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 gouache
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…
New art completed today – “Yeehaw!”
I finished up all the details today. I used a mix between colored pencils, brushed oil pastels using turpenoid, and blending with my finger and tortillions. I added a bit of an outline to the skin and gloves to complete the ‘classic pin-up’ style, then refined the hair with gouache paint.
Nothing more I can see to do, so it’s scanned and available now right here.
Yeehaw!
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)…
work progress – painting the face and clothes
I started today painting the fence in the background using white acrylic. I wanted the fence to be forward of the colored background without pulling much attention. The camera’s flash enhanced the white to much brighter than it really looks (as will be seen in the final scan).
Next, I began work on the face, using gouache paint (except the tongue – I have a nice dull pink watercolor paint that suits that perfectly). Then I built up the hair with layers of browns and black. It still needs details, but it gets the idea across for now. After that I began painting the vest. The outer side (barely seen) I painted with a purplish gray gouache. The interior side I mixed a subdued pink (the pink I use, ‘opera’, is nearly florescent bright) gouache and covered it with a solid coat. I then used an old gouache technique I used to use, loading the brush with a color and mixing/blending it directly on the surface. For this area, I loaded black on the brush and started on the edge against the body, then blended it outward. I did the same with white, starting at the brightest highlight area and blending out. Both sides of the vest still need some white highlights, but that should be it for them.
Before ending my day, I blocked in the gloves with a dull ochre brown, and then added flesh gouache at all the edges where the skin will touch painted areas (and blocking in small areas, like her forearm, thigh and face, even though they’ll likely be covered later with the oil pastels)…
work progress – skin blocked, and beginning detail
I started the day blocking in the skin, this time trying watercolor pencils instead of colored pencils (no wax, so possibly better blending, plus a different variety of colors to work with). I used the pencils to rough in the color and contour of each section, then applied oil pastels (mostly white and light flesh) over them, blending together with my fingers…
These areas weren’t too big, so I was done fairly early in the day, so I began detailing some of the areas. The face got the most work, nearly finishing it tonight. I also darkened the hair once I saw how it matched to the skin, and worked on the tie. I mixed a pink, red, gray and white gouache and painted the tie in light coats, building it up darker and darker. I’ll finish it tomorrow, likely with colored pencils, giving it a subtle design. For now, I added a cherry icon to its bottom…
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 – painted areas completed
Today I worked on all the areas that would be painted. I start as usual with the face, using gouache for the eyes and lips. Next, I painted the shoes, first with green and gray for the clear section across her stockings, then gray, black and white for the metallic parts. I then moved onto the dress, blocking in the front panel with a light green to begin, followed by a mid-tone green for underlying vine patterns, and finally dark green for the prominent pattern. I painted the remainder of the dress deep green, as well as the gloves. With white, I blended in a few highlights on the dress to complete it.
Later, I painted the hair, building up layers of orange, red, brown and black to create the texture and look. Next, I used gray gouache for the dress trim, highlighting it with white and opalescent silver. I may add some green ‘sparkles’ on top of that, but for now I’ll leave it as is. I used flesh gouache along all the painted edges that touch skin for easier blending later. I also used it for the upper portion of the face, as it may be too tight and complicated to work with the oil pastels. I did the same for the fingers and small portions of the thighs.
I completed the day by painting the textured gesso over all the skin areas (including some that I painted with flesh earlier)…
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…
