This is my first CW attempt of my own thought process. It's only the second I've tried regardless. I know that I'm still totally new at this but I desperately would like to learn how to get where I need to be.

I feel like such a ridiculous dork to not be able to somehow grasp the basics of these things, beyond lineart, I feel like my coloring is really my trouble.

Anyway, the idea behind the wig is a loose messy curl/wave that will eventually have a narrow band worn over the top with a row of tan feathers to the side.

[IMG]http://i47.tinypic.com/2vd5ldj.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i47.tinypic.com/osqttv.png[/IMG]

I feel like I'm definitely getting better/closer to where I need to be, but at this moment, I feel like I'm running into a wall of stupidity and overworking.

Anyway, any tips/suggestions would help. All I ask is that the critique be constructive and not bashing. I'm trying quite hard and I'm used to being capable at graphic design, but something in this exercise appears to elude me. Help?

.<

Please ping or feel free to sMail me.

The problem with black wigs is, that its pretty hard to see how you worked. So we can't really give you a lot of feedback and advice, because the color ate almost all details. Do you maybe have a brighter version of this as well? From what i can see its already much better than the first wig you made, but it would be nice if some more details were visible. A lot of artists use a gray base color for black wigs, because due to the shades it still appears black but you are able to see the lines properly.
The first thing that pops to my mind however is the hairline. Your hair looks pretty flat on the very upper part of the head. Look at that part on your human avatar. The hair/head is not straight like it is on your wig, but it bends in a little where the hairline is. That would help a lot. And the outlines look a little pixelated on the single strands.

edit: fixing typos..derp

just going to echo what squishy already said. I would consider redoing the coloring on a dark grey base, as I know for a fact that that's how most black wigs are shaded. This item: is a good example, I feel, of how you might want to shade c: Also, when you're doing the colors, pay closer attention to how the hair strands curl. This is a huge improvement from your previous wig (I was stalking this board hehe), but I feel that the hair could definitely be more defined. Again, I think the swirled mousse hair series might be something you should use as a reference for shading. Notice especially how the highlights move along where a portion of hair is curled. They don't just follow any random path, they follow specifically along a strand of hair.

As for your lines, I can sort of see staff taking a problem with it looking slightly pixelated. This should be a really easy fix though. if you're using photoshop, simply apply a weak blur filter to the lineart and then resize it. This should fix the pixelating problem. And while we're on the topic of lines, the loose strands that are coming out from the curls on either side can be improved imo if you tapered the lineart at the tips. I can tell that they are strands of hair falling out from the bigger curls, but they look slightly too heavy.

Lastly, pay attention to how the overlay "shape" of the hair looks. Right now, it looks as if the HA's left side (our right) has a huge mass of hair curling towards the back near the shoulder, with a few strands falling out, while the HA's right side (our left) looks more wavy/straighter. Hair does not have to be symmetrical, but right now, this asymmetry looks unintentional.

good luck! And feel free to ping me if you want further critique or would like me to clarify any of my points c:

-chan

Thank you both, I appreciate your kindness in your critiques. I want to learn how to style this, and I very appreciate all the help so far.

Here's the update I've tried here.

[IMG]http://i49.tinypic.com/ehg491.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i50.tinypic.com/2u74v3p.png[/IMG]

Squishy, the flatness was to accomodate for the piece that I'm planning for the wrap around, but I decided for now I'd try and work on what you suggested, mainly just to start simpler. So thank you for pointing out the shaping issue. I hope I remedied it.

I started with a grayer background the first time too, and have since lightened it further, I hope it still reads black.

Fuzei- I really appreciate the example. It helped in showing me a bit more of the highlight on curls, though I know that I've probably not got it all the way yet. Though I didn't want the tighter curl look as in the example quite so defined. I also appreciate the notice of the asymmetry and it's unintentional look. I tried to correct that, as well as fussed with the tapering of the fly away bits.

As long as I'm improving each time I see it as a plus! ^^

Ooh.. ok.. First, i think your outlines look much better now. And you've choosen a nice, natural flow for your curls/waves. I'm still stumbling over the asymmetry [user=fuzei-chan] mentioned. I think the biggest problem is the gap between neck and hair on the left side. I think there should be hair too? And.. i'd try to use smaller lines for the highlights. Its not so obvious on the shades because of the dark color, but the bigger the shading lines and highlights, the bulkier and stiff it looks.

Btw, HERE is an amazing tut for hair as well.

(i'm sorry if i don't make any sense, somehow i'm having problems translating properly atm. xD)

That tut is super helpful, and if I can't seem to finagle this as it is, I might scrap and start another from fresh. As far as the gap, I've fixed it, and tried your suggestion of making the highlights slighter :)

[IMG]http://i45.tinypic.com/29dxpix.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i49.tinypic.com/35lvztt.png[/IMG]

So sorry, totally forget to reply! Hm.. i think it looks much better from before! It of course could be more defined like the wigs i posted on the other topic, but those artists have a lot of practise with wigs. But i think you are on a good way! =)

The only thing i would suggest now is keep practising. There really are some awesome wig artists on subeta, so the closer you get in quality, the more people will be interested in your wigs. But seems like you are learning this pretty quickly, so keep going. =)