Official Critique Topic

[Dan_X]

:d:d:d

A vector that's been in progress for awhile...

***IMG***

1

A few comments:

1. I really like it! The colors are unique, but stylish. Keep it up-- also nice lines.. which is important for a vector.

2. Is this vector based on a photo (a photo edit-- not that that's a bad thing)?

3. What program are you using? I want to get into Vectors this November / December, once I return from a LONG vacation. I've done some vector work, but on the commercial side, and haven't actually drawn and photo edited what I truly want to. Nevertheless, I use Ullustrator CS5, and PS CS5.

on the charmander... i think the neck is too elongated, it reminds me of charmeleon with out a horn.

i want critiques too!!
i changed megaman 2's flashman completely.
****IMG****
critique plz.

Really neat, I don't know what Flashman normally looks like, but there's not much to nitpick here. Nice tones, anatomy seems good, stance seems good, I like. I'm sure my friend would love this, he LOVES megaman.

Okay, well... I have some WIPs of my own... Feel free to critique or comment. :D

^^ I appologize for the watermarks, I really do hate adding them, no matter how slight they are, but I hate when people steal my work even more.

Both were digitally painted with use of a Wacom Intuos 3 Tablet, in Photoshop CS4 and later CS5.

Thanks.

 

[TigerWoods]

Wow! I really love that second one. The shadows.. proportions... lighting. Just wow lol.

 

[Joeadok]

Something I started today it's gonna be a younger version of...

...styled fit in

still working out stylization, so I only have a head so far.

 

[Geist]

Oh my it's Sazh.
I love 3d work

Oh man Orca that's so good. So good.

 

[Neon Ness]

What program are you using? I want to get into Vectors this November / December, once I return from a LONG vacation. I've done some vector work, but on the commercial side, and haven't actually drawn and photo edited what I truly want to. Nevertheless, I use Ullustrator CS5, and PS CS5.

Either works fine but Illustrator was made for vector based image processing so it's probably best to use that. CS5 is really... shiny.

Your digipaints are awesome though. Very realistic. The facial structure of the woman in the 2nd one is pretty convincing. That's something I've been working on lately... with little success lol.

 

[Dan_X]

Wow! I really love that second one. The shadows.. proportions... lighting. Just wow lol.

Oh man Orca that's so good. So good.

Your digipaints are awesome though. Very realistic. The facial structure of the woman in the 2nd one is pretty convincing. That's something I've been working on lately... with little success lol.

Thanks guys!

Yeah, my focus is generally realism. I generally aim to draw something that people will recognize, and if they recognize it, then I know I've done something right. Typically, this is achieved through drawing people. If someone points and says "hey is that 'so-and-so'" I've hit my mark.

Neon Ness, the best way to improve is to utilize a good reference, and draw what you see. Shading (and detail) go a LONNNG way in pushing an image into that super realistic spectrum. It just takes practice.

 

[TigerWoods]

Haha yeah. The AE's orange name squad dubs you worthy.

That's a lot better than anything I could do >_>.

 

[Dan_X]

That's a lot better than anything I could do >_>.

Don't sell yourself short! If you like drawing, KEEP drawing. You will undeniably improve. The best way to practice is taking reference images of characters you like, and draw it as CLOSE to the reference as you possibly can. Once you've trained you eyes and hand, to clone the reference, take it to the next level--- people, or animals... I personally like drawing people, because it's a good way to judge how you're improving. As I've mentioned before, as people begin to identify who you've drawn, by name, you'll feel a level of gratification you never thought possible.

Again, start with the more simplistic characters, look at the shape, form, and values (shading). Replicate as best what you can what you see.

Back in the day, I use to draw Dragon Ball Z characters to fulfill the above exercise:

As I've said.. shading is VERY important. If you're not comfortable with shading, you've got to break the ice and practice. In the form of pencil art, I often sport cross hatching styles of shading.

