It’s vector touched up with photoshop. 90% is vector, but I can never get the gradients to blend right and things just end up looking too rough… so I take it over to photoshop and spend about 20 minutes blending and smudging and blurring and stuff and it comes out like that. I’ll start a thread of my own at some point maybe, and put up the original vector graphics… no point doing it in someone else’s thread 
to make vectors blend you need to make the end color of the gradient the same as the surface color object that is beneath it
also try to give the colors in the gradient enough space to blend and don’t expect colors that are different than each other into lightness to blend naturally
ha ha I know that in theory, and it kind of works, but somehow it never comes out quite right when I do it in corel… I’m just not that handy with it yet I suppose. Photoshop is easier
Welcome to the “Better than w1sh” Club 
[ot] so how does that work… I make a wish and I become better than you at something that I wished for… sorry couldn’t resist… though I like your effort…makes me want to start posting some stuff when I get off my summer buzz[/ot]
[QUOTE=wes_design;2358398][ot] so how does that work…[/ot][/QUOTE]
[ot]
It’s a complicated process to join the “I’m Better than w1sh” Club. First you have to exist… then… um… you…
**WELL THERE ARE OTHER STEPS!! **
[/ot]
:lol:
Took some of your suggestions and tried again.
I know the lines are sketchy and the proportion is just a little off, but is there anything in particular that stands out? I’m really curious about lighting…
Thanks guys.
oooh I like that one!! real character 
One eye (the left) is angrier than the other, though only by a little bit. I love the mouth and teeth, the lips look really bloodstained against that sepia background… shading is better than the previous one. Improvement is palpable. this one is a lot more ‘real’…
Welcome to the “Better than w1sh” Club
that wasn’t quite the intention…
[quote=w1sh;2358410][ot]
It’s a complicated process to join the “I’m Better than w1sh” Club. First you have to exist… then… um… you…
**WELL THERE ARE OTHER STEPS!! **[/ot][/quote]
[ot]:mario: hah[/ot]
but yeah much better improvement on this one the ears are a little off but I like it
Eck, you’re right. Her ears are hideous. :X
I think shes saying… RAWR!
That’s her “appalled I said that” face. 
[QUOTE=w1sh;2358559]Took some of your suggestions and tried again.
I know the lines are sketchy and the proportion is just a little off, but is there anything in particular that stands out? I’m really curious about lighting…
Thanks guys.[/QUOTE]
Looking better! I think you should define the plane changes a bit more be exaggerating the lighting. Darken the eyes sockets and round them out, and start to pull the front plane of the face in a different direction to the sides.:proud:
one of the most important things to understand about painting, whether its digital or traditional, is that TONE is everything. one uses tone INSTEAD of line when painting to convey volumes. one thing i see in your work is a very careful observation of contour (line). this is nice but what i’d like to see you practice is not using lines at all next time. use the contrast of tone to create boundaries for everything. this will also force you to consider your light source. if you want to see a master of tone look at any of Johannes Vermeer’s work. heres is a link to one of his pieces:
notice how there are NO lines…just tones of color next to eachother that create form.
