painting tips ⭐how definitive lines improve the depth of your piece ! (Patreon)

DECEMBER 2021

Hi everyone! I originally made this all the way back in march, but I didn't get to post it. I think most of this still holds up. I hope you can find it somewhat useful and let me know if you do (or don't) and if you like this type of post !! 

MARCH 2021 

Hi so trying something new here, again ! 

tips on:

IMPROVING THE DEPTH OF YOUR PIECE WITH DEFINITIVE LINES ✨

While I was painting I learnt a trick that improved the depth of my piece.

Whilst I was painting I felt like Cloe's face seemed real off. It wasn't until I studied actual faces again, to see what was missing.

here, cloes face seems off. It looks pretty good - passable as a face and well rendered. But slightly unfinished. I didn't know what it was so I just went to a different part of the piece. 

When I eventually came back to it i realised it was the lack of definitive dark lines on the face. 

The only thing that had harsh definitive lines was the eyes. 

I used a heavy amount of black to for the outline of the eyes. It contrasted heavily to the rest of the face. Making it look weird and unbalanced. 

actual faces don't look like that as I noticed when I looked at the references I used for cloe's smile: 

I noticed that as well as the eyes, faces often have darker "lines" or shadows around the mouth, nostrils and edge of the face. You can add darker / harsher lines to make any part of the face stand out more. 

So I edited her face by adding darker definitive lines around the protruding / shadow parts of the face. 

Even then I didn't think the contrast wasn't enough! Her mouth looked super weird to me. Eventually I continued on to another part of the piece...

[ u may remember when I had similar issues with constantly changing the mouth on my "morrigan" piece ! ]

But when I came back to it, I studied mouths a bit more. 

Mouths have super dark corners depending on what angle they're at. Cloe's mouth didn't reflect that and therefore made the angle look inaccurate.

and so, I added some darker shadows in the corner of her mouth. Replicating how a mouth would look at an angle like that (like the pics above). Teeth don't go from one side of the mouth to another, they go around!

heres the full evolution in gif and side by side image form >

here is another example. 

my intial finished usagi painting vs my final finished usagi painting [please try to ignore the fact I improved certain parts and foucus on the change in outlines!!]

so remember - if and when painting - don't be afraid to add definitive lines, especially outlines. it helps  add depth and realism to your piece as well as helping to define your shapes and features xxx

I hope this made sense and it was useful! It was just something I learnt / realised right in the middle of making this piece and after I'd finished painting usagi. Its a real learning curve in my art, so I wanted to share ! 

Of course if you actually prefer how my work or your work looks before adding defnitive lines then thats totally fine!! Its a stylistic choice which I felt really improved my pieces! Use this as a guide or a suggestion not an instruction 💖💖 

Hope it helps x