The following image depicts my continuing shading practices, and studies:

Noted: I was always afraid I'd ruin my line art during the shading stage. If you're like me, scan it so that you have a copy of the line art.

After doing tons of drawings of this nature (many of my earlier works were anime based), begin taking on more complex things. Here's a piece that I'm quite happy with, it's a good example of where practice will get you:

Haha yeah. The AE's orange name squad dubs you worthy.

What does "AE" stand for? Art Emporium? I'm assuming the orange name you mention is the same that you're sporting? How can I get one?

I'll likely make my OWN art thread at some point. However, I must get back to work on another painting...

BTW, I do legitimate commercial commissions, for those of you who are interested. I've also done free-lance work for the guys over at Deadliest Catch (I designed promotional t-shirts that they're going to be selling for their upcoming Captains Tour---right at the tour locals!)

Thanks,
Orca

 

[Neon Ness]

What does "AE" stand for? Art Emporium? I'm assuming the orange name you mention is the same that you're sporting? How can I get one?

We had a series of art contests a while ago called Art With Your Power, top 3 placing entrants received orange names and a little feather icon (near where your premium mushroom is). Unfortunately it's discontinued for the time being...

I probably don't need to tell you this, but the amount of detail in that 3rd portrait is almost flawless. blowtoes got some competition for best graphite artist

Also, do you mind turning your signature off in this thread? xD

 

[TigerWoods]

@Orca

LMAO Wow. I'll definitely work on it. I'll post some stuff up when I get the chance to... until then... I'm drowning in essays :S.

If the AWYP's start up again (doubtful...), I bet you'd do really really really well hahaha.

That's great you get to do commercial stuff though! You have to show us more later!

 

[Geist]

I probably don't need to tell you this, but the amount of detail in that 3rd portrait is almost flawless. blowtoes got some competition for best graphite artist

loooooooooooool
I rage'd

Since AWYP is discontinued, I vote we give Orca an Orange name for great justice.

 

[TigerWoods]

loooooooooooool
I rage'd

Since AWYP is discontinued, I vote we give Orca an Orange name for great justice.

I second this. Does the council of orange agree?

 

[ZIO]

How is that fair to me?


In any case, Livvers told me that they were planning on doing another AWYP soon. never gave me a date or details, though.

Maybe I was told that so I don't bother them. .-.

 

[Geist]

I like being in a council

How is that fair to me?


In any case, Livvers told me that they were planning on doing another AWYP soon. never gave me a date or details, though.

Maybe I was told that so I don't bother them. .-.

orly? Well that sounds awesome.

:[ We love you zio don't worry.
I didn't consider the fact that other people so envied this wonderful color. I was swept away in the moment.

 

[TigerWoods]

Me too. Orca's pictures were just o_0 though haha.

 

[ZIO]

Well, I been trying my darndest to get a color.

It's so hard.

 

[Geist]

Well, I been trying my darndest to get a color.

It's so hard.

That's what she said *high fives tigerwoods*
You'll probably get one if there's a next AWYP, you're pretty good you know.

Orca you should hang out here more often. All the cool kids do it.

 

[ZIO]

Thanks for the compliment. I'm the only person I know that judges myself harshly. I always get compliments from folks. Feels awkward.

You aren't bad yourself, now. None of you Orange names.

Fo real.

 

[Geist]

Yeah I hate my own stuff.
I always see everything wrong with it, but at least it lets me know what I need to improve on.
But to make matters worse my scanner uglifies everything I do and compresses the **** out of it

god**** HP

 

[TigerWoods]

lmao! I know what you mean blowtoes. It's annoying...

I feel like most artists of any kind are really critical of their own work. Using this constructively is the hard part.

 

[Purple]

One of you should tell me when another AWYP starts ;' (

Also Orca, i'm assuming you use Photoshop for digipainting correct? do you have any particular brushes?

 

[TigerWoods]

One of you should tell me when another AWYP starts ;' (

I'll spread the word when it's announced.

Which may be a very very long time xD.

