Another large-area skin day, wearing down my finger tips as I blend in the oil pastels. The contours are generally there, but will need more tweaking and of course details…
Looking at the preview of this image, seems the photo captured quite a bit of my finger marks, creating textured shadows which make the skin look dirty. The original does not have that problem, and the finished image will be much smoother.
I’ve had computer issues this week, so blogging hasn’t been priority. Hopefully it’s working now long enough to get this all updated.
First, last Tuesday I had a photo shoot with a new model to me, Krystal, which went quite well. Before getting into all the new photos though, I had one concept designed and nearly ready, so I continued with it. This one doesn’t have a real story or character behind it like many of my more recent pieces, but rather just a cute pose and look. Once I had the outfit created and color choices made, I drew it on the illustration board…
model – Mac
Next, I masked it out and airbrushed the background with acrylics. I lightly covered the entire board with a soft pink, then added some red and magenta and covered the edge and added a soft design. The color looked a bit too bright/vibrant once dry, so I mixed some gray into the leftover mix and coated the whole board lightly to dim it down…
I then worked on all the paint work. The face and hair were done with gouache as usual, and I thought I might be able to hand paint the corset, since the design was in narrow strips. But of course the paint doesn’t adhere much at all to this board (I love the smoothness of these boards for their lack of added texture to the piece in the end, but it does pose many frustrating problems along the way), so after basically blocking it in I decided to finish it with the airbrush. I knew I would airbrush the stocking as well, so I painted their details in first, then masked out everything else and airbrushed those areas.
The skirt was also a bit of trouble to paint, but I decided not to airbrush it, at least not yet. I then painted the shoes, and finished by coating the skin areas with the textures gesso tinted with a bit of brown (it’s not pretty, but it gets the job done)…
Next step is blocking in the skin using colored pencils and oil pastels. I noticed afterward that the skin nearly matches the background now, so I will be working on adjusting the color and shading as I finish the piece…
That was a couple days ago, and I’ve been working on the details to complete it. I feel it is done now, and the last struggle was a title, but I now have that as well. I should have it scanned and available later today (assuming my computer cooperates).
Time got away from me with this one. So caught up each day was I that I never made time for the blog. I did shoot a photo as I progressed, so it all works out in the end.
We left off I had finished the background, so next I started work painting the foreground. I painted a few details into the legs and hat of Robin, then masked off the areas and airbrushed them with a green mix or acrylics. I added some black to part of the mix for the dark areas, and yellow with white for the lighter. When dry, I finished them off using colored pencils. Next, I painted her boot with a dark gray gouache, then washed black over it and mixed it in to get the shading and creases. I used white gouache solid for the highlight, lightly washing its edges to blend in. For Marion’s dress, I washed a dirty gray gouache for the white cloth, and mixed a turquoise for the rest. I washed dark gray and black into the shaded areas of each, gradually building them up. For the pattern, I used colored pencils; they give me more control, plus the texture feels more like stitching to me.
I moved on to the faces next, painting them as usual with gouache. The hair was next, also with gouache, then colored pencils for texture/detail. To complete this stage, I covered the flesh areas with textured gesso. I had run out of the tinted bottle, so I mixed the color on the fly. Because of this, I chose to differ the color a bit between the two bodies, making Marion more pink and Robin ochre…
The following day, I blocked in the skin, using colored pencils with oil pastels to blend. Due to the amount of area covered, my fingers were quite sore by the end, so it was a short day…
The last couple days I’ve been working on all the detailing, plus I had a new photo shoot with model Kneely yesterday, so it’s taken a bit longer than I would have expected (always nice to finish a piece before a shoot so I can focus on one idea at a time). I think it’s complete now, so I’ll be scanning it in soon, and might get it up to the website tonight.
I got pre-occupied yesterday morning, so I’m a day behind the blog. Monday I blocked in the skin using colored pencils and oil pastels. With the extra time in the evening, I nearly completed the detailing of the face, and the rest won’t need much detailing. I forgot to paint the toes in the shoes, but that’ll be a quick thing to do later…
The real fun is what comes next. I worked on that stage yesterday, and I think it’s completed now. With luck I’ll have it scanned and released this afternoon.
