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pepperw — Portrait

Published: 2006-11-07 08:13:49 +0000 UTC; Views: 3225; Favourites: 61; Downloads: 32
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Description This piece was done in tribute to my father. He was an artist, trained in art schools around the country, working much of his life as a commercial artist, doing too few art pieces just for art's sake. One of the last pictures he painted was of an Native American, which is why this subject was picked.

It is painted from a black and white photographic print that was in my parent's collection. Though I am pretty sure it is a famous photograph, I don't know who the photographer was or who is depicted. The photo was taken in the late 1800's or early 1900's. Curtis took many photographs of various Native Americans during this time, but I couldn't find this one in the books I have of his works. If anyone recognizes this and knows the photographer and/or the person depicted, please let me know.

This was painted in Photoshop LE using a Wacom tablet using the photo as reference. Very little was changed from the photgraph, except of course this is in color and the background was changed a little to give a subtle halo effect which was how many Christian martyrs were depicted in ancient paintings.

I am most pleased with the textures in the face which took many, many hours of work, working much larger than submitted here. I made this an exercise in textures, and some parts I am pleased with and others not so much. The face was done mostly with dodge and burn which worked well, though using different colors would have given it more life and made it less monotone. Though not a particulary creative work (as I mainly stuck to the photographer's image), I am pretty pleased with how this came out technically.

As always, critique and comments are welcomed and appreciated.
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Comments: 45

pirate-geek-13 [2008-11-21 18:23:37 +0000 UTC]

amaizing detail!

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pepperw In reply to pirate-geek-13 [2008-11-22 02:32:42 +0000 UTC]

Thanks. And thanks for stopping by my gallery.

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JurgenDoe [2007-12-27 04:45:51 +0000 UTC]

I wouldn't say the face looks monotone by just using the dodge and burn tool. You did an outstanding job with this and the clothing texture is just magnificent. Thumbs way up and this goes right into my s

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pepperw In reply to JurgenDoe [2007-12-31 04:21:32 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for your comments and for the .

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JurgenDoe In reply to pepperw [2007-12-31 16:59:13 +0000 UTC]

Youre very welcome and keep up this good work

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AGMorgan [2007-08-05 21:50:00 +0000 UTC]

He looks like he's from a plains tribe, but was Sitting Bull still alive near the turn of the century?

He reminds me of one of my teachers from high school.

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pepperw In reply to AGMorgan [2007-08-05 23:11:36 +0000 UTC]

I'm not sure if Sitting Bull was alive then or not. In some ways, he resembles some photos I've seen of Sitting Bull, but never enough that I can say definitively one way or the other.
Thanks for commenting and thanks for the fave.

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DAVIDEART [2007-07-30 16:11:29 +0000 UTC]

Veeery Nice!!!! I used to collect native american's images and books, and I have seen so much,but this is the first time that I see this shot.

Marvellous artwork, inspiring for a painting

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pepperw In reply to DAVIDEART [2007-07-30 23:56:45 +0000 UTC]

Thank you.

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DAVIDEART In reply to pepperw [2007-07-31 10:12:55 +0000 UTC]

Welcome

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kisstock [2007-05-01 09:27:30 +0000 UTC]

omgsh that's amazing :] I LOVE IT<3!

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pepperw In reply to kisstock [2007-05-05 03:45:30 +0000 UTC]

Thank you.

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Hunk1948 [2007-04-16 17:16:28 +0000 UTC]

very nice

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pepperw In reply to Hunk1948 [2007-04-17 05:47:21 +0000 UTC]

Thank you. And thanks for the .

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Hunk1948 In reply to pepperw [2007-04-21 16:11:20 +0000 UTC]

Your welcome

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tryptikangel [2007-03-24 00:08:56 +0000 UTC]

Very nice work!

As for who it is... he looks familiar. I'm thinking Sitting Bull? I did a google search on him and the images that came up look similar to this one... but it's not an exact science.

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pepperw In reply to tryptikangel [2007-03-24 13:22:19 +0000 UTC]

Thank you.

Sitting Bull could be right. I also did a search of Sitting Bull and some others, and couldn't find the exact pic I used for reference, but he did look similar. Thanks for checking it out.

