holy cow you did this in TWO HOURS?

Oh wow, super pretty, Cap here is mega adorable. <3 I love his beard so much!!

Fantastic work. Skin tones are a hard feat on account of the spectrum of color you need to use, on top of the mind seeing other human features as "uncanny" if it's off just slightly. Kudo's here.

Tag this #rdfb for some feedback from the realism experts!

Nice!

The rendering with the color gives it such a nice painted like dimension to it. I also like the sense of depth as the person in the foreground looks clear, and the background is a little fuzzy. Almost like a bokeh effect. Oh and the border framed is reminiscent of a photograph too.

Ahhhh!!! This looks amazing pono!! The little strands on the beard look so realistic! :0

@Vinyl @Tibby-san @Lydi072 @LoonieEvie @Hailsss AHHHH thank you all so much!! <333 I appreciate u all!

@RoseSoup It felt like an eternity hahaha! I'm too impatient for realism
@The_Adjudicator Thank you so much! I definitely struggled with how much contrast in colour there was between the left and right half of his face.
@razrdraws Oh good idea, thanks!
@khangaroo1250 This is so kind, thank you! The background of my reference was a bit tricky to visualize so I'm happy the blurry effect worked out haha!

@ponopzop Wow, this looks incredible! :D The realism, his hair looks so real! ^_^ And the lighting, it all looks really great! :D

Really great shadow effects. Also, that beard looks soft. Which...is kind of a weird thing to say... But it DOES! XD

This is a great reference to paint! I have seen some watercolor paintings of this reference as well. This guy has an epic beard!
I think you did a good job on the proportions, and the various elements read well (hat, coat, beard, etc.)
I think the toughest part of this is the texture. The beard, especially in the lower left, shows good texture by alternating light and dark areas in your painting. And you do a good job defining the side plane with more light.
I think the hat, and the transition from hat to head, could benefit from softer edges. Having all sharp edges defines it a bit too much. Some of the edges in the reference (on the discord) are soft or almost lost.
The skin could use a bit more texture. Mixing in various colors with the bristle brush can give the effect of pores, etc. to make it less smooth. There is a fair amount of cool or blue tones in the reference.
I like the out of focus background that still suggests a window. It doesn't compete with the image for attention, and suggests the maritime theme.

The reference has a more somber expression, did you add the teeth to give more of a smile?
This was an ambitious, and I hope rewarding, exercise!

@Shen_Gallery @Mewsea Thank you both so much!! His beard was my favourite part to paint hahaha

@tall73 Oh wow! Thank you so much for the feedback, I really appreciate all of the thought that went into your comment! I totally agree with you on the hat, it looks a bit too sharp - I blame my impatience for not fixing up the details haha! I would love to see other recreations of the same reference, very cool that you've seen paintings of it before! To be honest I just interpreted his face as smiling, I didn't mean to add anything hahaha. Again, thank you so much for your thoughts on this!

@ponopzop I think Gary Tucker who does the youtube channel Advancing with Watercolor uses this image in his workshop, and so he painted it and some of his students did as well.
Here is his version:
https://public-files.gumroad.com/variants/swpe29gx4sxkxm2le1bt4xthnmkk/e82ce07851bf15f5ab0ebde47958bb042197dbcdcae02aa122ef3f5b41e97c02

And here is a clip from his full class on gumroad:
https://garytuckerartist.gumroad.com/l/psBvn

Here is one from his student:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPjEH-3HT7X/

I used to follow another of his students who had two different versions, but can't find him now. If I manage to will update!

Ah, found the artist, but I think he only left the second one up:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPi2GCLna2L/

Here is another one:
https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/b8e99fc6-c5b8-4800-8bc1-7750a4a51bc5

And another one:
https://m.facebook.com/WatercolorCollection/photos/a.377320609027271/2753654994727142/?type=3&hc_ref=ARTekJ9_fXJTs63SG8lZ_EreW2m5INQj9NG7nnjzvdeFiA1vIV9lge1HwjUoPs6K7nk&ref=nf_target&locale=zh_CN&_rdr

alright! cool cool and it doesnt have the #rdcontest tag, did you not want it included for the challenge?

*** HOW omg u r so amazing!! i,cant believe u did this...so proud of u!!! SHOOK

Wow! Well done Amy! This is definitely your cup of tea! Can't wait to see more realism from you soon:)

I didn't realize there was a contest lol, thanks everyone!!

The skin is so vibrant and the beard looks great!!!!!!

Realy nice i love how u made a dept affect

this is amazing! he looks so friendly c:

amazing job superb even.:D

PIHFCFTYDRTFTUHKYGRTRTTGYUJ
ITS SO GOOD-
HOW-???

the beard work...

♥*MWAH*♥