Playful in green

This is a portrait of Aftyn Rose, based on a reference that is important to me in a way that made it hard to do justice. This is attempt number four. I have tried to come at this over a span of many months. Each time I try, my style is different, my intentions are different. I would want to change things, and then fail at that. I decided I wanted to do it accurately; that too was a failure. I almost rejected this version.

I don’t think it’s perfect, but I do like it. It does honor to the original. I did wind up making a number of changes, particularly to the face. Part of why I love the reference so much is the pensive/hopeful look on her face. It’s not the confident, playful look you’re seeing here. Unfortunately, that proved to be too subtle for me to depict, no matter how much I worked at it. Ironically, the closest I came to capturing the sense of her expression was in the earliest shapes blockout, before attempting any detail. It was all downhill from there.

I wound up finding a different face reference that coordinated well with the pose. I had to find ways to meld the lighting. The face was so playful, I felt compelled to amp the teasing aspect of the pose. That involved shooting new reference with myself as the model! In the end, it’s partially her pose, partially my imagination. I think it’s pretty good! What do you think?