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alwaysLearning (Dec 7, 2004)
This started out to be practise just doing an eye and eye area, but sort of grew into a larger view. I'm practising the details of drawing faces, and this is one of my first from-scratch attempts to do so in colour, using oekaki. Yes, I know he (she?) is pale. Please let me know if the skin tones are so light that the shading isn't showing.

I fully expect to come back and finish this, but family responsibilities have been interrupting so much I thought I'd better do a safety save (and yes, that means that the timer is off, by quite a bit).
3 comments – latest 4:
davincipoppalag (Dec 7, 2004)
I'm just glad to see you back a.l.
alwaysLearning (Jun 18, 2005)
drawn in 2 hours 58 min
Well, I'm trying to get a bit more anatomical accuracy, depth of concept, and visual interest going on in this picture... ...but I still can't tell if I got the skin colour too light or not. Regardless, I think my next edit will probably be my last.

Yes, that is intended to be a blade centered between his/her eyes -- I haven't decided for certain if it's an arrow, or a spear, but I'm leaning toward arrow. Speaking of which, I'm hoping to address the perspective problems next time.

It may not be much of a picture, but I'm pretty happy with the eye, overall. Any useful suggestions for improving it (especially the eyelashes, which don't look right, and I'm not sure why) will be gratefully welcomed.

Here's to hoping to come around more often, and hoping that the intervening months spent working on sharpening my artistic skills are actually showing results. :)
Artiste (Jan 2, 2006)
Well, Im new here so I feel a little weird giving advice, but it seems pretty obvious to me that you need to 'let go' a little in your painting. There is a tendency in beginner painters to noodle with a painting for too long. Loosen your strokes a little, and dont be afraid to f-up the peice. Its not the sistine chapel. The eyelashes dont feel right because I think youve messed with them too much, and now they look perfectly symmetrical. If you look at a photo of a person's face you will see that eyelashes dont actually look like little hairs, they look very often like a dark area, and if youre looking up close, you wont see every hair, but rather a few hairs here and there. Your modeling is good... and the color part of eyeball is very nicely done.
Opium (edited Jan 2, 2006)
you've definetly got a great start! I agree with artiste, the eyelashes need some more work. the eyelashes on the top lid, you shouldn't see till about the end of the iris, then it should gradually be little lashes, and the ones on the end on the right, should be defined...you could even show a few eyelashes on the left side too, but those are very short and not as dramatic. the bottom should be very faint. and is that an eyebrow ring? I'd get some references of them and just look at them, where they're placed, and how their shadows look. It's a good piece so far! and I like the pale skin :) It fits. Keep working at it! It might help to get a mirror and use yourself kind of as a reference
drawn in 9 hours 27 min with Oekaki Shi-Painter
alwaysLearning (Feb 11, 2004)
I just had this image strike me, and decided that I should practise sketching it out using the online tools, rather than simply sketching it straight onto paper. :) So, this is drawn from my imagination, with no reference images other than those in my memory. <wry smile>
1 comment – latest 2:
alwaysLearning (Feb 11, 2004)
drawn in 17 min
This is just a rough sketch - the image hit with no sense of timing, and no respect for the fact that I have to go wash the pollution off, after a trip into the city... <sigh> ...but I plan to come back and finish this piece up, though it may take me a few sessions to get it the way I want. I love being able to do my work and come back to it later!!! It's a *wonderful* change from the strict policies of the oekaki board I've been working on, where the intermediate boards are for those who've proven themselves on the beginner boards, and all submissions to the beginner boards have to be done in one work session. <wry chuckle> Since there are medical limits to how long I can work in one session, this has meant leaving the applet open continuously for hours on end, and even then, the result is not the one I would have created had I been able to work on it over multiple sessions. So, this is *such* a relief, being able to work in sessions like this -- <does a little happy dance> -- and thank you, folks, it's nice having had the chance to learn from the way that others use the boards!
vigilante (Dec 30, 2005)
the dress is very pretty. wish i'd have one
drawn in 9 hours 38 min with OekakiBBS
alwaysLearning (Mar 10, 2004)
This is a blue heron, painted based on the one in this photo, which I found on the web. I started out working without an immediate visual reference, but the bird I created looked nothing like a Blue Heron, so I started over, working from the photo.

For that matter, any useful comments and suggestions will be gratefully appreciated -- not that I would say no to compliments, either... *grin*

Edit: I specifically chose the reference photo that I did, because I liked the soft, painted look of the heron in the photo itself. So, this piece will still have a soft look, just a more detailed soft look, when finished. Any suggestions on technique to achieve that look would be very welcome. :)
7 comments – latest 4:
DeadlyBlondeArcher (Mar 10, 2004)
This is very pretty... it already is taking on a soft, but detailed look, which is what I like. I looked at your reference photo and so far you are getting there. You can have alot of fun playing with the light that is happening there - you should take advantage of that. I don't know if this applet has an airbrush (I use lascaux only) but if it does, it works nicely for things you want to have a *soft* look to, and then for the details you can come back with a regular brush or antialias brush and add them. It looks like you are using a light opacity, which is good for soft. Keep layering light opacities and then add your detail and I think you'll get what you want. (btw - you have a nice grin! lol)
alwaysLearning (edited Mar 10, 2004)
Believe it or not, this *is* me trying to condense my comments. *sigh* On the other hand, there's only so much I can compress into so few words, and I don't see much point in asking for comments without giving information on what I'm looking for. I also try to give people a chance to know who they're talking to, when I join a new site.

