Finally got this one out of the WIP to here, been a long haul. :yes: Thanks to all who gave crit, assistance and compliments in the WIP thread, it was all much appreciated.
Started this project not really knowing where it would end up except that it would be a woman. A little while ago searching for inspiration on the net I came across the iconic picture that Steve McCurry took of his Afghan Girl and I decided to try and mimic it somewhat and herewith my Muslim girl Casey.
She is a young girl who has seen far more than she should have in her life and much more than most of us will ever see.
Wonderful and beautiful. The pose is great. She is looking at us determined and cautious at the same time and that is very catchy. The negative space on the right - especially in the cutout - is a good choice too. It “says” that she has a history. And leaving less to almost no head room on the left is also a strong metaphor. It didn’t need your description to get that. This image talks to us. Not to mention the absolutely intriguing eyes.
@ thorst, thanks man you are usually a tough critic, so really appreciate your comment.
@ bigbad, thank you too, no Photoshop for me this time, I must be improving a bit.
@ harley, thanks so much and thanks for all the help in the WIP.
@ minoribus, thank you so much too. This 3D art is driving me nuts though, the still was finished very early yesterday morning, but I gave it a lot of time and left the computer and went and did something else and then came back and did a few minor changes and left again and came back and did a few minor changes, this went on and on the whole day trying to give my eyes a fresh look after a while away until I posted it a lot later in the day and guess what…today I see all the things I want to change. Makes me mad. :mad:
really good work. Perhaps the head scarf could be a bit longer, and different colour on what she wears on upper body as scarf and shirt looks to similar in terms of material
Just saw this posted on Blendernation. I guess my post on your WIP was a bit late :D. Things can always being improved, but I think the image really did turn out well in the end. That black and white version looks very nice as well. You really do feel that connection with her when you look at it and like there is a story to find out behind the character. To me that’s really what makes a good portrait, and not so much whether every little piece is perfect. So nicely done
harley my friend thanks for notifying me as I never really go over to that site, really happy about that.
@ fdfxd, Israeli chic converting to Islam, can you imagine the uproar. :evilgrin: Thanks for the comment, appreciate it.
@ pisto, thanks very much. I am taking the beautiful girl as a compliment no matter what else is said.
@ ideorium, thank you. You probably right about the length of the scarf, but I wanted to get the shot of her close up and also show the worn edges of the scarf and if I made the scarf any longer I would not have been able to achieve that. You know the very thing you noticed about the lack of difference in colour was something that I struggled with for a long time with this piece. I wanted to keep a complimentary colour scheme and not go to a triadic one, but no matter what shade of green or red I tried nothing seemed to look correct to me. I even tried to go with some creams and darker browns, but still was not happy. I would like to hear your thoughts on what colour you think would have suited.
@ gregzaal, thanks for comments and looking in here at my thread. Guilty on every count :D, I may just have a hack at it again over the weekend and maybe add the thoughts of people here in the thread. The peach fuzz is there, but it is really not showing up well in the hacked jpg that this Forum allows, I will maybe also add some links to Dropbox.
@ ArtOfLight, It was :D, but I really should have notified this post in the WIP, SORRY. Thanks for the compliments, really appreciate them and the help on the thread.
@ nureintier, Nice to know she reminds you of your sister, funny how that can be as she is some girl that I got from 3d.sk. :D. Thanks for your nice comment.
@ isshak, thanks very much.
Did some work over the weekend trying to accomplish all the great input I got here. The result is attached and implemented as best I can.
That’s really interesting how much the even darker background intensifies the expression. With the lighter background, the expression felt almost inquisitive and a bit lighthearted, yet with the darker background and dirtied skin, it feels much more serious and definitely much closer to the feeling of the Afghan Girl. A nice improvement I think. It really makes an interesting experiment as well. Nice job on the implementation
@ Ghost, thanks and thanks for all your input during the project, was really appreciated. Was worried about you my friend, not having seen you on the forum for a while, was just about to start sending mails to find out if you were OK. Glad to know you around. :yes:
@ ArtofLight, thanks and thanks also for the input on the background in the WIP. I am a perfectionist by nature so I tend to fiddle even when something is supposed to be finished, I think in the hope that it can be improved slightly ( I am sure that most people call me a pain in the ass ). Believe it or not I am still messing around with this one hoping to get it a little better. :spin:
Man, those eyes.
