/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

>>3885481
There's Bargue plates to work on to help you get going on measuring and modeling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Znr1OY-aHhM&list=PL3aPoNPQSJnSJVw2_GUVR7jC0nbnksq6F&index=5
In a study like this you probably don't care about measuring though so it's fine to trace over the picture for the line work/masking. It looks like a painting or filtered render of a 3D sculpt with weird lighting. It isn't the best reference, there's some odd bumps here and there, so not really great imo for copying.

To see the values more clearly, don't squint but close your eyes enough to blur and compact the shapes into a shadow (you can try something like a black and white, then posterize filter if you're really lost, save it for after to "check" but remember it's only an algorithm). There wasn't a need to blend it when what you started with was rocky. For starters, your background is much lighter than the source which throws off perception of values in your own work.

As practice, grab an inking brush and use that as your line for mapping shadows. I like using it to practice jitter of line weight, dexterity, and inking. Start with a filled midtone and then laying solely shadow. When you're good with that try adding the highlights. Do a bunch of 2 or 3 value sketches, getting used to adding and subtracting the ink by painting over it with the midtone to develop the shapes you want. Good shapes are more important than your rendering right now, convincing shapes sell the believability of the piece. This is a quick sketch I did with the left image originally in color, and I posterized and monotoned it after for this comparison. I'm using Kyle's ultimate rough inking 2 in PS, I added that lighter grey background to distinguish my blacks from getting lost. I'm not thrilled with it, but it's ok because you can still change a lot at this step. Forms are going to be tough to design sight/size if you don't have the anatomical understanding of where they are in 3D space.