alicexz on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/alicexz/art/Kicking-my-own-ass-204702197alicexz

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Kicking my own ass

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I saw this before/after meme floating around and really wanted to do it!

The Before piece is from August 2008, approximately 2.5 years ago, when I first started digital painting with my very first tablet, a tiny Bamboo Fun. I remember I referenced an actress's photo for the hair and thought I did ~such a good job~. Looking back I think the entire piece is very stiff and awkward. I drew everything in Adobe Photoshop, a program I was already familiar with for other graphics work. This was the first completed painting I did with a tablet, and also my first upload [link] to DeviantArt.

So the After piece is a work I have finished today, April 13th 2011, a portrait of the same character also painted in Adobe Photoshop, on a Wacom Cintiq (a wonderful gift given to me over 2 years ago by my boyfriend, when he saw how interested I was in digital painting.) His investment paid off - I personally feel I have improved a lot (not just because of the fancy tablet - I still use a regular tablet for many pieces), but because I have tried out a ton of styles and techniques and spent many many hours practicing digital painting in these past 2.5 years... I fully believe it will be a life-long interest and hobby of mine.

What I've Learned:
- Never be timid with color choices.
- Don't use the same boring brushes all the time.
- Never draw a zillion individual strands of hair - hair has volume and mass, and should be "painter-ly" not "line-y." This is not to say that hair can't be detailed - but details come after basic form.
- Black is the least interesting color and should be used minimally in paintings - nothing is ever just BLACK. Shadows can be cool or warm. Always be aware of the multitude of colors at your disposal.
- Don't outline in a painting. PAINT IT. It must have volume. If you're going to outline, you have to outline everything (aka, just make it lineart, and then color under the lineart.)
- Try new techniques all the time. You'd be surprised at what you can come up with just messing around!

Things That Haven't Changed:
- I love doing portraits above all else.
- Ginny Weasley is really fun to draw.

I hope this was at least a little bit interesting/helpful to everyone! I'm sure there's bound to be at least a couple of people who like the Before piece better, they are very different styles after all.

Image size
994x890px 1.14 MB
© 2011 - 2024 alicexz
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Anniquake's avatar
u were good already
b o i