(click for larger DA version (recommended))

A character from a story project. Painted using a slew of Krita brushes, mainly rakes brushes. The move brush is really something GIMP could use - a way to adjust things directly on canvas as a brush. Very useful for clicking and dragging the eye around to adjust it, for example.

Took my time for once, to try to get the light right for a bright outdoor scene, so this is work done over two evenings. I don't recall if I ever actually tried doing freckles before, it was fun! More technical details on DeviantArt.

Comments are critique is appreciated as always!

Update: After feedback I reduced the size of the freckles on her arms a little.
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Griatch

I like this work, but the freckles seem over done to me.

Wonderful again, Griatch; like the freckles.

Glad you like it and thanks for the feedback! Could you elaborate some more on what you mean by the freckles being over-done? Like, too many, too dark etc? How would you suggest to improve them?


Thanks lylejk.
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Griatch

It seems as though some look too large to be natural.
That's about all really.

Griatch, Most of your works are great, but this one is specially beautiful. Skin tone, hair, expression of the girl, the dandelions, the depth you gave at the background... really the whole picture is so nice to see. I agree Wallace's opinion about freckles that to be natural are a little too big. But it is only my impression. Congrats for a very beautiful work!

I have to break my silence, because this is IMO the absolutely best drawing created so far !
Excellent under any aspect.

I klike this and I do like the freckles. Not too many people draw them in these days.....or photo shop them out of pictures. Nice to see something natural.

Thanks for the comments and feedback!


Ok, that's a fair point! I've reduced the size of the freckles on her arms a bit, check it out!


Glad you like it, put a lot of work into this one. Thanks for the feedback - I reduced the size of the freckles on her arms now, hopefully better now.

Thanks dinasset, that's high praise!

Yeah, freckles are often retouched which is a shame considering how common they are and the fact that they add a lot of character and uniqueness to a face. Thanks for the comment!
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Griatch

You got the freckles pretty much right. The only thing is that their lower limit on the chest is a not-so-natural straight horizontal line.

The head looks a bit big for the shoulders.

I'm not convinced by the arms. The right one looks bent, and the upper left arm seems too thin for her forearm. Her upper left arms seems also a lot longer than right one.

Hard to interpret the "windows" in the back. They have no relief, so they look like the projection of a window on a wall, but the light would come from an inconsistent direction. I think the mullions should have more contrast (and possibly be sharper) and the windows should not have the same color throughout (after all you should see something through them).

Whatever blows the upper dandelion should also blow her hair somewhat.

Nice face, and very nice hair, and awfully realistic hairs on her arms...

That is amazing! I'm not an expert in art but I do know what I like. I don't see what others who do know about art see but I see something that pulled me in - not many things do that. Furthermore, as a freckled girl myself, I think the freckles are on point.

Some good points there, thankyou. I'll need to ponder those a bit, will go back and look it over and post again.


I'm glad she manages to "pull you in", and as mentioned by someone else, freckles are often photoshopped away in images, when they really add a lot of character to the face IMO. Glad you like it!


If you say so. Freckles and other effects of sun exposure on fair skin can really be pretty big you know:

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Griatch

@ofnuts

After mulling it over and letting the image rest for a day, I find myself agreeing with all of your critiques actually. So I went back to the image and made the following changes:
- Made the freckles go further into her decoltage
- Reduced the size of her head. This was something I had a feeling about already, but it was not really clear to me until actually trying with a smaller head.
- Made the right upper arm "swell" in the right way.
- Made the left upper arm more curvy and also shorter, moving the elbow up to better match the right one. Exactly how to measure the length in perspective is not always intuitive to me I find, but this does seem to fit better.
- Reworked the background considerably, making the windows more clear as you suggest. Also a good idea to show more colors through them, it hints at a greater world out there. Also added a wheel-chandelier and some furniture as well as lowered the perspective a bit.
- Added some hints of her hair moving with the dandelion seeds.
- Finally, since her head is smaller there was a lot of empty space above her. So I enlarged all of her to again fill the image similarly to before.

Updated the image in the first post. Original can be seen for a while here.

Thanks a lot again for the critique, that was very useful. I believe the image has gotten better for it, what do you think?
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Griatch

Much better, even though I still find her left forearm a bit big near the elbow. Anything else about the girl is beyond my critique abilities (blown hair nicely done, just enough to placate the realism nazis:)

Less convinced by the new windows... the added seats give a scale, so the windows are very tall, which in turn means a high ceiling. The new vanishing point also make that room appear very long. All this doesn't fit with the entrance behind the girl (a Versailles-like hall with a medieval entrance...). The previous perspective was better, it made it look a bit like a windowed cloister. OTOH the windows now look like windows...

PS: I also make my photos rest a bit (several days, some times over a month). I call this important processing step "the fridge". But you cannot amend a photo, so few survive

From all of us who carry our freckles proudly, I can say this is your best Griatch. I am no artist or art critic but I love this painting.

Thanks, that's high praise. Glad you like it and that the freckles look ok!

I felt it looked a bit strange to have that ray of light peek past her elbow so I filled it in. But I put the "hole" back and made it more subtle.

A tall room doesn't necessitate a tall doorway but I know what you mean. This is actually closer to the locale I originally envisioned, so I'll keep it this way.

I find it doubly effective to let my art rest "in the open" so to speak, where more eyes can help me refine it faster than I would on my own - as exemplified by this image. Thanks again.
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Griatch

Griatch, I love your result now and any but... on the contrary, it's perfect IMO. Congrats Griatch!

I've come in a bit late on this one but ... wow! An awesome piece of work Griatch! I love the lighting on this one - particularly the way her hair (including the hair on her arms) is backlit - masterfully done. Personally I thought the freckles were fine before - and also fine now .