Today I worked on all the painted areas, trying to get them done. I started with the red areas, using a black gouache wash, I added some shading and wrinkles to the various materials. Next, I dry-brushed black on the gloves and midriff, darkening them and adding a bit of mesh texture. Then I got to painting the bouquet. I mixed some yellow and black gouache with a touch of sepia too form the stem color, then brushed them in. I used the same color for the leaves, such as they are. Adding in some white to the mix, I painted the highlights (mostly in the stems), and then mixed black into the original mix to paint the shadows. With that done, I mixed black and red gouache to paint the flowers, adding hints of brighter red for highlights.
I worked on the hair some more, darkening it and adding some texture. I finally got the veil built up enough to show through the background (figures, both my acrylic and gouache reds are translucent). I added some red decor to the gloves and white highlights to the shoes, then painted the flesh areas with the textured gesso, preparing them for tomorrow’s oil pastels…
Tag acrylic
work progress – stage 2 finishing the paint
work progress – stage one paint
I started the day masking out the image, then airbrushing the background. I mixed a red-purple and covered the mid-section of the paper, then added some black to the mix and covered the lower section. Adding more black and a bit more red, I covered the remainder of the space, then with near-black I darkened areas until it was what I wanted. This paper seems quite absorbent, so the paint dries lighter and duller than expected. Still, I think it got dark enough (better to be a little lighter than darker, as there will be black areas in the foreground). Keeping the masking on still, I began painting the background elements, starting with a purple-gray for the floor’s pentagram. I also used a bit of the mix in beginning the skull, but found that the airbrushed paint mixed in enough to actually darken the areas that got wet (odd, considering how the paper seemed so absorbent – I would think the paint would hold better). I kept the skull and horns loose and subtle for the moment; I’ll work it more toward the end when I can see how it all fits together. Next, I painted the candles, starting with a dull gray-purple again, blending up through orange and into yellow. Up close, it seems quite bright, but is quickly dulled as I stand back, so I may have to add more paint later to bring them out. For the flames’ glow. I blended in a tan soft pastel. Before ending this half of the day, I wanted to complete all the airbrush work, so I moved the masking to expose the stockings and protect the background. I then covered the legs with a burnt sienna acrylic, followed by dark brown, and finally black, building up the shadows and forming the contours…
Later, I started the brush paintwork. I painted the face with gouache, then blocked in the hair with browns. I mixed a red acrylic paint to cover the dress’s train, and a brighter red for the rest of the red areas of the outfit. The acrylics will give me a good base to start from, allowing me to paint on top without worry of pulling up the red. Then, I painted the midriff and gloves with a mix of gray and burnt sienna gouache, in a wash. Once dry, I followed it up with black, washing it on over the brown, and more solid for the design and edges. There’s still more texturing on these areas to get them to feel like mesh/lace, but it’s a good base…
work progress – finishing up the painted areas
I started the day mixing black acrylic with a bit of white to give it an ‘off-black’ shade. I used this to block in the hat and boots. This form of acrylic paint works a little like gouache in that it can be re-wet and worked with for a short time before becoming permanent. I added some white acrylic to my brush and blended it into the black for toning and highlights.
While I waited for that to fully dry, I used black gouache in a wash on the skirt, building up layers to darken and contour it. I painted a blue-gray gouache on the back half of the belt, then blended black into it. I stippled the black into the front of the belt, creating its texture. Then I painted the fringe with gray gouache, adding little lines of black for shadows.
Back to the boots and hat, I re-wet the pink I used for the vest yesterday and painted the stitched design on them. I didn’t like the way the board’s texture was showing through in the painted gloves, so I mixed a dull tan acrylic and painted them again, this time solid. I then added some white to the highlights and brown to the shadows, blending them in before the acrylic could set fully. Next, I painted highlights on all the painted areas with white gouache.
To complete the painting portion of this piece, I covered all the skin areas with textured gesso so they’ll be ready for oil pastels tomorrow.
