Hello ^^
A self portrait I did recently. It was going to be a full face, but my friend Rosie liked the cropped preview image so much that she suggested I leave it that way! So I did, I though it made the image look very interesting :3

You have Mad Skills. The lighting is wonderful. Did you have a photo ref?

Originally Posted by Penny

You have Mad Skills. The lighting is wonderful. Did you have a photo ref?

^^ Thank you
Yup, used a ref photo I snapped one day. I swear by using a reference for realistic work :3

Wow.... You must have years and year of art practice under your belt, 'cuz that's just spectacular.... Is it just me or is realism rarely seen on forums like these?

Originally Posted by Lania

Wow.... You must have years and year of art practice under your belt, 'cuz that's just spectacular.... Is it just me or is realism rarely seen on forums like these?

^^ Thank you so much :3

Yeah, I find that it's rare to see realism on these types of forums as well. When I posted this on gaia a while back it got fewer responses than my cartoon art. But that usually happens when I post something realistic Dx

I guess we're all a little too addicted to anime, comics or cartoons to think the world is pretty just the way it is xD

I was never able to draw realistic stuff, then again, I never really tried, but I really do admire the style. It's alot easier to spot something off when it looks just exactly like it would in real life, vs taking an 'artistic' interpretation of it, so the rest of us are just LAZY!

Have you had any formal training, or is it just your hobby?

Originally Posted by Lania

I guess we're all a little too addicted to anime, comics or cartoons to think the world is pretty just the way it is xD

I was never able to draw realistic stuff, then again, I never really tried, but I really do admire the style. It's alot easier to spot something off when it looks just exactly like it would in real life, vs taking an 'artistic' interpretation of it, so the rest of us are just LAZY!

Have you had any formal training, or is it just your hobby?

Heehee! I've been a cartoon addict since I was little. Used to watch WAAAAY too much Duck Tales, Gummi Bears and Chip N' Dale.

I did go to art school for two years, but I can't say I learned anything there. Basically instead of teaching us technique the teachers would give us a lecture on what subject matter our next assignment should be and left us to our own devices. I was ticked off because the program guide said we would be taught how to paint, draw, etc...
But that never happened and I left because I felt like I was wasting my time.

Chip 'N Dale!! I love them! That and Pink and the Brain were my favorites.

School always seemed like a waste for writing and art to me, the only way you get better is to do it more often, and no one can teach you how to make your own style, only how to be like everyone else. They do teach you a few useful skills though, and make you practice like crazy... Plus turning things in for a grade means you can't half-ass them <.<;

Originally Posted by Lania

Chip 'N Dale!! I love them! That and Pink and the Brain were my favorites.

School always seemed like a waste for writing and art to me, the only way you get better is to do it more often, and no one can teach you how to make your own style, only how to be like everyone else. They do teach you a few useful skills though, and make you practice like crazy... Plus turning things in for a grade means you can't half-ass them <.<;

Ha! At my school I probably would have gotten more marks if I half assed it.
Most of my teachers were really huge into abstract work and while I appreciate al ot of well done abstract work I find the actual act of making it bores me. So I never did it for my assignments.
Instead I put all of my efforts into making my own work look its best but most of the time the teachers were still disappointed. They would say that I certainly had skill, but it wasn't their taste.
I remember on one assignment I got marked down for having some swear words in the dialog of a short comic I did. But one of my classmates wrote 'fuck' in huge letters as one of her pages and the same teacher that marked me down LOVED it.
It's confusing crap like that which forced me to leave...

@[email protected] That's awful!! Teachers like that are only kept around 'cuz they have tenure... Or maybe the whole school was aimed at creating what they claim to be "Free thinkers".

Liberal arts are horrible that way -.- It's the same thing for essays, they don't grade you on how well you composed it or your grammar, spelling, word choice... anything objective, they grade you on "content" aka - if they approved of your message.

I'm glad you quit. So what do you do now? Did you transfer to a different school or just jump right into the working world with something else?

The portrait is amazing! O___o It's so smooth. Is it a digital painting?

Originally Posted by Lania

@[email protected] That's awful!! Teachers like that are only kept around 'cuz they have tenure... Or maybe the whole school was aimed at creating what they claim to be "Free thinkers".

Liberal arts are horrible that way -.- It's the same thing for essays, they don't grade you on how well you composed it or your grammar, spelling, word choice... anything objective, they grade you on "content" aka - if they approved of your message.

I'm glad you quit. So what do you do now? Did you transfer to a different school or just jump right into the working world with something else?

\

Ugh! I know! It's always about content! The same teacher that marked me down for swearing kept trying to make my free subject assignments more 'political' and 'social' when it wasn't the intention of the piece!