 

[Geist]

If it's announced. If.
I should be getting my tablet soon, so I'll be spamming this thread up with drawings instead of meaningless posts.

 

[BUSH]

Orca, your pictures are amazing. Keep it up, I don't know what else to say to them. Figure and detail are amazing.

One of my newer works

geekmode x 10?

 

[Geist]

geekmode x 10?

x11

good work overall
Only criticisms I can give without being nitpicky is to work on your facial congruencies, as in uhura's face looks slanted, etc. Faces are always the hardest to get down because naturally we pay more attention to the subtleties of human features. A trick I use to get the proportions just right is to look at my sketch in the mirror. Immediately you'll notice every little flaw, it's really helpful.

Keep it up and come here more often :D

 

[BUSH]

x11

good work overall
Only criticisms I can give without being nitpicky is to work on your facial congruencies, as in uhura's face looks slanted, etc. Faces are always the hardest to get down because naturally we pay more attention to the subtleties of human features. A trick I use to get the proportions just right is to look at my sketch in the mirror. Immediately you'll notice every little flaw, it's really helpful.

Keep it up and come here more often :D

Ok I will, it just takes me about a week to make these kinds of artworks so I will come here when I'm done with each

 

[Dan_X]

Since AWYP is discontinued, I vote we give Orca an Orange name for great justice.

I second this. Does the council of orange agree?

Thanks! That's very kind of you guys! I love how you refer to yourselves as "the council of orange" I laughed out lough when I read that. Awesome, haha.

Orca, i'm assuming you use Photoshop for digipainting correct? do you have any particular brushes?

Yes, I use PhotoShop CS5 for digital painting--- I've found that I also like Corel Painter quite a bit, though I generally use PS. As for brushes, I make my own, on occasion, depneding on what I'm doing. However, the brunt of my drawing is done entirely with the default brushes. For example, I drew the Avatar piece with a standard fade brush (the circle with the faded edges), and on occasion, the hard brush (no soft edges, one of the first few brushes). So in a nutshell, I generally use the first two brushes, and just change their size.

I'll give you some tips though (this info assumes you're using a tablet):

•For detail use the hard brush at small sizes 1-5 pixels. Hair is generally 1-2 pixels per strand.

•To get a nice soft gradient of color, a great shading brush is the brush with the faded edges. Enlarge the brush size much larger than than necessary, and lower the opacity a ton, 15% is a good place to start. I jump all over with opacity though, depending on what I'm doing. However, point is, large faded brushes with low opacities are excellent for smooth transitions of color, great for shading.

Yeah I hate my own stuff.
I always see everything wrong with it, but at least it lets me know what I need to improve on.
But to make matters worse my scanner uglifies everything I do and compresses the **** out of it

god**** HP

lmao! I know what you mean blowtoes. It's annoying...

I feel like most artists of any kind are really critical of their own work. Using this constructively is the hard part.

Yeah, I know what you guys mean. If I find something off with my art I WON'T let myself get away with it. Most artist's are very critical of their work. I know that I'm personally very critical, though I do enjoy constructive criticism as it helps me to improve.

Another finished piece:

In addition, here's my first model sculpt WIP. Took a few minutes.

^^Can you tell who/what it is yet?

:D

 

[Geist]

^^Can you tell who/what it is yet?

:D

It's E.T. isn't it :o

I read what you posted earlier about your philosophy of your work, and I have to say, without the risk of sounding gregarious, I share almost the exact line of thinking with my art. I love having complete recognition with my work, like when someone says right off the bat 'Hey that's so and so'. Which is why I love doing portraits so much.
But the best part is when they mistake it for a photo at first >:]

Also how the hell do you manage to do hair so **** well?
It's driving me insane, it's the one thing I don't feel absolutely comfortable with.

