2 New Pixel Pieces (WIPs)

[khorin]

I'd like to begin with the I started after the eye. Originally, I was going to use an old drawing (posted in creativity thread) of mine but decided to go a different direction. I instead decided to use my own face as reference to make this:

Circus inspired. Actually Cirque du Soleil inspired. :-) This is a prelude to the fourth piece I'll be doing that will feature some extreme body bending.  I'm thinking that white is a little too white but it'll have to do for now. There's no lightsource as I haven't figured out where it's coming from. I'm pretty sure, though, that there'll be shadows on that face but, I was looking at some pictures in one of the Cirque programs I have and saw that there weren't too many dramatic shadows on the painted faces. I'd just like to know what you guys think of the eyes and AA. I wanted to make the transition between white and the colors to be very smooth but I'm not sure if what I did was correct.

When I read the new challenge at Pixeljoint, I thought and put the circus piece on hold see if I can actually get this done within a week. This is indeed a rough wip but here goes:

I drew  from a picture of a bust in my art history book and using the actual picture for lightsource. The finished product should look like a magazine cover for "The Roman Woman". The woman featured is wearing the "flavian" hairstyle popular among the elite women around the time of Emporor Hadrian. The hair, I know, will be very difficult but what I'm most concerned about is the shading. Is dithering the best solution for this especially if I'm to use only 3 colors? OKay so I know I'll have to dither but I just can't seem to find a pattern that would be good for a smooth surface...

[Wakka]

I like it so far. Finish it in gif (animation of all the steps and processes), and I might just learn something.

[khorin]

I'll be sure to do that! No comments? :-( *shrug

[Turbo]

These two pieces are nice, although your pixelling technique seems a bit "green" . On the first one, i'd further smooth the angled lines, add more spaced blending between the colored areas (where red goes to white, blue to white), and add a subtle shading on the facial features. Maybe add some specular highlights, since the face is covered in paint which generally reflects some light. Anti alias the nose outlines, add shading there. Finish the hair.

On the second piece, i'd say post your best effort, and see where it goes from there. I'd advise you to reduce the thing's size in half, it may be quite cumbersome as it is right now...

[mangust]

Nice start!
But about second pixel piece - her eyes is too much different, people face is not absolute symmetric, but eyes must be similar and line shadow on the right cheek more fluently (more less curve), because it's woman and this form you define left cheek - this is not broad face. Also remove double chin ))

[khorin]

Turbo - Yes, I am very green  . Thanks for the tips, I knew I had to add some shading on the face as well as blend in between the colors. I'll play around with the angles 'til it gets smooth. I'll get started on that nose as well as the hair as soon as I'm done with the face.

mangust - Thanks for the tips! However, what you've described is the front view. The view in this portrait is almost 3/4. But I have removed the double chin  .

[mangust]

mangust - Thanks for the tips! However, what you've described is the front view. The view in this portrait is almost 3/4. But I have removed the double chin .

Funny  Maybe you not correctly understand me, I am not talk about front view )) I talk about this portrait is almost 3/4. If you paint roman woman, see on photo break of chiaroscuro denoted red line, she have this smooth line, other grey color after this line it's half-tint and not shadow. The blue line it's something closer to you line shadow, if you paint you shadow and light you must make a more broad face. And about eyes I some quick edit you sketch, because you right eyes too small, the though we have his nearer. And something about her nose (lower), mouth (less and bellow).

Anyway, please continue, it's good work and I want see nice final! 

[khorin]

*slaps her forehead
I see now! Thank you for clarifying that for me. I'll definitely continue working on this and I'll post a new version tonight.

[khorin]

I'm going very slow and plus, I don't have much time to pixel. 
This is what I have so far. I still need to clean up but I'll do that when I continue shading. I've recently downloaded Promotion so I'm going to be using Dither mode to make things go faster. I don't think I'll reach the deadline but I'll submit this a regular pixel art whenever I finish. I should definitely decrease in size the next time I participate in a challenge...

[eck]

or you could just submit the wip and then update it 

[snake]

I'm loving that hairdo.

You might be simplifying the face a bit on your statue. The nose is very angled and the other nostrill should be showing. the eyes are exaggerated, which is a very common thing to do, and a lot of the shadows have been left out. I would suggest you try to redo the shape of the head a little and maybe scale it down a notch as it makes it easier to correct and spot faults. I tried to change your head based on the reference:

The right side of the head (our right) has a lot more curves to it as ticks closer to the eye. The eyes, nose, mouth and left side of the head has some pretty deep shadows that help bring out the volume. He also has a minor lightsource comming from the left.

 

[Malor]

Mmm It is somewhat disturbing that this ancient Greek woman resembles me...A guy.....Ugh I have the most feminine hair ever
Your peice doesn't really have the right facial shape yet, but Snake's edit is going in the right direction, the face should be more narrow. I would laso remove the obvious dithering, it doesn't do much for the epice, and looks kind of out  of place.

[khorin]

Below is the reference picture I'm using:

As you can see, the shadows are less dramatic than the one snake has used. I think dithering would work better for this piece should I use the original reference but if I use the one that mangust posted then snake's technique would be perfect. I totally understand all your points about facial features but this reference picture doesn't show so much like the other one but I will scale it down a bit. The mouth has always been bothering me and it still does. Snake, your edit is awesome and very helpful  . Thanks everyone for the tips!