(click for larger DA version - recommended!)

A study of emotion. This is a sort of tearful surprise I think. Maybe mixed with some fear.

Krita, about 2.5 hours judging from the length of the video I made of it. Used some reference for the perspective. Fun to make a more weirdly framed image!

Comments and feedback welcome as always!

Update: I have now posted a timelapse video of making this. Enjoy!
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Griatch

Awesome work Griatch! Nice work with the reference - I like the angle of this shot. And I love pieces with real emotional content - this one has a shed load of it! Well done mate - thanks for sharing.

Awesome Griatch, definitely shows emotions.

Wooo! Very good work with the dimensions of the face! Looks very 3D. Oddly my favorite part on her face is the nose it looks very good, looks like it's part of the face not pasted on like I tend to do.
Coloring is also very nice! I'm not sure exactly how eyeliner smudges as I don't wear it but I think if a person tears the tears go on the corner of the eye away from the duct...I'm not sure if eye-liner goes down from under the part where the tear-duct is....Possibly a woman here who actually wears make up can correct me on that. XD

Very nice job nonetheless! One day I'll grow up to be pro like you!

After initial sketching I made a (very rough) 3D model of the face and rotated it in place to frame it and adjust it. The perspective of the nose and mouth at this close-up angle is very hard to get right without that kind of reference I find. Glad you like it!


Thanks, that was the aim.


Thanks Moko! The nose tip has a bit more detail (pores) with the aim to make it feel a bit more 3D and "pop" out of the image a bit more. If you look at the video you'll find I spent quite a bit of time trying to blend it right. As for the eyeliner/mascara, I have no personal experience of that either, but I do know it can run all over the place, it's at least a common thing shown. Some examples:

Maybe the long eyelashes are to blame, but one way or another, the "leakage" is not only at the corners.
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Griatch

It might come from rubbing the eyes followed by more tears or something like that. Either way, I think you have captured the emotion extremely well. I've noticed in your work that the main colour scheme is very simple. Here it is mainly blues and reds. Is there a particular reason you prefer to work like this?

Yeah, rubbing the eyes is another possibility (I'd expect women to be so used to wearing makeup that they'd instinctively avoid rubbing their eyes like that ... but maybe not when very emotional).

The color schemes I use and their complexity actually vary quite a bit for what kind of effect the image needs. In this case, the blues help bring forth her red nose and swollen eyes. If I can convey something with smaller means I enjoy doing so though - it's a challenge. It can often be considerably harder to limit oneself than it is to go for every color in the palette.

Some images do call for more complex colors since they take place in an environment with more color and good lighting, like this one:
Note however that also this image, despite having a lot of different colors, still has an overall color scheme (in this case a slant towards warm yellows and browns). Apart from "realism" coming from the way a light source lights objects in a scene, a consistent color scheme tends to also tie the image together and be more appealing to the human eye.
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Griatch

Ah good point, I didn't think of that. Shows you what I know about these things!

Very well done. I love the colors

An intriguing workflow Griatch . I am toying with the idea of a 3D to 2D workflow myself - do you use Blender for your 3D work?

Thanks, I felt the red and blue made for nice contrasts.


Makehuman with Blender; the 3D head doesn't look at all like her but the curvature of the face and nose + mouth is there. I also have a little Android App called Pose tool 3D that gives you a human model you can pose like a digital ley doll. Quite useful for reference since it's more flexible than a real, wooden doll.
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Griatch

Lovely. Now that is what you call 'blue', as in sad.

For me the teeth don't look right, they seem to be a bit lower on her left, and on the right the premolars are as narrow as incisors making her look slightly non-human. The tongue is also very much on the left IMHO (big gap with the teeth on the right) but that can be intentional.

On the other hand, the eyes are astoundingly lively... I have taken pictures of people that look dead in comparison...

@sallyanne

Blue indeed.

@ofnuts

Hm, maybe you are right about the teeth, may need to go back to look at those. The tongue is correctly placed though, it's more a matter of angle and shading to not show the "bottom" of her mouth that makes the top of it show where it is. Thanks for the feedback!
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Griatch

@ofnuts

I did some tweaks to the teeth as well as some clarification to the shape of the tongue. Check it out!
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Griatch