 

[Purple]

•To get a nice soft gradient of color, a great shading brush is the brush with the faded edges. Enlarge the brush size much larger than than necessary, and lower the opacity a ton, 15% is a good place to start. I jump all over with opacity though, depending on what I'm doing. However, point is, large faded brushes with low opacities are excellent for smooth transitions of color, great for shading.

i really needed to hear that :'D

 

[Dan_X]

It's E.T. isn't it :o

YES!!! Thank you, I'm on the right path!! :D:D:D

i really needed to hear that :'D

Excellent! Glad I could help! Also, the Eyedropper tool (short cut = i) is EXTREMELY helpful for grabbing colors near where you're shading or blending!! I use it constantly!

I read what you posted earlier about your philosophy of your work, and I have to say, without the risk of sounding gregarious, I share almost the exact line of thinking with my art. I love having complete recognition with my work, like when someone says right off the bat 'Hey that's so and so'. Which is why I love doing portraits so much.
But the best part is when they mistake it for a photo at first >:]

Hey, that's perfectly fine! It's nice to know I'm not alone-- really though, it's no surprise. How can recognition for your hard work not be exciting? Portraits will ALWAYS be my favorite form of drawing. No question about it. My favorite. There's lots I want to master, tons I can learn. There's ALWAYS more to learn.

If you don't mind, can I see your stuff? Some of your portraits, or whatever? I like looking at art.

Also how the hell do you manage to do hair so **** well?
It's driving me insane, it's the one thing I don't feel absolutely comfortable with.

Okay, hair is fun... it doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to be believable. It has to look real. First of all, I leave hair for the end. I'm not sure if you digitally paint, as the process will differ from pencil to digi. I have some pencil sketches I can scan, but the VAST majority of my drawing is digital. Anyway, so I start by blocking out the hair, that is, coloring the hair a flat color, generally a base color, like brown, or black. Then I literally draw each strand at a time, differing the width from 1-2 pixels. In addition, I change the opacity a frequently to get the desired look. The real trick is not getting overwhelmed, just draw what you see, and the rest will fall into place. To make hair look good, to make it look real, it's going to take time, as there's a ton of detail to consider. This is on the more complex spectrum for hair, I mean, this **** takes forever... lol. but I'll show you the Avatar progression (and I'm not even done with the Avatar piece-- I just took a few month break from it)

Here's the hair progression: First, here's my up-to-date version:
The resolution was dumbed down a bit for photobucket but, here goes:

Here's the process:

Spoiler

Okay, so here's the blocking phase, where I layout where the hair will be:

Now I lay out where the braids will be, again, this is complex for hair. If it wasn't braided I'd generally just draw a series of strands, some dark, and some light, to create highlights, and take my time with it.

So the braids are layed out:

From here I continually add more and more detail, drawing in the strands of hair, and focusing on highlight versus shadows.

than the continual progression:

and finally:

Well, I hope this has helped you a bit, keep at it! Take yourself outside your comfort zone!

^^All of the above was done with the first two default brushes. The hair was primarily done with the hard-edged brush.

Note: Ignore the color splotches on the top right. I don't recommend people lay stuff like that out, as there's no reason to do so. For colors, you only need 5 or so base colors per painting. Like, in this case I don't even know why I had 50 blues layed out, as only one is needed. The other variants of blue are created with the addition of white, or black (though be sparing). Just thought I should point that out.

 

[Dan_X]

oops 2x post

 

[Geist]

If you don't mind, can I see your stuff? Some of your portraits, or whatever? I like looking at art.

No problem, here's some of my more recent stuff. I consider only the first two truly done, just because I have all the other ones sitting at my desk right now. There's always more you can touch up on.
Photobucket unfortunately conspires with my HP scanner to make it look grainy, but no johns I suppose.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Okay, hair is fun... it doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to be believable. It has to look real. First of all, I leave hair for the end. I'm not sure if you digitally paint, as the process will differ from pencil to digi. I have some pencil sketches I can scan, but the VAST majority of my drawing is digital. Anyway, so I start by blocking out the hair, that is, coloring the hair a flat color, generally a base color, like brown, or black. Then I literally draw each strand at a time, differing the width from 1-2 pixels. In addition, I change the opacity a frequently to get the desired look. The real trick is not getting overwhelmed, just draw what you see, and the rest will fall into place. To make hair look good, to make it look real, it's going to take time, as there's a ton of detail to consider. This is on the more complex spectrum for hair, I mean, this **** takes forever... lol. but I'll show you the Avatar progression (and I'm not even done with the Avatar piece-- I just took a few month break from it)

