Hi all. Been doing some portrait and character art studies. Its been a struggle, but im seeing some progress. Might be wrapping up this piece for the time being, but wanted to get feedback to consider as i move into new projects.
The piece is a likeness portrait of an Amazonian Matis shaman named Tepi that i read about in the book The Unconquered. Its actually a complete overhaul of my first ever portrait i did last year. Overall i think the piece is a huge leap forward for me. Still not 100% satisfied in my material realism. Hard surface objects still have that subtle CG feel to me. I like the lips stylistically, but they kind of look like pan seared tuna so not exactly realistic. A lot of tutorials portray lips as wet slimy surfaces, but in most of my references they have an almost dry, cracked, crumpled-paper-like exterior that i dont know how to replicate. Also been having this issue where the shadowed side of the face appears rougher and grainy despite having the exact same material settings as the light side. Those are just my own criticisms, feel free to comment on anything that would make me a better artist. Happy to provide further images/information on request.
100% modeled/sculpted/rendered in blender. Textured in blender and substance painter.
Below are my references and models
