Request critiique on facial topography of Viggo

Intentions OCT 2012 - nail a head mesh of Viggo Mortensen.

Everything Doris said makes sense sooner or later … And Tonatiuh is not far behind…

I have to add a rough textured shot of the mesh for more comparison. These textures are only place holders at the moment.

Attachments



The lower third of the face is too wide. This makes the eyes seem too close together. The inner eye IS (almost) level
with outer eye.

When looking for proportion errors try different orientations (upside down, sideways) . Something that seems OK in one orientation might obviously look wrong in another orientation. Blocking out halves or thirds sometimes helps. If I block out the lower third of your render and ignore the eye shape I see Viggo.

hi, i try to give my view to your questions…
i think your eyes are too close together (even after fixing the width issue of the lower face mentioned already), his eyes are close, but not that much.
the images where the lower part of iris shows is always a kind of “alert” expression, for which this is usual. other pics show the straighter lower lid, covering the lower part of iris. so i think, he is same as general people here. depends on what expresiion you want model, to decide which is right for you…
the chin in your model is too wide, a tad
yes, i think the eyes need go deeper into the skull
what is more important for likeness then the hairs of the eyebrows and their direction, is the bony area of the eyebrow ridge. and, i think, you miss the bulge it makes before it goes into the forehead, you have a msall indication of it, but it should be much wider with less steep curves
and, i think the tip of nose in your model is not correct, it should be more rectangular than roundish
well, i tried to say what i do see, consider it, and take only the parts you agree with. creating portraits is a very personal thing

Holy cow! Exactly what I came for! Mother of Pearl, Treasure and glory for the bar!

However, please allow me some time to digest and experiment, before I respond.

Go Joe!!

For what it’s worth, I think there is a bit fuller flesh just below the cheekbone that makes this face look younger than the photos. Vigo has a very lean look to his face.

I should label this … Digging out Viggo. I know he’s in there.

Working one piece of the face at a time. I reduced the thickness in the jaw at a point just rear of the mouth line. To compensate for a now pointy chin I broadened the chin, … a bit.

Then I slightly narrowed the heel of the jaw through the face up to the cheekbones.

If this gets it in the ballpark, I’ll work on eyes next. Otherwise I’ll continue to refine the jawline.

One alibi … for my base reference as a starting point, i went with young Viggo in the very top left picture. Mainly because it was a full facing front picture. The end goal is Strider role and Hildalgo last.

Attachments


I went ahead and i set the eyes deeper into the sockets. I haven’t smoothed out the line towards the outer cheekbones to better show the inset. It’s surprising, they possibly could be sunk even deeper.

@bobg: You are correct in the young fatter aspect to the face. I formed this base reference face off the younger picture of Viggo very top left. Because of that ref pic, the lower face is very wide. As well the heel of the jaw seems pretty low.

I think the heel of the jaw might have to come up a tad.

i lifted the heel of the jaw up. The profile looks slightly improved.

(Sonofabitch! I actually think we’re beginning to see a bit of Viggo!)

Attachments



Terry, Doris, and bobg: The feedback you’re providing is priceless to me as an aspiring artist. A phenomenal time saver.

Terry: Great tips. Good insights about blocking out various sections of the work, as well the point about shifting the model to observe various perspectives. Truthfully, I’ve rotated the head to 3/4 perspectives and profiles but not nearly as rigorously from other angles to ensure good proportion. I really like the tip about breaking it into sections. I’ve begun the process of Viggo’s jaw reduction and I think it is bringing the work closer to a more authentic look.

Doris: Outstanding insights about the eyes and overall topography of a face. I’ve already begun to “sink” the eyes deeper as well as refine the jaw. I will work on the eye orbit next if the jaw passes muster. - You certainly have a real experienced sense regarding work on faces and heads, that’s obvious.

glad you find my remarks helpful :slight_smile: portraits are my passion :slight_smile: … yes, sinken the eyes has improved the portrait alot. width of jaw looks good now, maybe try to curve it a tad, you can see in the topmost ref foto (the first so to say) the slight curve the jaw has from front view. yes, still lots of work needed as you mention, but altogether it is coming along nicely :slight_smile:

Thanks a ton. In addition to saving hundreds of hours, you all validated certain hunches about the direction the head should be shaped. This forum is helping … hugely. Also, if I might ask, are your portraits in 3d or 2d?

As for now I’ll return to digging out Viggo, and attacking the jawline.

i do portraits in wood, clay, zbrush, blender, pencil …what ever tool falls into my hands is not safe to be used for a portrait …lol , so yes, 3d and 2d … i added my signature, so you can take a look if you like to

Yeah, after looking at your work, you might know what you’re doing. Very nice mix of media. I liked the breadth of subject matter as well. Very cool poses and expressions. The math professor looked familiar.

  • As to Viggo’s jaw I created a more rounded curve to the heel

  • I bowed the jawbone outward as well to allow the jaw to better follow the upper cheekbones. The jaw still tapers to the chin.

  • The face still has some mass to lose around the cheekbones, but I’ll attack that later.

Need a ruling on the jaw. Or are more pics needed? In the zone yet?

PS: I just removed a dip" where the jawbone closes in on the chin." But I notice the chin has slightly too much mass now.

Attachments



yes, i would leave the jaw for now, the basics are fine…yes the dip needs be there, it is present in almost every skull, and seen in your third reference pic clearly, even through the beard… you know, with portraits, you are never finished with a section, rather you bring it to a point where you are satisfied with, then work a different section, then look back to the jaw, and maybe then refine it again a little, because the “new surrounding” makes the jaws relationships different, and so now you can more confident adjust… actually this is an endless play , but at some point you will stop it… so, yes put the dip back in, and move to the next area of interest …then, you will see how the jaw fits in … as said, overall it looks correct now, so i would move on if i were doing this portrait…

Very solid advice. Jaw restored to previous look.

So which direction next, … brows?

brows is good next point

Moving in that direction even as we speak.

Did a rough on the brows.

Attachments



I know this is progressing by fine degrees, and these pics don’t vary much from the prior ones on 5 Oct, but I’m working into around the eyes, and the eyes are the real crux.

What’s different:

  • Tried thickening the brow ridge to better define the top of the orbit. Then I widened the opening towards the outer edge to make the orbit more elongated but as well to allow for more of a down-slope run for the brow ridge from towards the outer corner. I think bone shape now of the orbit is pretty close.

  • As to the eyeballs themselves, after having opened the orbit up more, I think the eyes should likely drop “a bit” towards the floor of the eye socket. This is a guess however.

Comments?

Attachments