I ended the day using colored pencils to finish the rope. It ended up being a mix of ochre, gray, and dull yellow, with a little bit of dark brown for the darker shadowed areas (by the hands)…
Beginning new artwork
A bit of a setback having the website hacked a few days ago, but everything should be about normal again now (and safer).
I had a request for another cowgirl piece, so I went through the photo set I took of Kneely a few months ago and found something that might be fun. I worked on the outfit and lasso to complete the design, then drew it on illustration board…
- model Kneely
Next, I masked out the image, then mixed a light sky blue acrylic. I airbrushed it loosely around the top half of the board. I followed that up with a light tan acrylic, airbrushing the same way around the lower half. I used an ochre colored pencil to rough in the lasso rope…
work progress – tough week
Paint continues to be no friend of mine. All was well earlier in the week, after I finished the background. I started the painting process working on the facial features and hair as usual. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to handle the chair, especially since I was trying for a more illustrated look originally. At first I thought perhaps using loose brushstrokes, without concern for getting right up to the edge, then using a thin dark line to outline it. I didn’t think it would have enough solidity to ‘hold’ the model, so then I thought to just cover it in a flat color, maybe adding hints of contouring and shading later. And once again, my attempts to coat a large area that has an irregular edge with a wash of color turned out troublesome. I couldn’t use too large a brush, since some sections were only a few millimeters across, yet I needed to get the entire section covered before any of it could dry. It almost worked, but I still got a few brush strokes showing as it dried. To add to the frustration, the brush would shed as I worked, so hairs would stick in the wash, and I couldn’t do anything to remove them (luckily, since it is a wash, once dry, the hair would easily brush off). I got the entire chair covered, but was quite unhappy with the result. Not wanting to try further wash coats to build up the color, I resorted to a sure solid coating – acrylics. I mixed the color I wanted (or what I hoped it would be once dry – ended up darker than desired, but still okay) in a cup so I would have plenty to work with, then repainted the chair one flat color. Despite working fairly thick (as thick as I could, and still get some flow from the brush), I did need to hit most of it again with a second coat.
Now that it was finally painted, I looked at it again to decide what I wanted to do with it next. Flat wouldn’t do, so I used colored pencils to build up some highlights. The texture from the pencils worked well for a soft leather feel, so I think it was a good choice. I used dark pencils for the shadows, then finished the chair with a few white highlights using gouache.
Things got easier after that, as I moved on to the black areas – the chair arms and base, and shoes. I covered them in a heavy wash of black gouache so it be light enough to allow a second coat of black for the shading. I’m still feeling a bit frustrated about paint, so I have yet to complete these areas (highlights, mostly). I sued a wash of gray mixed with a bit of blue for the mid-tones in the chrome base of the chair, then finished it with white gouache highlights.
I got to rethinking the color for the tie, and am still uncertain what will be best in the end. For now, I’ve given it a wash of pink, which will be darkened either a little bit, or a lot, depending how it feels once the skin is done.
For the stockings and blouse, I brushed clean water over the entire area, then lightly added a bit of gray to the shaded areas, blending it out into the lighter areas. I also added some peach to the stockings to give them a sense of sheer. These areas will also get refined once the skin is in.
For the skirt, I decided to go the same route as the chair, so I mixed a dull brown acrylic in a cup, then coated the area. Once dry, I washed some black gouache over it in the shaded areas, then a wash of light brown gouache for the highlights.
Finally, I covered all the flesh areas with the textured gesso, prepping them for the oil pastels to come…
work progress – background airbrushed
I got to more than this today, but only took the one photo so far, so I’ll get describing the rest tomorrow.
Today, I masked out the image and airbrushed the background. I mixed grey, cerulean blue, and ultramarine blue with white acrylic, then covered the background loosely, leaving the edge of the paper nearly untouched. Once covered enough, I mixed black into the remainder of the blue color, thinned it out more, then created the shadow on the floor, as well as the edge of the wall, blending it lightly forward for a carpet look. Finally, I painted the frame of the diploma on the wall with brown gouache…
work progress – airbrushing completed
Today I worked on the background, as well as the stockings. I started with masking out the whole image, then mixing a dark green acrylic and airbrushing the background. I mixed a bit more black and continued, putting more emphasis on the edges. I then used a light green acrylic and airbrushed mostly the center area of the background. Once dry, I used a dark green gouache to paint hints of leaves and foliage all over the background. I don’t want to call too much attention to it, so I keep it subtle, creating just a feeling of the plant life. With that done, I finished the background with another coat of the dark green acrylic, airbrushed loosely to created soft textures and hints of shadows.
