That is outstanding! The shading and outlines are synergistic.
I have a touchscreen laptop. Any guidance on how I can use it to start painting like that? Do you recommend a certain OS, app, or pen?
Thank you! If the laptop screen has pressure sensitivity, and came with a stylus, you are golden. I use krita on desktop, with a graphic tablet. It’s a Huion, i don’t know the dollar price but it was cheap and it’s quite decent. You may have a lot of software choices like Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint etc but I’m on Linux so Krita is the best option for me.
As for the painting process, I just rely on observation and constant failing. If you put enough wrong brushstrokes, happy accidents begin to happen eventually. Learning a little bit about values, blocking and colour theories is a good starting point.
Woman With a Hoop Earring
Is that Vermeer reference? i hope I’m not embarrassing myself by thinking that. Ha h
It is
The eyes, shading, and expression are all fire! Looks stunning!
Might want to consider using different types of brushes. Looks like below 100% opacity standard round brushes. I really like the effect I got once I moved away from those brushes. Might be worth experimenting.
I do like to use textured brushes but here, it’s sorta deliberate. I wanted to do this type of chaotic and broken gradient of values.
You nailed it! The longer I looked the more brush strokes I followed.