Well, right now I'm unemployed Dx I recently moved to a new city because my friend offered me a place to stay until I find work and get my footing. Where I was before there was no work because the town was so small. But thankfully where I am now if I want to go back to school, there's a college literally across the street. If I'm lucky I'll get a job at a place just next to it, which will be good for me because I don't drive yet.
I'm hoping to get into graphic design, but if I don't I'll just go back to fine art. The school where I am now has a more technique based curriculum from what I've seen.

Originally Posted by Nacht

The portrait is amazing! O___o It's so smooth. Is it a digital painting?

^^ Thank you.

Yes, it's digital.
I painted it in Photoshop Elements with a tablet.

It's not just political or social either, it's their view of political and social... If you give a strong presentation with conservative values, you're toast xD

There's a lot of work to be had as freelance graphic design artist, that's a wise choice. Are you planning to learn HTML and such so you can code your own websites too? ^.^ I hope everything goes well for you in your new city and that college has a more.... realistic view of the world. xP

Originally Posted by Lania

It's not just political or social either, it's their view of political and social... If you give a strong presentation with conservative values, you're toast xD

There's a lot of work to be had as freelance graphic design artist, that's a wise choice. Are you planning to learn HTML and such so you can code your own websites too? ^.^ I hope everything goes well for you in your new city and that college has a more.... realistic view of the world. xP

Heehee...It's the HTML I'm worried about. There's one class where I would have to use DreamWeaver, but I couldn't even manage with the basics of Turing back in high school!
I hope it all works out for me too...
Thanks :3

My sister got head over heels into HTML and her boyfriend does Java coding. Java is insanely hard unless you're studying programing already, but HTML is a breeze. You can teach yourself or take a class... Or just grab a nerd and have them code it for you xD

I remember her talking about DreamWeaver and that it was awful... It's better to just code your own from the start.

Originally Posted by Lania

My sister got head over heels into HTML and her boyfriend does Java coding. Java is insanely hard unless you're studying programing already, but HTML is a breeze. You can teach yourself or take a class... Or just grab a nerd and have them code it for you xD

I remember her talking about DreamWeaver and that it was awful... It's better to just code your own from the start.

Eeep!

Well, I'll talk to my boyfriend about it...
He's taking programming right now and if anybody will be able to teach me it's him! He knows I'm a little slow when it comes to computers XD

That's perfect! If you can't learn it, you can always find a business partner who can - you design, they code, split the money and everyone is happy. Plus things often get done faster that way... 'Cuz you can be doing two things at once, which means you get more jobs and spend less time on each one.

I'm not sure how one goes about making a business of fine art... o.o I knew a lady who painted epic wall murals to make money on the side while she sold her oil paintings in a gallery, but I always figured there was a reason the breed is called "Starving Artists"..

Originally Posted by Lania

That's perfect! If you can't learn it, you can always find a business partner who can - you design, they code, split the money and everyone is happy. Plus things often get done faster that way... 'Cuz you can be doing two things at once, which means you get more jobs and spend less time on each one.

I'm not sure how one goes about making a business of fine art... o.o I knew a lady who painted epic wall murals to make money on the side while she sold her oil paintings in a gallery, but I always figured there was a reason the breed is called "Starving Artists"..

Yeah, basically if you're getting into the fine arts you have to be good at selling yourself or find someone who can do it for you. I know when I was in school there were little groups of people who were always collaborating and sharing ideas, which is another way to do it too.
The only real job I would have been able to get out of the fine art course was curatorial work. Dx But I find that boring personally and it's not like there's alot of demand for it where I live.

There are lots of places to sell art online theses days, I wonder if that's effected galleries and such much. If it has, it's probably just made it that much harder to get in...

Originally Posted by Lania

There are lots of places to sell art online theses days, I wonder if that's effected galleries and such much. If it has, it's probably just made it that much harder to get in...

There are still lots of traditional galleries out there, but the internet has just given artists who mainly use digital media a larger audience I think.

xD Oh yeah! I guess you really can't put a photoshopped picture in a real life gallery.

Originally Posted by Lania

xD Oh yeah! I guess you really can't put a photoshopped picture in a real life gallery.

If you print it you can x3
But there are also a lot of traditional artists who do their selling online too. Of course, the definition of art is much broader than it used to be too so there's more out there.

Alot more styles and alot more niches to fill, it's a wonderful world!

Well.. Sadly, it's getting late here. It was very nice meeting you and I hope to catch ya around the forms again some time! Good night Jsis!

I agree.
Not that I've really seen the full face version or anything, but I really like how it's cropped. It helps to make it a really edgy picture ;D.

It looks extremely realistic actually o-o
Almost scary real.

But anyways, I love the colors and lighting. It's amazing. I really like this picture (:

You have some serious talent thurr. <3