2024 art goal: I'm going throught a pretty bad period of my life but art is still something I love and keeps my mind away from falling in my own black hole of ideas. Sadly I'm having problems to learn new stuff becasue my focus is not that good right now. I hope that 2024 will bring me a more positive mindset and i'll find the joy in learning new things again. Thank you Stephen and Proko (team) for the great videos and everything else you do

Here's my submission for the challenge! I really love portraits and i try to keep a "traditional" feel even if most of my work is digital. Thanks so much for all you did Marco & Proko's team ♥

I love both images but the first one I like the most. The crushing feeling and the sadness you convey is amazing. Good job Marco!

I love the first one there is a clear structure with the body. The neck and shoulder of the second one is warped strangely. But is it is an interesting effect.

I like the second one, it looks cool and creepy, and deviates from the norm just enough to be interesting.

I'm no good at portrait so I can't really give suggestions. I really loved the sort of red texture that's sipping through the image, almost as if the thing is painted on top of a wooden panel. I like this sort of effect. I need to practice using this kind of techniques more as well! Also the rim lighting is pretty awesome as well!

Stunning with, @Marco Fornaciari! Solid construction, strong anatomy and very fluid gesture on the beard and hair! Also, beautiful brushwork and colors. You seem to have got your painting skills sharp! 👍 I agree with @willgodwin’s suggestions of reducing the value contrasts on the hair and beard in order to frame the face features and make them pop more vividly. You could also try softening some edges, especially on shadow shapes and on the outer silhouette, and perhaps even using some lost edges in areas such as as the back of the head or the area right in front of the chin. I gave a try applying these adjustments to attach here as a visual note. But you’re a much better painter than me, so feel free to incorporate these suggestions in your own way, of course! 🙂 Hope this helps. Keep up the good work!

Bring values closer together in the hair/beard, ei, drop the lighter values in the upper and outer left of the hair to frame the face more. I like the loosness of the hair. The ripple of cloth on the right lines up with his lower lip, a little distracting and has a little too much contrast for a part of the piece that isnt very important, eye trap. Could also drop the white/lighter values on that side/cloth or whatever that is and strengthen the sihoette a little bit. Theres a lot of contrast in the left corner where his back/shoulder drops off, darken whole area to activate that space with some gravity while lowering contrast to avoid eyeballs from looking all over the place in this piece. Nice work!!!

I think I saw this on your Artstation as well. Great job! I always loved how his beard and hear become wavy and it's got a very nice fluid shape in it, and I think you captured that well! How do you typically do those color variations like places around the eye socket, also some of the highlight stuff?

hello im an absolute beginner at drawing here is my first attempts at drawing the head please point out the mistakes

@Marco Fornaciari I love it! Superb work with edges and textures, beautiful colors, strong structure. I really don’t see anything I’d change in it. Awesome job!

Love it! I have only one minor point. For me, her lips looks to sharp for me. I'm looking forward for new pieces from you. May I ask which program you used?

It's really good!I can see the structure of the cheek by that little highlight you added there.(Also like the little purple color notes in the shadow).I don't think I have much to change,the edges are pretty good,though i guess if you have to twist my arm,I recommend making the upper lips slightly darker than the lower one.I'll also recommend making the side of the eyes softer,alongside the left side of the face (the face one could be done by making the shadow value and background value closer) just because that part seem to slightly take too much attention. But most of these are very minor and could be subjective,so yeah,really solid job all around

I like the head rendering, values and shapes... but Something about the background... like it doesn't fit. Also the composition,,, the head takes the entire canvas...