Here's the hair progression: First, here's my up-to-date version:

Ah this helps more than you think. It looks like my greatest enemy right now is patience and the resolution I'm working with, and probably my materials too. I'm stuck in the stonage with graphite for the most part. So cumbersome.
I haven't yet been able to dabble in digital art with more than a trackpad and an outdated photoshop, but thankfully that's going to change when I finally start school this fall.

 

[Purple]

Blowtoes, you have one of the nicest signatures i've ever seen lol

 

[Dan_X]

No problem, here's some of my more recent stuff. I consider only the first two truly done, just because I have all the other ones sitting at my desk right now. There's always more you can touch up on.
Photobucket unfortunately conspires with my HP scanner to make it look grainy, but no johns I suppose.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Wow!! I love your stuff--- right up my alley! The first is the best, in my opinion, but they're all excellent! Great details!

You do an excellent job rendering clothing realistically! The plaid jacket in the first example, is stunning. Even more stunning, is the freaking hat!! I like the shading throughout, very soft, and very photo-realistic!

I forgot to comment on what you said earlier... I agree, the best thing in the world is when people mistake your work for a PHOTO! If it's not that comment, I get "oh you drew it on the computer...." and the person's voice trails off as they've downplayed my work as being the computer's doing, not my own. Some people think that computers do the drawing, I swear, lol.

Anyway, excellent work, we can definitely learn from each other! Which is exciting because the process is all about learning, as I've said. :D

BTW, the hair looks a LOT better than I was anticipating! The first is pic is definitely the best as far as hair is concerned (actually, it's probably my fav of the bunch anyway).

Ah this helps more than you think. It looks like my greatest enemy right now is patience and resolution, and probably materials too. I'm stuck in the stonage with graphite for the most part. So cumbersome.
I haven't been able to dabble in digital art with more than a trackpad and an outdated photoshop yet, but thankfully that's going to change when I finally start school this fall.

Listen, if you have the patience to detail and texture the clothing, and hat in the fashion you have you have more than enough skill to tackle the hair at high detail! I look forward to seeing your future pieces!!

Keep it up man!!

ps. thanks for inadvertently teaching me about the "collapse" function. I always wondered what that was. lol.

Have you any graphite tips for me? My pencil work is not as good as my digital. It's not nearly as photo-realistic. Part of the problem is that I generally don't shade very soft, I use cross hatch--- but want to learn how to better shade with a pencil. Do you use any tools to help smudge? like a smudge stick, or some sort of cloth? Any tips is greatly appreciated.

Blowtoes, you have one of the nicest signatures i've ever seen lol

Yeah, it is nice. Too bad my own SUCKS. Seriously... my hand writing is the exact opposite my artwork. lol. My cursive is just pitiful. I'm jealous.

EDIT:

Orca, your pictures are amazing. Keep it up, I don't know what else to say to them. Figure and detail are amazing.

One of my newer works

geekmode x 10?

Sorry to have skipped over this post Chief, 'twas an accident!! Thanks for the comment! I'm doing some painting right now, so I definitely plan to keep at it. :D

As for your drawing, it's awesome!!! Excellent work! That's colored pencil, right? It's probably one of my favorite mediums along with straight up pencil (outside of digital, of course)!

You did an excellent job on the hair, and clothing. Nice shading! I'm not gonna lie, at first when I skimmed by this quickly I thought it was a photo-- screenshots from the show or something.

