Jimi Hendrix or Fred Duran

[Jasen Smith]

Made a couple new brushes for another project and figured I'd try them out on a new painting.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-u2OfqlyAO5Q/TnAJhR1C6xI/AAAAAAAAHmY/BEWaIGo_KHw/s800/Hendrix.jpg

I used a photo to start out with. At work right now or I'd post the photo. Not sure who took the photo either so if any one knows drop me a line.
Any way, started out with a photo and since it was black and white I added my own colors to it by painting over the photo on a new layer.

Close to the end I duplicated the layer and added a noise filter and using a layer mask created a nice grainy texture.

Here is a close up of the detail on the face.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BKRIA8oVqFs/TnAVM1WnglI/AAAAAAAAHms/DSmRTVuJQAs/s800/Details.jpg

Up close his left eye bothers me and doesn't look correct.

[SuperMonkey]

The left eye actually looks weirder in the full shot to me than it does up close. Something about the white in relation to the pupil seems off. Another crit I would have is that the cigarette isn't really noticeable at first. You might want to shade it a little differently from the background.

Overall, though, I'm liking this piece.

I'm something like 70% sure that the original photo was taken by Gered Mankowitz, probably in '67 or '68. If it wasn't Mankowitz, it may have been by Linda McCartney. I know a lot about 1960s rock star portraits, but I'm not sure about the particulars of that one. Both Mankowitz and Linda took lots of pictures of Hendrix, though, so there's a good chance it was one of them.

Hope that helps. :)

[OZ!]

Definitely. Adding depth/eyelashes like the right eye will help immensely. Same with the mouth. There should be shadow of some kind cast on his teeth. Another thing Monkey was dead on with... I didn't see a cigarette. I know its there because I've seen the photo, but in the painting... barely. This is a beautiful piece. I hope this isn't where you stop, because this could really be a great painting.

[Jasen Smith]

Thanks for the feedback guys.
Added more shadow to his left eye and a bit of shadow on his teeth too.
As for the cigarette, I tried bringing it out more but I think the background being so white is what is killing it. Oh well. Here is the updated version.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VBaU94MwcRQ/TnBNvAGiOsI/AAAAAAAAHnU/LLnII7BW_WQ/s800/Hendrix.jpg

[william reyes]

:thumbs::thumbs:

[BiljanaM]

EXcellent!!!! What is your technique?

[Jasen Smith]

Step 1: Paste photo onto layer 1 and use smart blur filter a few times.
Step 2: Create new layer to add base tones grabbed from the smart blurred photo and set it to a low opacity.
Step 3: Create a new layer and start creating shapes. (Nose, eyes, etc) Set it to low opacity.
Step 4: Repeat step 3.
Step 5: If needed repeat step 3 again each time bringing out the highlights.
Step 6: Throw away layer 1, the photo, and merge the other layers.
Step 7: Start blending.
Step 8 : Add smaller details, highlights.
Step 9: Add texture.
Step 10: Make any adjustments needed.

This is usually what I do, it depends though on the image.

[SuperMonkey]

The second version looks a lot better. His face is just about spot-on now, I think. The invisible cigarette is still bugging me. I might suggest maybe changing the background color a little to make it pop out a little more.

Maybe give the background a purplish tinge? I mean it's sort of "hazy" looking to begin with, right? :)

[Jasen Smith]

I thought about going purple but there are a lot of images of him in purple surroundings. I may end up cropping it and cutting the cig out. Changing the background may cause more work than what its worth.