This is another painting which will go into my 4th book. Photo ref from pexels website with permission. The entire background scenery and the reflections were done with the sponge. The sky and water were done with the large brush. The girl and her support were painted with the thin brush. This mats to 16x20" As usual (because I have lots of it in my studio) the paper is Arches 140lb.
This is the start of the portrait process. The outline and a few details. When I have that correct, then I'm ready to lay on the washes. The first washes are thin - mostly water. I typically use red and browns for the skin tones. There's nothing magical about those colors; they are the colors I like in my portraits. Sometimes, I will use shades of yellow. This material and sketches and paintings are in a new book I'm writing: "My Art" - Why I paint and how I select my material, and why I paint certain people, places and things. What are my feelings, and more importantly, what are the models feeling?
Ink -Micron 0.01, sharpie + watercolor on 140# smooth Arches paper. Colors: purple, yellow and green washes and van dyke brown. 8x10" pic size. Photo ref-pexels website, with permission. About 3 hours start to finish.
Doing several ink sketches - expect my colored ink pens tomorrow (Micron). In this one I have left out her hair as it is going to be red. Orig foto pixabay website. 9x12" watercolor paper smooth 140# Micron 0.01, 0.02 and 0.03 pens - light pencil sketch before ink.
