I've decided to do a work in progress in a bit more detail, highlighting some of the stages I go through to create a portrait. This will be a fairly large mixed media work. There will be no background other than a shadow to ground the cat so once I've drawn the outline and main fur clumps on my paper I start to select the colours.
I'm working on Arches hot pressed watercolour paper.
1. Selecting the Colours
I make a fairly quick initial selection of pencil colours I think I can see in the cat and draw a small square of each on the edge of my paper. I remove this edge from the finished portrait but it helps me to see how the colours work on my support.
2. I compare my selected colours with the reference and discard any that don't work.
Tip - For a red cat I discard any pencils that tend to look yellowish as they end up giving the orange/red fur a greenish tint.
3. I select the colours for the eye and complete it before moving onto the surrounding areas of fur.
4. If you look at the tail you can see I'm putting down a base of watercolour before adding the coloured pencil.
Simply stunning! I am amazed at the way you work, completing the image as you move across the canvas!
ReplyDeleteLooks very promising.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to try this technique. What kind of coloured pencil do you use?
Love seeing your works in progress and so appreciate your pointers as you go!
ReplyDeleteWhat a promising beginning.. can hardly wait for the further progress!! :)
ReplyDeleteMe encanta tu blog todos tus trabajos y como lo explicas todo.
ReplyDelete