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tryptikangel In reply to pepperw [2007-03-24 14:22:55 +0000 UTC]

No problem. It would have driven me nuts if I didn't. lol

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kelpmaster [2006-12-22 12:08:48 +0000 UTC]

This man looks bitter, I like it, although I think you could've made it look a hell of a lot better had you done it in microsoft paint.

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pepperw In reply to kelpmaster [2006-12-22 13:48:28 +0000 UTC]

Thanks. If I had your skills in microsoft paint, I would have probably done it in paint. I still remember your piece 'I dance' with awe.

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caddman [2006-11-12 02:17:14 +0000 UTC]

...Wonderful comp and balance of shapes and colors in this nice pic Bro...

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DaraGallery [2006-11-08 18:59:47 +0000 UTC]

Lovely job on the tunic Pepper!

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pepperw In reply to DaraGallery [2006-11-09 02:25:25 +0000 UTC]

Thanks. The fringe took me forever and I see in full view that there are a few spots I didn't complete.

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gmax [2006-11-08 07:58:03 +0000 UTC]

I am, as always, stunned by the photorealism in your images. Awesome job!

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pepperw In reply to gmax [2006-11-09 02:22:35 +0000 UTC]

Thanks.

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Mlad [2006-11-08 02:56:01 +0000 UTC]

Absolutely great work. Photo realistic. It's quite impressive how you do those variety of textures. The only thing that doesn't look absolutely perfect is some of the hair around his face. But it's such a minor thing. It really is quite amazing work.

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pepperw In reply to Mlad [2006-11-09 02:21:59 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for your kind words.
The hair is a bit weak in spots. It was the last thing I did and I was in a hurry to get finished. I have trouble with hair anyway, but especially when I rush.

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Wishmaker-kc [2006-11-08 02:20:56 +0000 UTC]

EXCELLENT work!

Kat

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pepperw In reply to Wishmaker-kc [2006-11-08 06:25:20 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much. Glad you liked it.

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Wishmaker-kc In reply to pepperw [2006-11-10 19:36:37 +0000 UTC]

You're so welcome!

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daborien [2006-11-08 01:23:58 +0000 UTC]

Wow... gerat work man... the textures of his clothes are amazing, but your work in the skin is outstanding man... your dad gonna be so proud!!!

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pepperw In reply to daborien [2006-11-09 02:18:13 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for the nice compliment.
And I think my Dad would have been proud. He never got into digital painting because it was still in its infancy, but he would have for sure. He was into the internet and computers when all you could get were three colors on the internet. He was very progressive when it came to computers and had a personal pc when programs were on cassette tapes before floppys or disks.

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daborien In reply to pepperw [2006-11-09 15:21:09 +0000 UTC]

I know what you said.

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Innerserendipity [2006-11-07 21:01:42 +0000 UTC]

Wow this is just fantastic! When I first saw it I thought it was a photo. Very realistic.

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pepperw In reply to Innerserendipity [2006-11-09 02:11:25 +0000 UTC]

Thanks. And thanks for the fav as well.

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Innerserendipity In reply to pepperw [2006-11-09 19:07:32 +0000 UTC]

You are so welcome.

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LongStock [2006-11-07 18:49:40 +0000 UTC]

This is really beautiful!

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pepperw In reply to LongStock [2006-11-09 02:08:12 +0000 UTC]

Thank you.

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anoniredi [2006-11-07 17:49:11 +0000 UTC]

OMG! It looks so realistic.

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pepperw In reply to anoniredi [2006-11-09 02:03:37 +0000 UTC]

Thanks.

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IdaLarsenArt [2006-11-07 08:16:31 +0000 UTC]

gorgeus work my friend!

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pepperw In reply to IdaLarsenArt [2006-11-08 16:51:26 +0000 UTC]

Thank you. And thanks for the also.

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IdaLarsenArt In reply to pepperw [2006-11-08 19:03:55 +0000 UTC]

welcome my friend

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ghost0311 [2006-11-07 08:15:03 +0000 UTC]

That is just amazing. Good job!

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pepperw In reply to ghost0311 [2006-11-08 16:59:37 +0000 UTC]

Thank you.

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