The only thing that could use some improvement are the faces and shapes of the heads. Some are better than others, but you definitely have a ton of skill! I mean, none of them are bad by any means, they could just use some slight tweaking. For example, the girl's head, or face, seems to be a tiny bit slanty. Maybe I'm wrong... dunno. Again, excellent shading!!

I look forward to seeing more from you! :D

 

[Geist]

Blowtoes, you have one of the nicest signatures i've ever seen lol

Yeah, it is nice. Too bad my own SUCKS. Seriously... my hand writing is the exact opposite my artwork. lol. My cursive is just pitiful. I'm jealous.

hehe thanks, I've never got that complement before. ;D

I forgot to comment on what you said earlier... I agree, the best thing in the world is when people mistake your work for a PHOTO! If it's not that comment, I get "oh you drew it on the computer...." and the person's voice trails off as they've downplayed my work as being the computer's doing, not my own. Some people think that computers do the drawing, I swear, lol.

Anyway, excellent work, we can definitely learn from each other! Which is exciting because the process is all about learning, as I've said. :D

Yeah I usually get something along the lines of "did you trace that?! :O" I take that as a compliment, really. I do get annoyed when they try to downplay stuff though, I know exactly what you mean haha.
I look forward to nitpicking back and forth LOL

BTW, the hair looks a LOT better than I was anticipating! The first is pic is definitely the best as far as hair is concerned (actually, it's probably my fav of the bunch anyway).

Listen, if you have the patience to detail and texture the clothing, and hat in the fashion you have you have more than enough skill to tackle the hair at high detail! I look forward to seeing your future pieces!!

Keep it up man!!

ps. thanks for inadvertently teaching me about the "collapse" function. I always wondered what that was. lol.

Haha no problem

The thing about hair that gets me is 1) The layering, and 2) the precision. With cloth I find it's more texture and shading. I guess it all falls down to technique.
I think doing digital art will help solve both those problems though.

Have you any graphite tips for me? My pencil work is not as good as my digital. It's not nearly as photo-realistic. Part of the problem is that I generally don't shade very soft, I use cross hatch--- but want to learn how to better shade with a pencil. Do you use any tools to help smudge? like a smudge stick, or some sort of cloth? Any tips is greatly appreciated.

Hmmmm
To smudge, I actually use q-tips. I find this actually works better than my smudge stick to get a more soft texture. I started using them after my smudge stick wore out lol.
Photo-realism is all shading and contrast, as you probably already know. With Graphite, you want a range of different pencils. I generally use a 2H, an HB, a 2B and a 4B for the darkest areas.
And of course, your eraser is just as important as your pencil. I use an electric eraser and a kneaded eraser to get some of my details done.

 

[Dan_X]

hehe thanks, I've never got that complement before. ;D


Yeah I usually get something along the lines of "did you trace that?! :O" I take that as a compliment, really. I do get annoyed when they try to downplay stuff though, I know exactly what you mean haha.
I look forward to nitpicking back and forth LOL

Oh yeah, I forgot to add that I consider any form of someone telling me I didn't draw my piece to be a complement. If they can't fathom that I did it, than that's a HUGE compliment. lol.

The thing about hair that gets me is 1) The layering, and 2) the precision. With cloth I find it's more texture and shading. I guess it all falls down to technique.
I think doing digital art will help solve both those problems though.

Yeah, there's no denying it's not easy. Check out Zindy's work. She's amazing, very skillful with graphite! I hope to be that good with graphite someday. The graphite stuff no doubt transfers to digital, so I'm also eager to learn what I can from looking at her drawings, and how she goes about doing things; especially hair. There's a ton I can learn from Zindy, she's been drawing portraits for many more years than myself.

Basically, when I was younger, Zindy was my inspiration to improve my life drawing--- and no, I don't know her personally (though I wish I did). I just happened upon her site one day. lol.

I mean... look at this pic... come on. Amazing.
http://zindy-zone.dk/html/drawings/stars/evangeline_lilly_sad_freckles.html

God... she's definitely my favorite artist of all time--- well, she and Nico Di Mattia.

