around with that a little more ^_^

@Ildu: I agree with the lighting being a little off, but I'm having trouble with it... I tried darkening the skirt around the butt area, does this help?
Heehee, and yes the fairies will have wings; I have added some preliminary ones in the newest version ^_^.  The mirror is facing toward the girl, but it indeed too much toward the camera to be practical; however, if I changed the angle, I think it would be difficult for the viewer to tell that it's a mirror

@Sergio: yup, that has been changed (and probably will be again after this version)

@Walrus: I've around, but I've been more of a lurker than a poster lately ^_^

@Ghost: Haha, cute pic! ^_^  I've added a little bit of an orange tone (because I figure it will probably be a yellowish light source), although it's more to see how it looks for now as I haven't cleaned it up yet.  To answer your question, it's a sketch painted over in Photoshop


Thanks again ^_^.  I'm still working on this, so keep the crits coming!

[Ghost]

Those wings are spot on.

[Elric]

Great paint Mashy.

I think the problem with the lighting is what's keeping this pic back.
In a deeply saturated image such as this, using a plethora of light sources leaves you with no way of defining form. Shadows are the ideal means of defining the shape and the form of an object, giving it the 3D look that gives life on paper. ( Or photoshop in that case ) I think you should keep the light source to the upper right and shade the picture accordingly. This will keep the image from appearing flat and 2 dimensional.

Another problem with the picture is the extreme chroma ( saturation ) range and analogy between shadows/halftones/highlights. As a general rule, shadows and highlights are always less desaturated than the halftones. ( Unless there is reflected light matching the color of the object surrounding it. I.E. a pink castle for our princess )
In this image, the shadows - and I take as shadows the folds of the dress - are extremely saturated in comparison to the halftones/highlights. This is another reason, why the dress looks flat. It's a good deal to bet on always laying down your values first and adding color later, thus defining form first and worrying about the palette later.

Once again, great job

[MashPotato]

Thanks for the crit; these all seem to be mistakes I keep making with every picture .  I have seen tutorials that say to use black&white first, but I have never tried it yet... it certainly might help.  I'll try to make some changes regarding saturation/lighting when I get home from work ^_^

[ildu]

Ach, I would stay away from that method (b&w first, then color). Out of personal experience, it doesn't work as well as you might have heard, and it creates more work. What I suggest you do is keep the layers under meticulous control, and have a saturation adjustment layer on top of everything. So when you want to see a b&w image of what you're working on, you can just toggle the adjustment layer on and off.

[Elric]

Here's a b/w version of the upper part with a different value range. ( accenting the shadows and highlights )


x2
[

I can't edit the dress and get a good result using only the mouse but I'm gonna give it a shot tomorrow anyway. ( Or add the full paintover when the postal office decides to give me a break and send me my new tablet soon ) I added a few facial/material features to add realism without subtracting the cartoony feeling from it; Mainly highlights and cast shadows in small parts of the body. I've also added lots of reflected light as a different solution to the multi-light source idea and focused the contrast in the head/chest area to define a focal point.
Just for the record, I don't think this is a "better" version, it's just more in line with the changes I proposed later on

Ildu: I guess it's a matter of style and taste differences but laying down values before adding color is the closest thing I think we can get  in exchange for the detailed sketchwork before painting when using traditional means.

[MashPotato]

Thanks for the suggestion about the saturation layer Ildu, I wouldn't have thought of that ^_^
And thank you Elric for that example of the things you were talking about ^_^.  I am working on the lighting, but I am trying to incorporate the lighting with the background so it will probably take me a while before I have an update--I just wanted to let everyone know I am taking their criticisms into account, even if I have nothing to show for it at the moment!

[Vel]

What more can one mortal do but marvel at the quality of that drawing?

Thumbs up, it looks amazing!

[Andail]

Nice work!
If you look at a close-up of the face, two things might need editing; her ear is positioned too close to the eye/front of the face. Try moving it back/up a bit. Also, her nose is too much to her right (i.e left in the drawing). Apart from those details, good work.

Like this:

...only the edit needs to be performed more carefully than I did it...

[MashPotato]

Thanks Andail, I think that's part of the reason why her face was bothering me ^_^

EDIT: and thanks Vel =^_^=

[loominous]

Another great pic there Mash!

The lighting n nose still bother me a bit, and I won't be able to do an edit for a day or two, but the character n style is terrific.

About the black n white step, I almost always do it, mainly because I start out with small thumbnails in which I lay down values, so the black n white foundation is already there, and then I just scale those up n keep refining. It doesn't have to be black n white; I often place a hue/saturation adjustment layer on top n choose colorize to tone all layers beneath in a way that fits the mood, as well as to get rid of the boring black n white look, so this means everything that's painted beneath will be toned (so you can paint with black n white which is easier (but it'll still be toned)).

Starting out very simply but in a manner in which the whole pic is already there from the start (though very rough) is something I'd really recommend to anyone, that is, with the values and general colour scheme present. This lets you get a sense of how the pic will turn out early on, so you can make radical modifications without losing more than a minute's work. The process is sort of like having your adjust eyes adjust to bright light, in which you  only pretty much see the main sillhouettes, then gradually start making out the finer value differences and colours.

[MashPotato]

Thank you for the advice Loominous ^_^.  Planning the entire scene first and working on it as a whole is something I need to improve on... I think I get lazy about it since I like drawing characters more than backgrounds, and tend to put the background in almost as an afterthought (if I make one at all ).

Here is the latest version, I think it's coming along.  Among other changes (including moving around her facial features), I took Ildu's suggestion and made the mirror no longer facing the viewer (after he mentioned it, the more I looked at it the more wrong it seemed! ^_^).  I tried to add more of a purple tinge to the shadows so hopefully she looks somewhat part of her environment, although I think I have a some more to do in that area.  Speaking of which, I'm not sure what that background is, but I suppose it's some part of her boudoir ^_^



Thanks for the help so far, additional crit is more than welcome ^_^

[i k a r i]

I was bored, so I've killed your draw 



Anyway, Im just posting to say your draws are unique, you have your own style, and thats the most important thing in an artist for me.

I think is awesome, congratulations!

if I have to critic something I would say I dont like the way the mirror is painted very much, but is a stupid comment 

[Elric]

Perfect Mashy, huge improvement