First Type of Realistic Picture

[Wonder.]

I did a quick referenced draw of two men about to kiss. It's my first time ever even attempting anything like this. Did I do good, or should I go back to abstract? All C&C welcome.

http://fav.me/d4fggof

(Also, sorry it's just a link to deviantart. I'm on my iPod. I'll try to find a way to get the picture on here.)



ADDED PICTURE (yay.)

[Bob_]

Well here's something I was told by my art teacher that I think would help you, "Draw what you see, not what you know." With people, you have to draw exactly as the picture is, and abandon all techniques you would do in a normal picture. I wasn't too confident about doing a self-portrait, but draw how it is, not how your mind tells you it should be.

The biggest issues I have with this is the hair and eyes, they don't seem realistic at all. Use more blending, maybe?

[Wonder.]

Well here's something I was told by my art teacher that I think would help you, "Draw what you see, not what you know." With people, you have to draw exactly as the picture is, and abandon all techniques you would do in a normal picture. I wasn't too confident about doing a self-portrait, but draw how it is, not how your mind tells you it should be.

The biggest issues I have with this is the hair and eyes, they don't seem realistic at all. Use more blending, maybe?

Yeah. I was really pissed with the eyes, but then got lazy. I might try to redo them today or tomorrow.

And the hair I just kinda drew; again with the laziness. Also, I was in my room for a while, and didn't really want to draw this in front of my family. :P

I will work on it later.


PS: I think you're teacher might be a genius. Not quite sure...

[aleexax3]

thats a great drawing i love it honestly i wish i can draw but this look real ( :

[darkwoon]

A couple things...

Clean it: always clean your picture from any unneeded/unwanted stuff. There's a lot of smudging around the hair, which clearly serves no purpose - take a sharp plastic eraser and remove it carefully. Same around the eye of the guy at the right - it looks as if someone punched him in the face! ;)

Volumes and shades: Shading needs to be consistent all across the drawing. If light is sharp, it makes sharp shades and high contrasts; if light is soft, so are the shades. You overcontrasted some parts while neglected others; for example, the nose of the right guy looks very flat due to lack of shading, while its neck appears unrealistically dark. If you're using a reference picture, I'd suggest making a black and white version of it, and maybe increase its contrast - it will help you spot the light and dark areas better.

Smooth darks: Your darks are not smoothly filled. On both chins, the pencil lines are easy to spot from a distance. Moreover, the smudged blacks display weird vertical "bands". That's destroying the feeling of depth.

Overall, the lineart is quite good, but the shading requires more work.

[Wonder.]

Volumes and shades: Shading needs to be consistent all across the drawing. If light is sharp, it makes sharp shades and high contrasts; if light is soft, so are the shades. You overcontrasted some parts while neglected others; for example, the nose of the right guy looks very flat due to lack of shading, while its neck appears unrealistically dark. If you're using a reference picture, I'd suggest making a black and white version of it, and maybe increase its contrast - it will help you spot the light and dark areas better.
In the deviantart description, there's a link to the original. His neck is actually that dark in the real picture. All of what you've said I've taken in and (maybe?*) will fix.


*I honestly haven't even touched this picture since I scanned it. I should really work on it. :P

[darkwoon]

In the deviantart description, there's a link to the original. His neck is actually that dark in the real picture. All of what you've said I've taken in and (maybe?*) will fix.


*I honestly haven't even touched this picture since I scanned it. I should really work on it. :P
The darker area is as dark, yes, but the transition between light and darkness is not straight-hard as you drew it. That's part of what is causing the neck to look unrealistic.

[TeddyBearRock]

you could add a bit more deatail and ease up on the shading