I *am* going for something stylized, not photo-exact, so I'm not trying for exact feathers -- but at the same time I am also trying for something that's got the look and feel of that photo, since that's what made me choose it. So, the question stands, if anyone has any suggestions as to how to get that look and feel a bit more closely on the wings. Regardless, I still appreciate the comment, feedback, and suggestion.

Edit: Thanks for the suggestion, DBA! I'm still getting used to the options on the different applets, and there are some things I seem to be able to get Shi-Painter to do that I can't seem to manage on Lascaux, yet -- but there *is* an airbrush option, I'll have to give it a try, next painting session. *smile* Thanks again!
Ari (Apr 8, 2004)
Groovy heron! ^_^ I like how you drew the outline, it makes it look like an inked watercolour ^_^ *applauds*
Urei-sama (Aug 10, 2004)
oh wow, this looks lovely! gives me a calm vibe *baskes in the calm vibe* ahhhh
Unfinished
drawn in 7 hours 57 min with Oekaki Shi-Painter
Public Boards/Beginner 
alwaysLearning (Feb 10, 2004)
Well, here it is - my second picture on this site. I now understand something about Lascaux Sketch, and I like the tool, but I'm still baffled by it in places... Still, it's a step, and I think the fishy is cute. It's based, vaguely, on a guppy, but mostly it's just swimming around in my brain. At least it's got plenty of room in there right now... if it can abide the whistling sound of the wind blowing through... <LOL>
8 comments – latest 4:
alwaysLearning (Feb 10, 2004)
Well, I can't edit this piece (which I just now tried to do in order to reduce the amount of space used), and I don't know what else to do; so... <sighs> ...unless advised otherwise, I'm going to delete it, in order to stop violating the space limit per image. I'm going to give this a couple of hours and see if I get any guidance from a moderator as to what to do, but failing that, the fishy (ack, children's books are taking over my vocabulary) will swim into history on my online sketchbook page. <sigh> I'm really sorry about the space problem, folks. :(

Isn't there a way to check the amount of space that the file is taking before you allow the user to save the file, so that we *can't* get into this kind of trouble? I think it told me the size of the .PNG file (though I'm honestly not sure), but not the actual main file, the one that's violating the space limit -- and I always feel really awkward about creating a problem I didn't even know how to check for, much less how to avoid, prevent, remedy, anything. <worried look> Do I just create images and hope blindly that they're within the size limit when I'm done, and delete them if they're not, or is there something I can do to avoid this problem in the future?
marcello (Feb 10, 2004)
I wouldn't worry about it so much, 2draw isn't really about how many mb you're using... we shouldn't be running out any time soon.
alwaysLearning (Feb 10, 2004)
Well then, in that case, I think I'll just mark this piece as finished, since I can't edit it any more. I've set a tight limit on my undo history on Lascaux, and I think I'll try another piece and see if I can avoid these file size problems that way. Thanks!
marcello (Feb 11, 2004)
Actually you probably want to set it much higher... the default is pretty low. Undo size has nothing to do with what's sent to 2draw, that's just how much of your computer's ram is used to store undo information.
drawn in 2 hours 19 min with Lascaux Sketch Classic
alwaysLearning (Feb 9, 2004)
Wynken and Blynken and Nod, one night,
Sailed off in a wooden shoe,
Sailed on a river of crystal light
Into a sea of dew.
"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"
The old moon asked the three;
"We have come to fish for the herring fish
That live in the beautiful sea...
...Nets of silver and gold have we."
Said Wynken, Blynken and Nod.

...and the little stars are the herring fish,
that live in that beautiful sea...

This image was supposed to be Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. <sigh> I hate the learning curve on new tools...

Edit 12 March 2004: Well, I got more space allotted so that I could finish this piece, only to find that the image doesn't come up properly when I try to edit it; so I'm giving up and marking this piece as finished, though I may revisit the concept later -- it's given me some ideas that I really want to work with some more. :)
2 comments – latest 4:
alwaysLearning (Feb 9, 2004)
drawn in 3 hours 9 min
As mentioned, this image was supposed to be Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. They used to have faces. So did the moon. They disappeared in a layer alteration. I don't understand how to make ShiPainter work with the layers! Waaah! I convinced myself, after much argument, not to do the cyberspace equivalent of wadding this up in a little ball and tossing it in the trash. Quite possibly I should have. The stars looked better earlier in the creative process, too. But, I really kind of liked the soft watercolour illustration look of this piece, like something from a book for very young children... ...so I caved. <sigh>

Feel free to tell me whether or not you think I should have.
dixielandcutie (Feb 10, 2004)
oh ...my....goodness. this has to be my absolute favorite poem/song in the world. that is so precious. i love what youre doing with it so far, and cant wait to see it done
zorb (Feb 10, 2004)
I agree with you dixlandcutie. I love the style. It's the kind of watercolor illustraion that you see in a lot of kids books.
alwaysLearning (Feb 12, 2004)
drawn in 4 hours 13 min
It's not as much progress as I'd hoped for in this session, but I got the shoe moved further down in the picture, finished the woodgraining, and added some perspective to the stars... ...and, most importantly, you can now see the whole of the moon. :) Next step, I replace the face on the moon, and the minimal indications of faces on Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. Best of all, I've got a much better understanding of how the layers work in Shi-Painter! *does a happy dance* I think I've even cut down on the storage space that this image should take. :)
drawn in 7 hours 23 min with Oekaki Shi-Painter