comparing to the original image, higher shadow details or more realistic skin is needed, i think. we can see more creases in places like under the eye and the curves of the cheek easily in the original cause of this.
now the problem about these wrinkles and shadows is that they make the baby somehow look sad IMO. here’s an example:
Or is it just my imagination?
PS: if you don’t notice any difference, look at the eyes
i can see what you mean. lighten the dark area under the eye and darken the rest of the skin just a little and maybe the contrast won’t be as sad? I dunno. It’s just that the way the shadow plays on the baby’s face in the original image is what’s seem to be missing to me.
I think you should work on the baby’s nose and lips. I’m not sure what exactly puts it off but it is kinda off to me.
Study the lighting of the original shot very carefully, because there you see “a master at work.” Notice how the light is in one eye but not the other. Notice also how the light plays around the (very soft and un-pronounced) ridges around the two eyes. The left side of the face is quite different from the right. A lot has been done to pull depth and contrast out of a baby’s flat, pudgy face.
And of course … there will also be, “Adobe Photoshop at work.” There is no doubt that the original photo has been digitally altered. You can do the same.
In the latest digital render you’ve made, you definitely have an excellent expression in the eyes, and I know that we will very soon see a slice of that expression right beside the page-heading on this site, with a hotlink to the image in The Gallery. :yes:
@Radscientist
I found out that the reason for this general sadness was the greytone. The photographer seems to have used special lenses to minimize the blue in his grey. And as we all know, blue makes sad xD Can’t say though that now that I know that I’ll still be able to fix it completely. At least not in the contrast he uses.
@icey-cooley
yeah, I’ll work on the mouth now!
@sundialsvc
thx alot, it means a lot coming from you (member since 2004)
And yes, that is really a top of the notch photograph, there seem to be 4 point lights and one central softbox + one softbox for the shadows under the nose and eyes… truly amazing work, I won’t be able to do as good.
And obviously I’ll work on it tomorrow as well, it’s always those little details that change everything and I feel that this is exactly what an artist needs to become better.
I think that the topology needs a little fix, the ears must go inside a little or if you change the camera angle maybe that will fix the issue…
ok, quick update and I think it’s finally starting to look better. I just asked someone who hasn’t seen this before and he thinks he doesn’t look like huh? , he looks more like huuuuooooh?! which is almost good, isn’t it ? xD
the only thing I changed is the lips.
ok, I can change the ears quickly, but what did you mean with the topology ? I know I’m not the best but is it that obvious?
Haha, I told you the hardest part would be to get the expression right xD.
yeah and you were soo right 
yet it’s also the most fun!
I take that back and resign :S My projection painting isn’t working on windows and my tablet isn’t working on linux, I’m fedup with these details if I don’t have any mean to fix em… akk!
I suppose this isn’t worth showing in the gallery but I’ll ask anyways xD if it really isn’t I’ll pick it up one other time when everything’s working again…
This is going great. Are you seriously gonna leave the background gray? It doesn’t look right.
what would you suggest? a baby blue background? xD
I’d suggest making the model multires and doing all the details from the original picture in sculpt mode. One example would be that the baby in the original picture has a much larger and differently shaped nose.
hmmm, my goal wasn’t to replicate the photo 1/1 but it is a good idea to enlarge the nose, right. I’ll see about the rest of the detail though, cuz the more I add the sadder he looks 
Projection painting isn’t working for me either, even on a new machine hot off the bench, I can’t get txtured brushes to respond with any kind of useable speed. Congrats on the image it looks great. It’s so hard to get that last 10% of perfection.
Might work that way. Gray doesn’t really work with the baby.:eyebrowlift: