Friday, June 22, 2012

WEEKLY SKETCHES

I have finished the study that I started in the previous posts.  After I finish the acrylic underpainting I cover it with a very thin coat of acrylic matte medium. I finish with oils using a dry brush technique,
If you look carefully you can see where the underpainting is showing through.


Saturday, June 16, 2012

WEEKLY SKETCHES

As I promised in last weeks post, I have taken this sketch further. After finishing the drawing I stretch the paper on stretcher bars. My first step in painting is to do an underpainting with acrylic washes. This helps me quickly lay in my base colors. At this stage my goal is to just work out the basic color and value composition. As you can see the colors are a little muddy, I'm not try to get the finished color just a good base on which to build. I use glazes to help harmonize the color. For example, on the hair I first laid down the orange color. I then used the blue from the shirt plus the green from the back ground to glaze some of the darker areas. You can also see where I used the background color in the shadow areas of the shirt. This technique is great for harmonizing colors. Next I will start refining and finishing with oil paint. I'll show you the results next week.


Friday, June 8, 2012

WEEKLY SKETCHES

I thought it would be fun to take one of the sketches from yesterday's post and take it further.  All of my paintings start with a tight line drawing.  I do this on Arches 140 lb rough paper with a graphite pencil. Sometimes I add a little value, but at this stage the line is the most important. When the drawing is complete I stretch the paper on stretcher bars and then I'm ready to paint.  When I find some time I'll paint this drawing and keep you updated as I go.




Thursday, June 7, 2012

WEEKLY SKETCHES

I'm working on a few new books, here are some
character sketches for two of these.