After a long time I picked up this project again and finally almost finished it. I removed the highlights for now, couldn't quite life with it. I added two new ones and changed others almost completely. Some are still not finished(i.e. second to the last), but I'm working on it... slowly.
I increased the contrast a bit by changing the hue and saturation. I also added more detail to two other hairstyles and added the highlights there too.
I tried myself now on some highlight variations. I personally like the third from the left the most. But I'm still not satisfied with the highlights, might as well remove them entirely, because right now its way too noise for my taste. Any suggestions?
Besides the highlights attempts, I introduced a second layer of shadow and increased the details a bit, which you can see on the first hairstyle.
the sharp highlight lines give a plastic vibe but I think that is intended for the barbie look
Ah that hurt, I actually want them to look lively. I've a different sets of eyes and mouths, which might not look so barbie'ish. I can post them too, I you would like. But actually the highlight lines bothered me too. I went over multiple styles to make it look coherent, what do you think of this more minimalistic approach?
I also changed the line work to a desaturated shade like you suggested and I like it. Dunno how I should highlight the afros tho.
I worked on this project for little over a month now. I'm trying to achieve a consistent art style and improve my craft. Feel free to critique it in every way possible.
I changed the eye highlights to reflect only one light source coming from below and straighten it accordingly. I also moved the hairline a bit up on the right side and lowered it on the left side. I too thought there was something off with the eye symmetry, but I wanted to keep the feel of depth to it. Therefore, I only changed the curvature of the right eye and moved it down a notch. With the new eye placement, the nose seemed to look a bit queer and I changed the angle a bit.
(Photoshop changed the colors a bit during gif conversion)
Funny thing is, your suggestions almost looks like a draft I made for it:
I used this as a general reference, if you would like to know: