(click for bigger DA version)

A quick experiment/sketch testing some antomical techniques and trying alternate expressions. Yes, it's the protagonist of my Shrike - she has both facial tattoos and strange glowy inlays in her hair - which she is fiddling with at the moment.

Not overly happy with the outcome of this one so won't go into more details or texturing but is leaving it like this. Call it training.

MyPaint + GIMP
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Griatch

Very interesting Griatch. I was sitting in the emergency room a couple months ago and there was a girl sitting across from me, she twirled her hair around and around like that for hours. This one reminds me of her, she was Chinese.

what she is doing to her...antenna ? is a bit strange , it looks fluorescent a very nice effect

cool sketch

Facial expressions are the toughest thing for portraitist to master. You did a really good job. Not sure why you're not very happy with it.

Good results, I like the neon hair strands and the facial expression also I think the lighting is very cleverly done as it gives the impression she is behind some sort of shutter screen.

I think you captured the expression quite well...that skewed look you get when you are concentrating and annoyed at the same time.

griatch: i agree that the facial expression is great! i have a friend who plays with her hair like this on boring lectures and if she spots some split ends she looks like this - sort of absent mindedly annoyed. i wish there could be neon hair extensions for real...

Sitting in an emergency room will cause any sane person fool with their hair and eventually pull it out,

You may be right there Gms. I had double pneumonia that day.

Thanks for the nice comments!

I'm glad to hear her action seems understandable by most - I felt it didn't "read" quite so well as I intended, and didn't have the stamina to change it around. I was also not overly happy with the lighting, it feels a tad too flat to me, but nice to hear people like it nevertheless - and that they even recognize the expression and pose from real life!

@Photocmix
She has some sort of glowing hair-extensions. She's currently fiddling with one of them, having pulled it halfways forward. That's the idea anyway. As said, I didn't feel it read quite as clearly as I hoped.

@molly
Double pneumonia? Ouch!
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Griatch