so far you’re off to a good start! i’m not sure what drawing style you’re going for but:
- when shading, don’t go for just darker hues based on your chosen mid-tone, go for something a bit reddish or yellowish ti give it that glow. you can also add in little bits of white if you want the skin to look shiny. tip: the darker the shadow, the more dramatic it will look (this will apply to everything)
- hair is a bit tricky at first, but its all in the locks layering and the hair color. in contrast to coloring skin, you need show a more wispy or grassy-looking shading bc the light bounces off differently on hair. you can use white strands to give it that extra oomph, but you can also use grayish or whitish tones thats in the range of your hair color. I’d explain more, but i’d be reiterating the tutorial i made on this
- only ever use your airbrush and smudging in between the colors. if you want good blending, go for a transparent brush. shade by the lines, not on them.
- when lighting and toning, decide where your light source is coming from for consistent shadows, as well as the color of your light source for temperature and ambience
- folds on clothes even if they look ironed. always make sure that the cloth’s direction of flow is relatively consistent to gravity pull.
- eyes have a bit of pink too, and have reflections (or a glass-like appearance) and have their own shadow (casted on by the eyelid)
- lips are easy enough to shade but can be defined more through the cupids bow and where the mouth is.
- when doing makeup, do research first on what kind you want to go for bc there’s so much variety because of the material and styles. also do your research in general to avoid her make up looking like someone gave her a black eye/bruise.
- noses are weird but are basically three balls side by side in varying arrangements and lengths.
- when detailing, there is such a thing as over detailing, where the details end up being distracting, so detail with what needs yo be detailed or defined more.