Butterfly

[rideum51]

Mike's butterflyfinal20210922_15044363.jpg

Okay I will go first, this is my first attempt. as I got further into it I think I may have found the secret to life, just kidding. No more circles until all the shading has been done and then maybe small circles to blend. Also I did not spend 38 hours like promised so I will go slower the next time. Comments appreciated, not looking for applause but constructive criticism or just plain criticism. If it's not fun why do it.

[Mike Sibley]

...I did not spend 38 hours like promised, so I will go slower the next time. Comments appreciated, not looking for applause but constructive criticism or just plain criticism. If it's not fun, why do it.

On that basis... And very late, for which I apologise...

I'm not going to be very critical, because I feel it's unfinished, but there are a couple of points I'd like to raise.

First, according to Affinity's histogram, your image shows true darks and lights. It's possible the light has burnt out the lighter detail, so I'll assume that's the case.

However, that means the darks, as I'm seeing them, are not as dark as they could have been. Those darks - I'm referring to the deep dark holes - are as far back as the eye can see. They represent the ultimate depth. So, the darker they are, the deeper they look. And that then gives you more layers of depth you can use. Here, I can see a lot of light content, so I'll remove that first - not by painting them black, but darkening the light content, And not all of it - some I'll leave to add interest. But some areas DO need to be solid. They are the as far back as the eye can see references for the viewer.

RIDEUM-Butterfly2-duo.jpg

Now we can push some elements even further back. And, given that some are at least three or four layers deep, and in the shade of those above, that depth can be quite considerable. If I had time, I'd push more back, and perhaps cut new unrecognisable and barely visible shapes into the darkest areas. You can have a lot of fun creating depth. And yet, most of it would be hardly visible at all - things to discover if the eye travels into that area. In the meantime, they're creating a natural sense of depth, and not taking attention away from the important foreground elements.