what next

[Xeela_Moopuppy]

here is my current project, but it isnt goin at all how i want it to and it looks like crap. I know it isnt close to being done, but i am having trouble getting correct shapes and colors because the color editor and I dont get along and are currently mad at eachother.
here is what i currently have
please show me what i can do next if possible. Im really havin a hard time with ithttp://www.geocities.com/crazysageda...urtneyface.jpg
the picture is at the bottom

[This message was edited by Nicole B. Charshaf on May 26, 2002 at 15:05.]

[gwpriester]

It cannot do the hard work for you.

Nicole

The reason that Vladimyr can do such fabulous portraits is the guy can draw and use colors like there is no tomorrow.

I don't say this to be snide. Portraits and convincing non-chalky looking flesh tones is incredibly hard. (You don't see me trying to do this).

Vladimyr can also paint portraits and has devoted a great deal of time to learning how to make Xara do what he wants it to do. He is also a classically trained fine artist with a college education in fine art.

It did not happen overnight. I'm sure he spent hundreds of hours getting to the point he is at today. And he is one of a very few people who can do really convincing vector artwork.

Don't get discouraged. Keep trying. But don't expect Xara to do what you may or may not be capable of doing on paper or canvas. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person

<a href="http://www.gwpriester.com">
www.gwpriester.com </a>


XaraXone

[Xeela_Moopuppy]

I can do this on paper [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img]

[Gaussian]

Like Gary said; practice, practice and a some talent. But why do you start with one of the most difficult projects possible for Xara X? I'm still trying to learn both Xara X and Photoshop and do rather small projects to build up my experience. I used your approach too years ago and it made me rather frustrated. Now I can honestly say that I love working with both programs. Heck, even if it takes me years before I see some decent results, as long as I keep myself focused and learning something new every day, I know I'm going somewhere.

Good luck.

[Xeela_Moopuppy]

im not a very patient person and have been working with xara for about 6 months now, and i can produce graphics that are extreemly simple but Im ready to start pushing myself. Also i am doing a school report on Xara X where I am trying to proudce something that doesnt look basic to show to the class. I refuse to get up there and say "this is a circle, you make it by pressing this button" I want to use my knowledge from what I have learned while learning other things as well. I know I should probably put away this project and find something more in my range, but I hate giving up.
In my original post it made it seem like I wanted you guys to do it for me. That isnt what I want
if I refer back to the first tutorial i used, if you go and look at it, you will see that it isnt clear, and the whole reason I got so frusterated at first is because I couldnt follow those steps. Anyways im rambling again, so im going to stop
later [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[Crow Haven]

but may I make a suggestion?????? His way isn't the only way...in spite of what Gary says.

If you'll take a look at the portrait mini-tut I posted a while ago when you first looked for info, you'll notice that there is another way to approach the project-----try using filled shapes instead of mainly outlines. All the outlined areas you have included could have used filled shapes for in different flesh tones...after using a basic color for each shape I would have made the lines colorless then used the feathering slider to soften the shapes' edges and this makes them easier to blend together with additional transparent layers of slightly darker or lighter colors over the top. The only "lines" I used were at the lips and eyelash lines...and in the hair....the rest of the face was entirely made with layers of soft transparent shapes.

I have not been using XaraX much longer than you.
If I can do it you can as well. It will require some patience of you though, some perseverence, a bit of practice at first. Please don't give up.
Try my method---fill those shapes, think of each area and parts of the face not as lines but as shapes---shapes of darker and lighter tones of the basic flesh color you want to use. See the shadowed areas and highlighted areas---block them in with transparent shapes of lighter or even white color. Leave the detailing for last.

I wish I could just show you---you'd be breezing along in minutes!

---As The Crow Flies!---
Maya

[Xeela_Moopuppy]

could you point me back to that first tutorial?
[img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[NAVITEC]

Hi Nicole ~ If you need an exact colour repro from your an area of your photie, import it into
xara.

Open 'Colour Editor'. Select your filled shape that you want to recolour.

Drag the wee 'colour picker' over the imported colour sample & watch the colours appear on the selected fill.

Click on the 'yellow tag' on 'colour editor' & save your colour in the colour bar for future - give it any name.

If you already knew all this ~ apologies!.

Try running xara's tracer tool on the photie, play with the setting's and see what it comes up with , might give some ideas?