Hmmmm
To smudge, I actually use q-tips. I find this actually works better than my smudge stick to get a more soft texture. I started using them after my smudge stick wore out lol.
Photo-realism is all shading and contrast, as you probably already know. With Graphite, you want a range of different pencils. I generally use a 2H, an HB, a 2B and a 4B for the darkest areas.
And of course, your eraser is just as important as your pencil. I use an electric eraser and a kneaded eraser to get some of my details done.

Awesome!! Thanks, I'll try Q-tips, I didn't think of that! Yeah, the eraser is very important too! I've never used an electric eraser, sounds fancy. I use kneaded erasers though-- they are my fav. :D

 

[Geist]

Yeah, there's no denying it's not easy. Check out Zindy's work. She's amazing, very skillful with graphite! I hope to be that good with graphite someday. The graphite stuff no doubt transfers to digital, so I'm also eager to learn what I can from looking at her drawings, and how she goes about doing things; especially hair. There's a ton I can learn from Zindy, she's been drawing portraits for many more years than myself.

Basically, when I was younger, Zindy was my inspiration to improve my life drawing--- and no, I don't know her personally (though I wish I did). I just happened upon her site one day. lol.

I mean... look at this pic... come on. Amazing.
http://zindy-zone.dk/html/drawings/stars/evangeline_lilly_sad_freckles.html

That's really impressive stuff.
Strangely enough, there's someone who's work I'm striving to equal, I don't know if you've ever heard of Andy Buck.
http://andybuckstudio.co.uk/thegallery.html#thegallery.html

Simply breathtaking work. I can't imagine taking 100+ hours on a single piece, 10 is straight up pushing it for me.

Awesome!! Thanks, I'll try Q-tips, I didn't think of that! Yeah, the eraser is very important too! I've never used an electric eraser, sounds fancy. I use kneaded erasers though-- they are my fav. :D

Yeah electric erasers work almost exactly like the erase too in ps lol. You just touch the paper, and it removes the graphite so clean.
That being said, I reccommend using technical graphite pencils like these: http://www.kk.org/cooltools/staedtler-sm.jpg

Also, was that previous portrait of yours graphite or digital black and while?

 

[Dan_X]

That's really impressive stuff.
Strangely enough, there's someone who's work I'm striving to equal, I don't know if you've ever heard of Andy Buck.
http://andybuckstudio.co.uk/thegallery.html#thegallery.html

Simply breathtaking work. I can't imagine taking 100+ hours on a single piece, 10 is straight up pushing it for me.

Holy ****!! Yet another inspiration up there with Zindy and Nico for me! My God! I actually can imagine spending 100+ on a single piece, I've spent around 60 on avatar! lol. A good deal of that time was experimental-- I need to hone my skill more. Still, that's amazing.. his graphite pictures are the closest to photo-realism I've seen! Stunning!

Yeah electric erasers work almost exactly like the erase too in ps lol. You just touch the paper, and it removes the graphite so clean.
That being said, I reccommend using technical graphite pencils like these: http://www.kk.org/cooltools/staedtler-sm.jpg

Awesome, would u recommend a specific electric eraser? Also, thanks for the pencil recommendation :D

Looks like we've got some work ahead of us, no? :D

Also, was that previous portrait of yours graphite or digital black and while?

It was painted digitally.

 

[Geist]

I have a cheap plastic Helix electrical eraser, and it works just fine. I have used professional grade ones before, but honestly, like most things, it only makes a difference if you go all the way, like $50+.

I don't know how you can stand to spend that amount of time on a single piece D:
I get so lethargic.


Right now I'm concentrating more on my soon-to-be university studies doing video game art, so I've been spending less time on portraits than I'd like to, but I'd always like to squeeze in more drawing time reguardless.
Right now Stephan Martinier and Mike Butkus are my real push, they're hands down, THE best of the best.

 

[ZIO]

Woah. Active topic got unusually active.