Textures help

[Stu-Art-Designs1244]

Hi guys. new to the forum so hi all recently i have found a love for airbrushing B&W portraits but the problem im having is getting that realistic look and getting the textures right. i tried the figure of 8 and it really looks like my portrait has a disease or something . i thought i had finished when someone pointed out i had no textures which they were right, so i start off with the hair tash and eye brows which looked ok. but when i tried the face it look awful and had to start the whole project again! i watched the eye video that mitch put up and i can seem to do an eye ok but faces not so great so any advise wud be awesome. thanks ,stu

P.S the pic i was tryin to AB was a picture of wesley snipes as blade!, it wont let me put a link as this is my first post

 

[Madbrush]

Hi guys. new to the forum so hi all recently i have found a love for airbrushing B&W portraits but the problem im having is getting that realistic look and getting the textures right. i tried the figure of 8 and it really looks like my portrait has a disease or something . i thought i had finished when someone pointed out i had no textures which they were right, so i start off with the hair tash and eye brows which looked ok. but when i tried the face it look awful and had to start the whole project again! i watched the eye video that mitch put up and i can seem to do an eye ok but faces not so great so any advise wud be awesome. thanks ,stu

P.S the pic i was tryin to AB was a picture of wesley snipes as blade!, it wont let me put a link as this is my first post

Welcome Stu.

Although I can't help you totally, I can tell you that the figure 8 for texture is very versatile, so much so that I use it a lot now, it's important to understand that your "8" doesn't actually have to take form of a perfect 8, it can be a long and thin 8 which is particularly handy for for creating wrinkle and stretch marks around eyes and mouth, it can also be a short and wide 8.

I would suggest that you practice a little with the texture, some complain that it's difficult to do but I find it the easiest texture effect to use, I think to be honest most people find it difficult because they think it should be perfect, when in actual fact being random brings it closer to reality, I've created some amazing marble effects using only figure 8.

I can tell you it does require some rhythm, something Mitch has in abundance and the rest of us have to acquire,

 

[Stu-Art-Designs1244]

Welcome Stu.

Although I can't help you totally, I can tell you that the figure 8 for texture is very versatile, so much so that I use it a lot now, it's important to understand that your "8" doesn't actually have to take form of a perfect 8, it can be a long and thin 8 which is particularly handy for for creating wrinkle and stretch marks around eyes and mouth, it can also be a short and wide 8.

I would suggest that you practice a little with the texture, some complain that it's difficult to do but I find it the easiest texture effect to use, I think to be honest most people find it difficult because they think it should be perfect, when in actual fact being random brings it closer to reality, I've created some amazing marble effects using only figure 8.

I can tell you it does require some rhythm, something Mitch has in abundance and the rest of us have to acquire,

hi madbrush thanks for your reply. yh i find it rather simple to do its just i dnt know where to use it properly. i think im starting to understand a little more now after watchin a few videos etc. i was using it all over the project which i think was makin it look like the person was ill im gunna give it another go tomorro and see how it turns out. hopefully i can get it lookin alot better

thanks for your help

stu

 

[Madbrush]

hi madbrush thanks for your reply. yh i find it rather simple to do its just i dnt know where to use it properly. i think im starting to understand a little more now after watchin a few videos etc. i was using it all over the project which i think was makin it look like the person was ill im gunna give it another go tomorro and see how it turns out. hopefully i can get it lookin alot better

thanks for your help

stu

At the start I didn't totally understand the concept, but after ruining a few pieces by doing everything wrong, I decided to try out all different texture techniques and found the figure 8 the easiest and most versatile, and like I said simply changing the shape of it gives it unlimited application, as do they all, short or long dagger strokes carefuly placed dots at varying heights and angles, it's all about the practice really.

You can usually find a lot of step by steps showing how all the different techniques are used, Mitch explains in many of his earlier videos where these techniques are best used, but a little experimenting is also fun and is usually followed by the occasional surprise and eureka moments.

Throw up a few posts and get your photo up, then the guys will be able to see where you need help the most.

 

[Stu-Art-Designs1244]

ok cheers madbrush, goin to try some differnt ways today. thanks

 

[Lostcommander]

Hi Stu and welcome,

I use something i thinnk is called underblanket for gardens it is tightly meshed material and it does not have a repeating patterne, you can also use some silkstocking from your wife or girlfriend (ask first and do not put them back in the drawer afterwards)
Remember to use the smaller textures in highlight areas and mostly use the larger ones for shadowed areas.

Figure 8 technique is cool, but i havent mastered it yet as i keep doing it to strucured.

