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Thread: what next

  1. #31
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    When I see Maya and Gary's work, don't feel I can offer advice, but I would ask Maya how long it takes?

    I ask, as (if you have checked out the gallary) I have been working on faces also. It does take time for me to work on this subject mater.

    But I agree that if that is what you want to do then don't stop.

    However, if you are under a time limit for a school report I would say there are many stunning still life art works that show off more of the features of Xara and take a little less time.

    With a face you need to get two things right the technique with the tool and the technique with faces - I think I know how to use he tool by now, but faces are a harder subject.

    While I know you can use blends most people doing faces have not. To show off Xara at school you want a picture that has blends, moulds and bevels and all the cool features of Xara.

    Just my thoughts. And I look forward to the finished face.

    Turan

  2. #32
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    Yes, I think you are coming along just fine!!! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]
    The eyes' shading is good and the eyelids now need more in shaping to fit, right? When you clone an object that immediately brings the copy to the front, so then if you click on it the object handles appear around it---if you click on any of those handles and hold the mouse button down and drag on the shape you can stretch or going the other way shrink the shape. If you double click on the selection the handles become rotation arrows and now you can, while holding down the mouse button, rotate the shape to any angle needed, also there is a semi-circular arrow button on the top menu bar which if clicked brings up the rotation arrows on the selection. These will help in shaping and if its not quite right you can use more feathering on the shape to shrink it and maybe clone this a few times stacking these, move the new ones slightly in other directions (it's handy to just nudge the selected shape using the keyboard's arrow buttons) to cover more area and it will look like extended soft blending---sometimes you can use a useful shape such as the eyelid shape on other parts of the face too by just adjusting its size, etc., and using other colors. When a shape still isn't right the best thing to do is make a new one to cover the area over the top which you want shaded---in subtle transparencies these blend together really well. If the color is too dark you can also lighten it up by adding a layer of the basic face color with transparency selected to the opacity you need----I have used such top layers to further blend areas that became darker than I wanted from other layers. It's like painting with acrylics---they dry fast without an extender so what you tend to do is keep building up layers of color one on top of the other---in general with the lightest areas on the top which would be highlighted and that you want to come forward in shaping. Darker ares of course look to be receeding away---just these two shading methods give the object/face form and you know this from when you sketch and work with other media. Sooooo, it's the same thing with the shaped patches used on your portrait---you draw/design the patch, give it color in a lighter or darker tone---imagine it as if you were painting a face in just black and white shades like a black and white photo...you concentrate on those shadows and highlights to build a 3D look.
    (That would be an interesting thing to try too---do an image in monochrome and it helps you concentrate on just the shading without interference of other colors).

    I will do a small example to add to this post soon and also show some more on the nose---stay tuned!!! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

    P.S. In answer about how long it takes to do a portrait after you have the hang of it, it really depends on the size and how much detail you want to use---less detail and more concentration on just using blocks of shading softened and few lines and it can be 3 to 4 hours. Highly detailed portraits like the one I did of Brandon Lee took more and I probably spent twice that in time, but I was not in any hurry and really took my time as I had to leave the project a lot to do other things too....which has an added benefit that if you take a break and come back later you can often see right away what you want to change. Breaks are very helpful to rest the eyes and mind from the intense focus. The more portraits you do though the faster the process becomes---you learn what works best for you, and there you discover these by doing.

    Ok---I'm off to do a little image for you about this shading and the nose...see ya [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]
    ---As The Crow Flies!---
    Maya
    "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover."
    -Mark Twain

  3. #33
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    Here's the first image with some examples. The next one will have the nose and other parts---I don't have a copy of your photo you are using...if you could repost that also it would be helpful to see how we want it to look in other areas.
    ---As The Crow Flies!---
    Maya
    P.S. The tut attachments get kinda big in file size so it may take a bit to load here.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	facewks1.jpg 
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ID:	7877  
    "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover."
    -Mark Twain

  4. #34
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    Okay, I just got back---this was done in 15 minutes---takes me longer to figure out the wording! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] I enhanced the contrast quite a bit so you can see the lighter patches---but the actual pic has much lighter tones.
    ---As The Crow Flies!---
    Maya
    I have company coming---but I will be back after 5:00 p.m. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	facewrks2a.jpg 
Views:	242 
Size:	57.3 KB 
ID:	4075  
    "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover."
    -Mark Twain

  5. #35
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    Here's a bit more done as an example---but without your photo I had to wing it and it can't look like Courtney, but it can serve as more help
    on planning shapes and shading. This would not be where I would stop, but that is just me, I would continue to add more shading...but it depends on the time you have. I hope this is helpful! Below this post I will also post the .xar file for you so if you want to take it apart and study it you can work that way too.

    Keep asking questions if you have them!!! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
    ---As The Crow Flies!---
    Maya
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	facewrks3a.jpg 
Views:	229 
Size:	58.3 KB 
ID:	38  
    "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover."
    -Mark Twain

  6. #36
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    .
    Attached Files Attached Files
    "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover."
    -Mark Twain

  7. #37
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    here is new image
    havin trouble with the nose still, but i put more updates to it for next steps when your redy
    new updated image

  8. #38
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    Thanks for posting that photo again---I used it for this next tut to show where some more shading could go if you want---also that the nose needed a slight shadow near the end of it and under the nose just a bit. I also tried a flat transparent layer over the bridge of the nose to soften the blending more and then did a highlight at the tip.
    Anyway, that was my thought on it---hope it is helpful. As you can see, with more and more shading it just keeps developing---keep at it!!! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] You're doing good!!!
    ---As The Crow Flies!---
    Maya
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	facewrks4a.jpg 
Views:	216 
Size:	58.3 KB 
ID:	12552  
    "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover."
    -Mark Twain

  9. #39
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    a question. What is the name of this cool font that you used in these examples?

    Thanks

  10. #40
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    Oh, it's just one of the standard ones which comes with WinXP--called "Papyrus". It has a bit of texture to it also when used in larger scale. I just like the look of it and it's legibility--not too fussy. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
    ---As The Crow Flies!---
    Maya
    "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover."
    -Mark Twain

 

 

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