Cross posted in the forum: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php/323965-Comp-1-1-TKaney-Volterra-Michaelangelo-Portrait-Study

Ok, so, whew. This one, I feel, went a bit better.

I had no real tech issues, only the normal time and kids distracting me sometimes. Also, I was using a new program - tried Corel Painter 2016 free trial - and had a learning curve with it. For instance, I was not aware I would not be able to turn it into a grayscale image. I find that their UI is a bit cumbersome as well. I painted in full color on this one first then used Krita to convert. Have I mentioned I am not paying for photoshop, which I was most used to, but do not have it on my new machine? Haha. Soon, I will pony-up and pay.

Anyways, this piece was a portrait of Michaelangelo by Volterra, or so the source I used indicated. I felt blessed to use a better image of the artist and the work as opposed to the lower quality one I had before. I limited myself again to stay true-er to the assignment and this time i was at around 2.5 hours total. I was attempting to go way back to basics and even introduced a grid system for some portions.

There was a very clear and present widespread use of economy and contrast to settle focus on center-mass of these portraits from this time period and away from say the shoulders, torso, neck, background, and hair. They almost were looking like they were trying to create a vignette. The nose, eyes, and forehead were all given the most treatment in so far as detailing, sharper focus, and value ranges. It would appear the artist wanted us to get to know Mike, by studying his own studious, even ponderous face. Further, I think he has a cooky look on his face with that one eyebrow raised which leads me to believe he was wanting to be portrayed as a bit eccentric, but mostly serious and wizened.

Overall, I made less rookie mistakes on this one I think as I slowed down a bit more, but kept up a good, efficient, economical production flow. Don't mistake me though. I see other parts that could be cleaned up, improved, etc. however if the assignment is to use a time limit, get a good base done, I feel that I have done that.

I just can't get over pushing and scratching my nib so much on the new pad. Yikes, but does it make me anxious and cringe. Not something I was used to. Getting better though.

Feedback always welcome and comments appreciated.

Thanks!

After a long bout of not posting, I finally got a new study uploaded here. I don't like making excuses for myself normally, but I had toiled for hours on a Van Eyck study using Krita. Due to the system's and software it uses, when my laptop went to power saving mode, that file got corrupted and was unrecoverable. Sadness. Then, I searched for another program, and found Gimp and this took less time to get a decent enough result. I know it is not perfect, and I am really trying to let it be what it is which is an 1 or 2 study of the light and comp. Due to learning new software, once again, while doing this, my personal satisfaction is not high, but satisfactory. Oh, and did I mention I was out a week due to my old wacom bamboo pen and tablet going down as well? Yeah. Now I have a much nicer Intuos Art Medium. Way better.

So this is a study of Donatello Self Portrait. Whether from wear or style or both, the image is not the best from which I was working. There are a lot of middle values that mix with borders and edges. However, as with what seems to have been a sign of the times, much of the sharpness, contrast, and details focuses on or near the eyes, nose, and mouth. Likely, back then, it was important for others to use that focal point to express the identity of the subject of the portrait. There is a companion to that focus in the economy, low contrast, etc being used outside the main face and focal points. The use of these items portrays Donatello as a wizened old craftsman with years of labor, toil, and effort under him, while still having the eyes send a message of wisdom and knowing.

A fun process all in all, if not tiring, redeveloping my entire workflow, losing hours of work, and recovering from hardware failure. Whew. On to the next.

Another note: I see I forgot to fill the one I did with a black background as when I saved it the background turned white and is in some places visible in the dark areas where it should not be. Lesson learned with this. Only noticeable when saved out into a jpeg.

Read more: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php/323878-Comp-1-1-TKaney-Donatello-Self-Portrait-Study#ixzz4Db2fMFC5