I don’t know if this sickness had been working it’s way into my system for weeks back when I said I felt a little off, but last week it hit full force. A visit to the doctor got things moving in the right direction, but it still made for a slow an un-energetic time. I wasn’t bedridden though, so I did find a design to work on when I could. This one has been ready to go for months actually, I just hadn’t felt strongly enough about it to pursue it until now. A fresh look at it and I couldn’t see anything to change, so I proceeded as is, drawing it on paper…
model -Kneely
I masked it out, and began airbrushing the background. I started with a light cerulean blue for the sky and a start on the water. To that I added more and more ultramarine as I covered the lower area of the water. Once dry, I didn’t feel the water had that Caribbean look that I wanted, so I brush-painted the top-half of the water with turquoise and white. I also used the brush to bring in some ripple texture to all the water. To complete the water, I airbrushed a coating of blue and pearl ‘sparkles’. Before removing any masking, I blocked in the island rock with a very dark gray acrylic, adding details to it with colored pencils (as well as the distant islands)…
I left some of the masking on because I knew I would airbrush the tail next. I covered the background completely, then airbrushed it first with a salmon pink, then mixing in blue on up the tail to a true blue at the end. Like the water, I used colored pencils for detailing and further shading. I finished it off with a more solid coat of the ‘sparkles’, first blue, then red to match the tail’s coloring (the flash for these photos reflects those metallics, so they don’t look quite like it will in the end when it’s scanned)…
Next, I began work on the painting. I used gouache for the face, followed by the hair. I added a seaweed belt or skirt using gouache and then colored pencils for detail. I then masked out everything but the skin, and blocked that in using colored pencils and oil pastels…
today I believe I have completed it, and hope to have it scanned and up tonight or early tomorrow.
Yesterday I began work on the skin. The blocking (using colored pencils and oil pastels) went by so fast that I went right into detailing, so no photo of that stage. Using colored pencils, I was able to get all the details for the hands and face completed. I wasn’t certain which way I would handle the sheer blouse; paint was still an option, but this board gets an odd texture to it when it’s been wet. If I chose oil pastels, I’d need to add the texture gesso to be sure it would cover properly. So, I tried colored pencils, and they worked quite well. By blending them with the white pencil, it added another layer to the sheer effect, so I liked it. I finished the rest of the piece with white highlights as needed, and am calling it done. The biggest challenge was naming it, and although it has a name now, I don’t doubt I’ll think of something more clever later (or someone else will point it out to me). I could wait for the moment to possibly hit, but I’d rather move on, so
here it is.
Egg Hunt
Yesterday had a few setbacks, plus I had a photo shoot with model Kym, but I did manage to get the skin areas blocked. Today I worked on the detailing, and should have the finished piece up tomorrow…
Yesterday was a full day of paint. I started with the face, then blocked in the hair (later coming back to add layers and complete) and with the same colors painted the stool’s feet. Next, I mixed an amber acrylic paint and blocked in the dress. I slowly added brown to the mix, layering in darker and darker layers for shading. Then, I used a blue-gray gouache to lightly wash the white bonnet and dots on the dress. Adding more paint to the wash, I built up those shadows and creases. With the same color, but full opaque, I painted the spoon. After that, I painted her shoes with black gouache, followed by white for the highlights. I started to brush-paint the spider, but could see that I wouldn’t get the smooth gradient I wanted, so I masked it off and airbrushed it. Once dry, I painted the arms/legs, as well as the face and details.
To finish the day, I covered the flesh areas with a lightly tinted textured gesso, preparing it for today’s oil pastels…
Yesterday I went through blocking in all the flesh areas (using colored pencils and oil pastels blended together). I’m pleased with the tone so far, as I wanted her to look a bit tanned. I started on some of the details, but the face, hands and feet still need a lot more work. I should finish today, though…
As is typical of my progress, I spent the day working up the skin, starting with colored pencils and then oil pastels to blend. I started on the detail in the face, but there’s more to be done tomorrow…
This one should finish in prefect time for a new shoot I have on Sunday with model Gia.
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Naked Art
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Work progress of artist Kevin Clark
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