Work In Progress Updates: Raine, Update 6

Work In Progress: Raine, Update 6

            During the past week I’ve brought this portrait much closer to completion. Much of the face is finished, save for small adjustments. I also finished most of the hair, again, save for adjustments. Some of the blouse has been blocked in roughly and color has been added to the arm.

            The lights of the hair are predominantly CO 105 ivory and CO 692 golden ochre light. To get some of the darker shades I worked in CO 690 golden ochre, PP 180 raw umber and PP 182 brown ochre. CO 610 raw umber was worked into the darker shadows.

            The hair colors were basically stroked in with a sharp point. This gives the feel of individual hair, as can be seen in the detail photo of the pigtail. It takes more time to do it this way, as I had to rotate through colors to build up layers to cover the paper. However, it gives a more real appearance in the end. Care has to be taken to get the curves of the hair masses smooth. Sometimes I would lay the pencil point down and draw out a long stroke. Other times I would stroke in shorter lines. I went back and forth with the colors, adding in darker ones, then putting in lighter colors. In the end I carefully added in errant hairs in mostly light colors. These stray hairs blown away from the masses, and sometimes going in different directions, added to the realism. I did have check often my placement and make sure I didn’t overdo it.

            Working with CO 692 golden ochre light, PP 189 cinnamon, PP 132 light flesh, PP 283 burnt sienna and PP 180 raw umber I layered in the skin tones of the arm. The side of the pencil was used, with a light touch and a back and forth, as well a circular motion to build up color. I kept stepping back to look at the painting from a distance, assessing the general color and tone, then stepping back up and adding more color. In this way I slowly crept up on the color and tone so it appeared uniform.

            CO 670 burnt sienna was used to get the warm, reddish color of the crease of the arm as it joins the shoulder. The darker shadows were accomplished with PP 187 burnt ochre and CO 610 raw umber.

Just a note: there are a lot more photos on my website showing the progression to this stage.