[fugitive]

So now, what is she going to wear? I'm trying something on the sweater, a background I made for a ballet pic. I'll have to shade it and such. I don't know if the hair will ever come together, should I stop? You tell me. Otherwise, I'll mess with the hair for the next day or two. Mostly fine tuning from here on.

[jerry]

Hi Fug

Thats a beauty.. I really think your technique is interesting. Thanks for sharing the steps that you use. Rats...guess I am going to have to get a tablet..(A southpaw using a right handed mouse just isn't capable of the brush control that is required for this type of work.)

Keep it up
Jerry

[fugitive]

Jerry: It's the difference between partial control, and total control. Ever try to ride a motorcycle with a cast on your leg or arm? Costco sells the Graphire2 for $80.
Wacom sell reconditioned units on their site. ebay has some most of the time, bid carefully.




Thanks for your comp.
greg

[Wanda Schwind]

Greg, just want you to know that I have been following your progress on this pic. Just beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing your method, you do a wonderful job. Just want you to know I have learned a thing or two from you Thank you. This is better than a tut. Hope you share more

Wanda

[fugitive]

Thank You Wanda. Danny has been bugging me to do one, but I don't know how, so I did the only thing I could, and that was this very informal talk, in steps, which is something I could follow. I have read hundreds of tuts, and they don't quite reach my brain, as a rule.
Good thing you didn't give up Dan.
greg

[fugitive]

This is the final image of the non-tut, tutorial. As you can see, I completely changed my mind about the sweater, did some touch-up on eyes, left cheek, hair.
Thought I'd say a little more about the hair. Hair is hard, no doubt about it. I have searched and worked for several years to find a way to get hair to look natural, soft and real. I'm not there yet. Since there are 4 hair layers, I didn't use a normal Layer Blend Mode for all of them. One is dark, one is screen, one luminance. This is a very flexable area. Experiment. The hair color can be changed using colorize, you could even make it blue.
The smudge settings were very low, so as not to shove the paint but lightly blend it.(very important). My goal is to make them touchable, I hope I have succeded, and hope you enjoyed the trip.
greg

[Mike Needham]

I much prefer the finished top you chose to the other lilac dappled one I have followed this through from your initial post and it is really nice to see the genesis of a painting. The airholes in the top are a really nice touch too

So Greg, who are what is next?

[fugitive]

Gee Mike, I don't know. I didn't even plan that one for the tut. It just happened. I have no shortage of ideas, and I still have several unfinished, including another Kate, that has been killing me. This one was easy compared to some, it just went together smoothly, except for the hair, which still isn't right. It's too hot right now, 80's in Portland is hot. I'm really glad you liked the trip. You actually think I should do more, It might get boring.

[Mike Needham]

Dont worry Greg, trust me if you start to bore I WILL let you know . Yout non tutorial style reminds me of a television programme that airs in the UK, it follows a portrait artist around as he is commisioned for famous peoples portaits, he interviews them in an informal way, whilst painting. It has always interested me watching him go from a pencil sketch to building up the broad picture to finally filling in the details.

Pretty much what you have done here - apart from that, the good thing about you is, you dont demand a liscence fee

[Wanda Schwind]

Greg, you hit the finish line beautifully with this one You can be very proud of this work!! I wish I had a bad hair day like your painting, I would be happy Don't EVER think your non-tuts would get boring. I love it, it's like having a teacher over my shoulder. Now that you've allowed people to see what you can do, now you're in for it Thanks again for sharing your method, I for one have learned A LOT. What's next

Wanda

[DannyRaphael]

Greg:

I think the measures of interest can be gauged by the #'s in the Reply and Views column. This thread has been a definite hit.

When it cools down in PDX and you're so inclined, there are many (including myself) who would relish looking over your shoulder and into your mind via cyberspace. Getting to see the results of your work is icing on the cake.

Benefit to you for future non-tut(s): Inspiration to start some new paintings you've been thinking about and/or finish some that have temporarily stalled.

Winners all around. I like those possibilities.

Thanks again for yielding to the gentle nudges. There's a lot of folks who are very glad you did.

And for future reference go easy on the "stupid plugin filter" jocks like me. Many of us aspire to develop real artistic talent like you. We've just at the beginning of the learning journey. Non-tuts like this will help us move forward a lot faster.

~Danny~

[fugitive]

Did I say that Dan? I think that must've been my twin brother Arti, he has a mean streak, and no social manners.
Quote "Non-tuts like this will help us move forward a lot faster" I hope so, that's the only reason for doing it. Perhaps some will break out and Paint, as it's not scary, there's no mess, and it's so easy to erase and start over. If one shy wallflower comes out of the closet to paint, it's a good deal for me.
greg

[estudivan]

Nice work Greg. I think the non-tut approach, particularly for painting is more meaningful. Painting is very visual and words would probably not capture the process and effects as well as you did by showing your progression of work. The transformation is amazing. It also shows that painted art doesn't happen in one session but evolves through blood, sweat and tears. Keep em coming, this was great.

Earl