First try with a photo reference, advice please.

Got some airbrush paper from my wife the other day and did a little practicing with fur texture today. Don't have the proper erasing gear yet, I sharpened a Faber Castell pencil eraser cap with a knive. It came out alright in the end but I need more training.
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Wow! Great job on the eyes!
 
Yup its a great start, lotsa mora layas though or in english..Ain't Finished yet..Think of that as your color base map, now just work a reverse sequence of darker grey, a medium then light grey, through to a white layering sequence of hair strokes, that will build that darker grey patch back into the whitish look of the reference, ya could then match this with some light greys into your white area's, there will prob be some browns and other locally reflected colors in there somewhere to (Though didnt look real close), just naturally build it up and down through your color scale for that color ya see in the reference, the idea in depth is 95% of your initial layer may not be seen but its those darker shadow area's but ultimately they are still the same color hair, just deeper in so we want to see some of them overlapped of course by closer layers to the camera, chris cross that earlier base you've done with a lighter layer but still allowing a percentage of each layer to come through, that way it lloks natural, unlike erasing or scratching sometimes can do if overused...The trick is with animal portraits of not being afraid to paint dark to light, few do this well.most prob think its breaking a rule but there is no other way to get that realistic effect than to establish a darker base which you have and then by gradual addition of white to your hair color, keep layering your hair back to that lighter color shadowed look, but not completely covering each earlier layer, this takes a long time due to the slower build back into a highlight....Long story short, thats why some prefer scratching as its easier and looks nearly as effective, fur can be tricky with scratching as ya gotta know how to blend the hair base back in, but knowing how to go from the traditional light to dark, then reversing it from dark back to light is bit of the trick with opaques..You don't have to go crazy with the amount of layers as we can cheat a little with transparent overlays to finish it off and often re-color match as ultimately adding white to our colors to reverse the process in some occasions causes chalkiness or color shift, blending transparent layers over the top turns it all back to richer more tasteful and realistic colors.

Well that's the way I'd do it...LOL, hope that helps a bit m8, but remember with photorealism its all about everything being layered together correctly in the correct sequence so it looks as realistic up close as it does from a further viewing distance..But it ultimately also depends if ya have 40 hours for each painting LOL
 
Oh in 40 hrs wld be a minimum LOL, when ya get into realism its fun but its all about zooming that focus right in, painting smaller area's of focus, erasing, adding, (Oh and a little trick, at that point add a clear layer, wet sand it, then go through the sequence all again.Hehehe little trick but don't tell anyone..LOL They all prob know the idea anyway..That clear layer ads a deeper element to your work, rebuild a picture on that clear, perfect every hair, shadow and detail, paint it a bit bigger than normal, then clear it again and you will have depth)..there ya go, everything I know I think LOL..Good luck with it, most important thing is to learn from it and just relax and have fun..GL
 
Wow, thanks a gazillion times Rebelair, and Visual Realm too! That was one helluva tutorial, exactly what I needed to go on with my painting.

Got my erasers from Marissa today, and.... the Mighty iwata Micron C Plus.

I can't believe the absolutely supreme feeling I get when I'm spraying with the Micron. It's a huge difference compared to the Eclipse.. So much more confidence it's giving me. Detailing is from now on nothing to be scared of. I'm in love!

One more hour of work put into the dog painting. First erasing then a darker layer of E'Tac carbon black reduced to 1:4. Will let it dry for a while now, then some more erasing.

Sorry for bad photos, iPhone and harsh work light..

I love this.. I totally love this! :)

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Gave it another try before bedtime.. and now I have ruined it. Played with the electric eraser, shouldn't have done that.
Ok, will start over again...
 
Oooops LOL, prob aint buggered m8 just repaint over the top, that "mistake" may look really cool at the end...Erasing needs to be added throughout the layering system, avoid using it right at the end of a piece as its hard to blend em back in..Good luck, but ya learning and thats the main focus I'm sure :)
 
Haha.. I tried to save it with reduced black, probably not the brightest idea. Now it's dark as sin... crap!
Ok, I'll put a light white layer on top tomorrow and see what it looks like. Otherwise it'll end up as a reminder not to use the freakin' electric eraser at this stage.. :eek:ops:
 
^Funny but lesson learnt LOL

Yep, lesson learnt and a nut kick reminder that I'm still a novice! [emoji1]

I will start over again with a new painting when I get home from work tonight. I have gone through the piece in my mind today and I believe I can nail it in a second try. Need to lay lighter layers and start erasing sooner in the process.
 
Keep on with my rant here..

Got a little sick of the husky painting. Have to put it away for a while. Started over again with the first dog portrait today.

Going to put my soul into this one.

First light layers.

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First textures.

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Starting to look furry.. third layer.

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One can clearly see the different layers of fur texture through this fourth heavier layer of transparent. Cool.

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A little more texture added, next layer of color tomorrow. 2,5 hours today.

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Great job Matwes, an hour scraping fairly tests the patience lol your doing great, just take as long as it takes, i think i put about 25-30 hours into that tiger i done over a couple of weeks, and im sure it couldve done with another 10 but i just got impatient at the end
 
ha, you don't need hep at all! you're doing a fabulous job. i'm envious of your scratching technique. Can i bug you, or anyone looking at this thread for a good scratching technique tutorial? I cant for the life of me get the hang of it
 
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