|
Two photos
John,
Do not ever try to combine two expressions into one painting. It is a recipe for disaster. When I was first starting out as an artist I had to do a movie poster. It was of the guy who had a shoe phone. Anyway, the agency wanted me to combine the top of the actors head with another shot of the bottom of his head. I complied as I was young, poor and wanting to please. The horrible result was never used and I never got another job from that movie company. I have never repeated that mistake.
Your photo is too high contrast. Try Portra NC iso 160, and use a simple white reflector to fill in the dark side. This will give you better skin tone reference. Your skin tones go from light to dark, there are no lovely undertones of blue or green.
Try this exercise. Take a simple head shot in natural daylight, sit your subject next to the photo (a comparable size photo is best) in the same light. The photo helps keep the drawing accurate and you can then see all the wonderful skin tones you miss while using just photos.
|