Alan [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

[Crow Haven]

my mini-tut is here in the XaraX forum---just down from this thread a dozen or so places---entitled "Portraiture Mini-Tut". If you have more questions just ask! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
---As The Crow Flies!---
Maya

[Crow Haven]

if you want, we could try to do a step by step of your picture---at least as much as it would take to get you going and you felt you knew how to proceed from there. I don't know what your project's deadline is, but perhaps there is time to do this???

If you want to try doing this then the first thing to do is take all the facial parts and set them aside so all you've got to begin with is the plain face shape.
For this shape and most of the others use no line color, at this point there is still a hard edge so for the face shape use a very small amount of feathering---0.3 to 0.8 usually is ok.

I tend to block in all the basic features next with just their simple shapes---again, no line color. For example...draw the white of the eye shape, fill it with a very light gray...do the other and put them in place (I'm assuming you can resize and adjust your shapes...if unclear about it just ask). Draw the eyebrow shapes, fill, and place them.

Next draw and fill a shape for the bridge of the nose right down to the tip of it, and up to where the forehead begins, choose a slightly darker color than the main face color (don't worry about it being just the right shade, that will be changed by other thin transparent layers of color over the top...and besides that, you can always still select down under the added layers to adjust the original color more at any time, which is so helpful. So for now, just use the color picker and choose a darker shade of the same base color.

Draw the outside shapes of the sides of the nostrils---same deal as before, use a slightly darker color, it can be different from the nose bridge, maybe even lighter if it looks to you that that portion will end up lighter anyway and highlighted...then of course do the one for the other side if it shows and in perhaps a darker tone than the first if that's how it will be in comparison.
Draw the nostrils---but don't make them too dark...or it can look kinda awful... :-)

Next make a shape for the upper lip. Give it a tone that isn't too dark---unless you want the "been chewing tobacco" look...
Create a separate bottom lip...same way.

Okay, get these basic parts balanced on the face so they look about right.

Now back to the eyes----
Draw a circle for the iris and fill with a medium shade of the choosen color...here you can also use no color for the line edge or leave the line and perhaps change it later on. Make a circle to fit the other eye white the same way.
Next on the first eye clone that iris shape right on top of it (you'll also see, if you haven't tried it before that cloning a shape will enhance it's color a bit---very noticable with transparent layers)and then immediately select the transparency button which gives all the neat options of types/shapes of transparencies you can now make of the cloned iris. Choose "circular" transparency. If the iris color is dark already you may not see the shading, so you can just choose a darker color for its fill---you can even try choosing black, you will notice then that with the circular transparency the darkest shading is in the center and it fades out nicely towards the edge. You can clone this again--it will be darker, or clone it and try another color, or a lighter shade...play with it till you find the colors you want then create a smaller circle in black for the pupils---leave the hard edge to it, or feather it at 0.3 or so for a softer look. We'll do highlights on the eye in a bit....

Time to create the upper and lower eyelid shapes...again slightly deeper in tone than the surrounding area. For those shadows under or around the eyes use caution and don't make them too dark or it gives a really "tired" look...best to make them lighter than you think you'll need. These shapes need feathering--adjust it a lot if you need to. Don't worry if it doesn't look just right---it's all easily adjustable!!! You may very well change these shadowed area shapes into transparent layers using "elliptical" transparency---which you will find is a very nice way of shading and you will use a lot. Play with the adjustment arrows on the elliptical transparency and notice how you can fade any edges to any degree with it----sometimes a shape can be changed just right by afterwards doing more feathering on it to reduce it in size more and even then just selecting the object and using the object handles to stretch the entire shape or shrink it more---also to rotate it or flip it (or vertically or horizontally using the buttons on the top menu bar)...shapes can be adjusted also using the shape editor button then clicking on nodes and pushing and pulling on the lines. The mould tool I've never needed to use for this as the shapes for shading are controlled well enough using the other ways...but you can try it out!

Back to the eyelids---place the upper ones and stretch them, rotate them, resize them to fit properly...they will need a cloning and change the clones to elliptical transparencies in a slightly darker shade, or lighter if the area looks to need to be highlighted---experiment! You can feather this transparency to fit the area and adjust it's size...you can even "duplicate" this shape, make it much thinner and then use it for the eyelids' crease....see how it goes....duplicate it again click the button on the top menu bar to flip it for the other eye and adjust it to fit.

I'll stop here and let you try it out....I don't know if you'll have questions, but just ask and I'll continue...or you can post examples of what specifically you have a prob with.

Don't give up!!!
[img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
---As The Crow Flies!---
Maya