No matter what i find really thinned down paints is the way to go for textures, in order not to overdo it.

 

[Lostcommander]

Oh and by the way, the use of erasers, scalpels, pencils etc is also something that is good to use.

 

[Stu-Art-Designs1244]

Hi lostcommander. thanks for your reply thats interesting i might give that a go i have redone the face of the peacve i was workin on using the figure of 8 and it seems to have come out loads better i hope anyways , soon as im aloud to upload pics on here i will. yh i thinmy paint alot and build up the layers slowly! some times i still go a little dark tho

thanks for all your help guys

 

[airbrushtutor]

Stu - don't worry about posting a link just post it as an attachment - the little picture button in the editor when you're writing a post..

 

[Stu-Art-Designs1244]

Stu - don't worry about posting a link just post it as an attachment - the little picture button in the editor when you're writing a post..

thanks ok here is a before and after, the one on the left is the one i did yesterday b4 adding any textures, the right one is with some textures! then this one is the whole picture of before and after! i really need to work on my over spray issue

 

[Madbrush]

thanks ok here is a before and after, the one on the left is the one i did yesterday b4 adding any textures, the right one is with some textures! View attachment 5562 then this one is the whole picture of before and after! i really need to work on my over spray issue

If you've just started out Stu, you really can't complaint about this, it looks great to me, all I can advice is a little sharpening up in some areas, you've got the features down great.

More thinning and and a little less pressure will hep to some extent with the over-spray problem, and you can shield areas close to where your working with your hand or you can use frisket or the like.

Practice the textures some and try this one again at a later date, you can even work some more on this one if that's what you want, but I would certainly practice all the textures at different heights and intensities just to see what they can all do.

I hope you do it again, I have all the movies and never get sick of watching them, if you do a step by step might be an idea then your new found buddies will keep on the right track as you go.

 

[Stu-Art-Designs1244]

If you've just started out Stu, you really can't complaint about this, it looks great to me, all I can advice is a little sharpening up in some areas, you've got the features down great.

More thinning and and a little less pressure will hep to some extent with the over-spray problem, and you can shield areas close to where your working with your hand or you can use frisket or the like.

Practice the textures some and try this one again at a later date, you can even work some more on this one if that's what you want, but I would certainly practice all the textures at different heights and intensities just to see what they can all do.

I hope you do it again, I have all the movies and never get sick of watching them, if you do a step by step might be an idea then your new found buddies will keep on the right track as you go.

thanks madbrush altogether i have been airbrushing for nearly a year now, but portraits i have only just started a few weeks ago! i have done a few but nothing amazin

here is a few i have dne i had to tape 4 peaces of paper togeather at the time as didnt have any sketch pads big enough

cheers

 

[slipery]

I think you need to concentrate on your shading for the time being, get that right first, and then begin to add textures......at this point you're not being subtle enough, the shading is too harsh.......but definately keep at it, it's the only way to improve.....

 

[Lostcommander]

Hi Stu,

you are for sure off to a good start, we can all see who you are trying to paint and that is sometimes the hardest part, you need to work on you values, by that i mean your shaded areas are to strong, put them on lighter and slowly make them stronger.
When doing monochrome paintings and also if you do paintings in transparencies, you go from dark to light and slowly build up to get the values correct, remember to keep your highlights clean all the time, use erasers etc to get back your highlights if you went to far on them.

keep going you will all of a sudden have broken the "code" and will be producing great paintings.

 

[Stu-Art-Designs1244]

Hi guys, thanks for all the great comments, i have a few questions tho

to stop from goin to dark what do i do about shading that is nearly black in the ref pics? also things like blades hair is black? i did it alot lighter to start with and it didnt look right this is why i went darker! also when adding textures should i shade first then add textures or textures and shading ad same time or wat?

when u say sharpen up my lines do you mean go round the out lines and make them stand out a bit? sorry for all the questions

thanks

 

[Stu-Art-Designs1244]

here is a couple more i did on canvas.

 

[Madbrush]

Hi guys, thanks for all the great comments, i have a few questions tho

to stop from goin to dark what do i do about shading that is nearly black in the ref pics? also things like blades hair is black? i did it alot lighter to start with and it didnt look right this is why i went darker! also when adding textures should i shade first then add textures or textures and shading ad same time or wat?

when u say sharpen up my lines do you mean go round the out lines and make them stand out a bit? sorry for all the questions

thanks

Hi Stu

I can't speak for everyone, but in order to avoid going too dark too quickly, first of all I never begin with black, if I want to paint in black and white I start with a mid to dark grey, I will thin this anywhere between 1:12 and 1:20, referred to as over thinning, this allows you to build up your values and all your shading and shadows etc.. at your own pace, you need to have excellent control with the airbrush to be able to avoid going too dark with black, almost at the end of your project you go in with black to darken your shadows where needed, again this will be over thinned so that you don't over do it.