I let that all completely dry before the next step, since I’ll be adding masking back over the background. I removed the masking on the stockings, and surrounded them with masking. Using a mix of brown and flesh gouache, I loosely painted the legs as if they had no stockings on them. This will hopefully give it a sense of sheer in the end. Next, I mixed a flesh acrylic and airbrushed the legs, followed by a medium light green. I darkened the green and began contouring the stockings, mixing darker shades as I moved into the shadows. Once that dried, I used the dark green gouache from before to paint in a vine design on the stockings. Then I airbrushed white highlights over the stockings to complete them…
packing up, and starting new artwork
With less than two weeks until the convention, I’ve been striving to get everything ready so I don’t have to run around at the last minute. This weekend was finishing off the print work, plus starting to pack up the big box. It becomes like a puzzle, trying to figure out which pieces will fit where, making the whole box solid and everything inside safe. I have it laid out in one configuration that looks to work, but the final test is actually packing. that’s something I only want to do once, so I’ll wait until I’m certain there’s nothing else I need to add or change.
Meanwhile, I did find time to start a new art piece. This is an image I’ve had for some time now, but it wasn’t until now that it struck me just right, and I decided it would look good. Before drawing it on the board, I knew I wanted a toned background (light tan), and since it would be light, I decided instead of going through the whole masking process, just cover the entire board first.
So, here you’ll see the drawing on the colored background. I’ve darkened the image to try to bring out the pencil lines for you to see. In future photos you’ll see it more in its true color…
model – Kneely
note – supposedly, I now have the blog adult-locked, so I will no longer be censoring the images.
work progress – airbrushing
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…
work progress – background and some paint
Last night I masked out the entire image, including the solid sections of the goal. I mixed a very light sky blue with cerulean blue, turquoise and white acrylics, then airbrushed it across the midsection of the piece and upward. I added more blue and continued to the top, swirling the brush to give the hint of clouds. Next, I mixed a light green and airbrushed from the midsection downward. I added more green and continued down to the bottom.
I knew the net was going to be a tricky thing, as my luck with brushes and paint hasn’t been great of late. I happened to have bought some bottles with fine funnel tips on them for applying thin lines of glue, masking fluid, or paint a few weeks ago. I considered using it before the airbrushing to apply masking, but since the lines cross each other, likely it would create a mess before I was done. So, this morning, I mixed a medium thickness white acrylic paint and filled the bottle. I then began applying strips of the paint along the net lines. I had a little trouble at first, as the mixing of the paint had created air bubbles, and they would pop out from time to time, leaving blotches in its path. I capped the bottle and let it sit for a while in hopes of settling those bubbles. I came back later and tried again, and it was a much more pleasant experience. After an hour or so I had finally covered every line.
With the background now complete and dry, I reorganized the masking to only expose the white areas of the outfit (her top and socks, also the ball). I mixed a gray acrylic, then airbrushed those areas, going over parts that need to be darker, creating the contour and form. Once that dried, I changed the masking again to expose only the top part of the outfit and waist of the skirt. These were colored a dark purple (purple, gray, and black). I moved the masking once more to show the skirt and the remaining trim of the top. I airbrushed these pink. I then covered the ball and socks, and used a black acrylic to form the shadow beneath her and the ball. Finally, I unmasked the ball, and re-applied the masking around the ball to I could add a little green on the bottom of the ball for a bit of radiosity from the grass (something I learned in my 3D animation days).
With all the airbrush work now completed, I removed all the masking and began brush painting. I painted the facial features, then the hair. I didn’t get to the shoes today, but that should go quickly, then I can get started on the skin work…
