Digital Illustration Class- Artist copy #2-part 2.

My final version:

The original

Process Animation:
(1.sketch, 2. value study, 3.Trace outlines, 4.Color Flats, 5 Color balance, 6.Color correction, 7.Paint!)

Well this is part 2 of my Master-study. I split it up since it was so complicated...plus it gave me opportunity for feedback.

• Artist: Zinaida Serebriakova (Russian painter)
• Year: 1930
• Source: I actually found it on a Russian site, but it has since dropped the pictures. I have posted my personal collection on my brother's online image repository here: http://www.jerbl.com/images/post/list/SEREBRIAKOVA_zinaida/1
• Overall Process:

1. Detail sketch. (described yesterday)
   
2. Value study (described yesterday)
   
3. Select head, re-size it to correct proportions. Clean up and tighten the rest of the value drawing. Finalize by squinting at actual painting and seeing which parts stick out, or should be pushed back (overall balance.)
4. On a new layer trace the outlines of all the general colors.
5. Make a new layer, which will be called "COLOR FLATS" Fill it with your base colors.(step 5-6 was something I recently learned from Omar Dogan's Tutorial-Found HERE-)
   
6. Select a color with magic wand on the color flat layer, then switch to the Value study layer and adjust Color Balance for each and every color. (Generally have Blue/purples in the shadows and yellow/oranges in the highlights.)
7. Make a new layer and with the paintbrush make adjustments to color, and also add all the random ones.
8. Make a final layer above them all and utilizing the brush, I made following Megan's Tutorial (thanks Megan), and the eyedropper, I pick out colors and paint, paint, paint! At first I started to use my brush under the size-pressure-function, but soon discovered that I can make a better/natural look if I left it regular and just adjusted the size of the brush utilizing the '[' and ']' shortcut, and occasionally adjusting the opacity utilizing the numbers 1 through 0.

NOTE: Since I am trying to understand the whole painting process in Photoshop, I only used the Eyedropper once on the original artist painting (as far as I can remember). All my colors were created through the processes above.

• Problems encountered:
  

1. I tried adding a texture..canvas, noise, etc...in fact several of them, but felt unsatisfied in the end. They usually ended up darkening my colors, or messing up the magic of the picture...any suggestions?
2. I made the brush, and it showed up in my brush box, but after I quit Photoshop and came back it was gone... :( What happened?

• The desired technique: As I mentioned yesterday, I love Zinaida's work for several reasons. One is the somewhat rough bold strokes, which are exact and volume defining. The other is the vibrant lively colors. I feel that this picture best portrays it in comparison to all her other works.
  

• What I learned:
  

1. After completing this study, I feel that I learned exactly what I wanted to accomplish...if not alot more. Her works are very rough in places, and yet smooth and well articulated in others, which leaves alot of discovery in her process...and gave me good opportunity to see how she used colors and brush strokes.
   
2. Her constant use of Simultaneous contrast suprised me. (explained yesterday)
   
3. I learned that she used a palette knife for the window frame and outside wall. (Thanks to Megan for pointing that out.)
4. I knew that good paintings use alot of colors even though from a distance they look quite uniform, but i was incredibly surprised at how many this painting had. It was very inspiring to see all the colors involved, and their interactions.
   
5. If I were going to pursue this painting further, I would probably build more custom brushes, such as a palette knife, brushes with only 2 or 3 hairs, and brushes which would fade after a certain distance of being used...etc.
   

Wow, I feel very proud about this particular study. I have admired Zinaida's woks for years, and I feel this a great honor to finally do something about it. On a side note, I hope that my original illustration will make it a fraction of the amazing-ness of this one. haha!

NOTE: I will post my .psd tonight on the server. Anyone is welcome to dig through it. (i even cleaned it up and named everything so it is easy to understand.)