Sharpening up your lines simply means taking the blurriness off of them, you can't do that by shielding, by that I mean something similar to stencilling, you can use French which you will find at any art store, but I generally just cut shapes from cardboard, if you look at your reference photo you will see that some lines are sharp and then blend away fro dark to light or vice versa, as for your textures you need to just experiment a little and see what you prefer.

As suggested you can scratch or erase out highlights, but do this between layers, it won't work if you wait till your done.

A little tip for you, if you print out a black and white copy of your reference, take a small dab of black paint on your little finger and dab that on the areas on your copy that are black, you will notice that is little or no black in it at all, same as if you take photo of a black car in the street and print it put you would have the same effect, this the reason that in your printers settings you will see "Grey scale" instead of black and white since every black and white image consists of many shades of grey going from the lightest (almost white) to darkest (almost black), technically the only time you can ever perceive true black is when there is no light.

 

[slipery]

There are a few issues here that need attention before you worry about adding texture, like control, overspray and alignment, alway have air coming out before you pull back for paint and always shut the paint off before the air......the exercises that Airbrushtutor has set out are a great way to improve your control of the airbrush....to combat over spray until you have the required skills is to shield the parts of the painting you don't want to get overspay on, this can be done simply with a piece of paper, later when your control is better you may find you don't need to use anything. a good rule to go by is to paint what you see, not what you know.....the key to realism is subtlety, bend your shades subtley into one another.....pratice pratice practice....it does not happen overnight....

 

[Stu-Art-Designs1244]

thank u again for the reply's i was told one another forum by a man that is amazin at portraits not to eva use white and always use Black on a b&w portrait!and to always start with the darkest areas first! so i stopped using white and things did improve but i kept going to dark as u can see. i cant help it for some reason, i see black so i keep going darker maybe ill give the grey a try! ill be doin as many portraits as i can over the next few weeks and tryin different things and hopefully seeing some improvement!

Slipery- i have done some of the airbrush tutors exercises and i think i have the control part ok. i never let paint come out b4 air id never be able to control it and it wud end u a big mess i did sheild some of the areas on the blade on but then i took the shield off and went bk over a few things and thats where my overspray came from . i think next time i will keep it there intill i am totally done, and start practicing more not to have to use a shield! and try to sort out my problem of going to dark!

again thats for all your help peeps much appreciated and i will update with pics as i do them!

 

[Zotilraxx]

thank u again for the reply's i was told one another forum by a man that is amazin at portraits not to eva use white and always use Black on a b&w portrait!and to always start with the darkest areas first! so i stopped using white and things did improve but i kept going to dark as u can see. i cant help it for some reason, i see black so i keep going darker maybe ill give the grey a try! ill be doin as many portraits as i can over the next few weeks and tryin different things and hopefully seeing some improvement!

Slipery- i have done some of the airbrush tutors exercises and i think i have the control part ok. i never let paint come out b4 air id never be able to control it and it wud end u a big mess i did sheild some of the areas on the blade on but then i took the shield off and went bk over a few things and thats where my overspray came from . i think next time i will keep it there intill i am totally done, and start practicing more not to have to use a shield! and try to sort out my problem of going to dark!

again thats for all your help peeps much appreciated and i will update with pics as i do them!

Stu, nice to see you here, bro. Welcome to the wild side.

The Daywalker piece looks better. I can see where you went back and tried fixing things. What has been said so far will help you tremendously. You are doing great. Like what has been said, practice your shading. Start with something simple, like some geometric shapes, sphere, cone and tube. Be patient. There's nothing more frustrating than trying to paint something you really like and not being happy with the result. When you feel comfortable enough, try painting simple faces, women and children generally has smooth skin textures, yoiu can start with them. this way you can practice your shading. build it slowly. black is not entirely bad. What I think people mean about going too dark is when you compare a part of your painting with the rest of your painting.Like the hair compared to the skin. always refer to your ref pic.

What I find helpful is that I print my ref pictures in b/w. In that way the values are already there. All I have to do is carefully copy what I see.

May I suggest something. Pick a picture you want to paint. then take pictures off after every few layers of paint that you do. Post them up here and describe what you did in that stage. Then the artists on this forum can guide you as you go along your project.

Hope this helps.