critique my work - The Vector Doctor

[The Vector Doctor]

I usually do not take these jobs on, but this was a special circumstance. The customer was very straightforward on their expectations. I don't like doing these because they are subjective and I never know what someone expects the final file to look like. This is a job in which if you sent it to 10 different companies/artists you would likely get 10 very different versions. I don't want to be the one that they don't like

I am a perfectionist and tracing logos usually requires little back and forth communication and very little interpretation is needed

So this is my FIRST try at this type of work. The customer was very happy.

What do you think and what would you pay for this job? Your answers will determine if I should consider doing more of these

 

[Replicator]

You just didn't get the pimples and crooked teeth accurate enough.

j/k . . . Nice job !

 

[Fred Weiss]

If you did 1,000 of them on a commercial theme, you'd have the contents of a best selling clipart collection.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

FYI, this fine young man died recently a few days before HS graduation in an automobile accident

 

[artbot]

taper the outside border (left) of his face allowing negative space to enter the cheek area and forehead line. it will give the vector a sense of having a highlight. it's too bold and of one single width. and the brow line is too low. even if you traced it vector, it doesn't allow the shadow in the nape of the nose to breath.

 

[Circleville Signs]

I think the only thing you missed is the hair. This young man is Caucasian. The hair in the vector appears to be more African-American.

Other than that (and I know I'm nitpicking), GREAT JOB! Fred is right - if you put some time into these, you could have a great clip-art collection on your hands!

 

[The Vector Doctor]

I think the only thing you missed is the hair. This young man is Caucasian. The hair in the vector appears to be more African-American.

Other than that (and I know I'm nitpicking), GREAT JOB! Fred is right - if you put some time into these, you could have a great clip-art collection on your hands!

I think hair is probably the hardest part. Too much detail and it never cuts (if vinyl). I tried to spike it a bit to show some strands without going overboard. Plus being solid black makes it seem more so. Too smooth and it looks like a helmet

 

[V-ENGRAVE]

Doc,

Is this to be laser etched granite plaque?
It would be very nice and lasting memorial for young mans family.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

Doc,

Is this to be laser etched granite plaque?
It would be very nice and lasting memorial for young mans family.

I believe this is being put on a shirt

 

[signgal]

beautiful work, Eric. I know how meticulous you are! I agree with Artbot and Gary collectively. The tapering, thinning and thickening of the lines is what produces depth and highlights. I think that's what Gary meant about the hair. Just a few squigley (technical term there) lined negative spaces would give it highlight and make it seem lighter, I think.

I don't think anyone answered your cost question. I wouldn't expect to have something like this done for less than $100 and would budget for more.

 

[Gino]

I think for the intended use, it will be fine. If you want to retouch anything, possibly lessen his right brow. Tends to look a little Neanderthal-ish. His nostrils are a little too flared and flat looking. You might have to exaggerate some features cause so much in the original picture having many flesh and tan tones and probably disappearing in your processing. I agree with the hair looking a little nappy. Can you possibly add some highlights so it doesn’t appear pure black…. such as you did in his collar ??


Cost ?? Figure out your normal rate and if you feel the desire to give a discount.... do so because you want to or feel complete in doing so.

 

[thesignguy1986]

Looks great in my opinion. For what you had to work with I think you did a great job.

 

[Steve C.]

Somehow he does look Blackish...
I think that if you have a shadow under the ear and chin you will need shade
under the nose as well.

and the brow.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

For what it is worth, the attached is what he had done by someone else and was not happy which is why he turned to me. It gave me an idea of what he had done but did not like

 

[Sign_Boy]

Looks good but I'd like to see more shadows on his face.
Kind of like this - but more refined.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

That is what I am afraid of. We are getting the full gamut of opinions here. Some love it, others not so much. So who is right and how do I charge for it?

I have to figure out the properly worded response for a job like this. I don't want to go back and forth a dozen times for a simple job. It is almost like having your customer standing over your shoulder designing a sign. Add a highlight here, tweak this, make this thicker, make this fatter, more rounded, more pointy......

 

[Sign_Boy]

That's the problem with this kind of work it's kind of subjective. (You were so right in post #1)
I like it don't get me wrong and I believe it will work for this application.
As for price ??? How long did it take you.
One more thing to consider on these types of jobs would be the quality of the photo that the customer supplies you - such as the lighting.
Bad photo means PITA job.

 

[artbot]

midpoints/thresholds....

take the image and grayscale it, after that you can do color range and play with the mid point, it will give you a more relaxed shadow line. from there, do a paint daub, then a threshold furthering selecting the shadow line. that is the best way to find mid points, even mixing two images mid points, erasing the lesser attractive of each.

 

[sjm]

You did real good. I think the vector drawing captures the real person and that's not easy to accomplish.

 

[ddubia]

I think you're right about the tweak this, change that sort of opinions. It's tough to go over it from that viewpoint. It's not a bad job so long as the customer likes it. After all, the customer is likely more familiar than any of us with the real person.

Something I would suggest for this or future work of this kind would be to open the pic in Photoshop. Click on "Image > Mode" and change it to Grayscale.

Then create an adjustment layer by clicking on the Yin/Yang looking button at the bottom of the Layers pallette. From the pop up menu choose "Threshold..." That will change the image to stark black and white and a dialog box opens with a slider that allows you to adjust the threshold level.

Slide it back and forth until you get the most important (to you) areas as detailed as possible so that you can work with it.

The image I've attached would be where I would start were I doing it because it details the eyes and mouth pretty well.

You could save this as a different file name and then reopen the same image making a new threshold adjustment layer only this time focusing on a different aspect of the image to bring into detail.

I'd would do this because it's difficult for me to arbitrarily guess the distinction between the light and dark areas that would give me the best detail and likeness and this method give a decent starting place.