Today started with masking out the entire image. Then I mixed a light blue acrylic and airbrushed the top third and bottom third of the board, fading into the center. Next, I mixed a soft green and filled in the center, blending outward. I used a diluted black for the shadow below the model, then covered the entire background with pearl and red ‘sparkles’.
Once dry, I rearranged the masking to expose only the wings and stockings. Although ladybug wings/shells are commonly shown as bright red, many of the photos I researched looked more copper. So, with that in mind, I mixed an orange/brown acrylic and airbrushed the wings as a base color. I also used this color as a start for the stockings, too. Then I mixed a bright red and covered them again, going light toward the highlight ends. Next, I mixed a light sienna and covered the stockings, suggesting the skin showing through. I continued with darker browns, creating the contours on both the wings and stockings until I got down to near black. Once dry, I brush painted black gouache on the wings’ spots. The final airbrushing was a copper ‘sparkle’ added to the wings. I was going to use the airbrush for the highlights, but I’ve had difficulty finding the right thickness for white to make it opaque, yet not clog the needle. Instead, I used oil pastels for the white highlights on the wings…