May 28, 2014

Ballerina Babe

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I think referring to this piece as a Baby is appropriate.  She sure demanded a lot of me.  She’s over six months old now and just starting to gain some independence and show some of her own personality.  Thank Goodness! 

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Roughed in the ballerina with a watercolor wash.  Things look pretty chunky here.



I stuck with watercolor and w/c pencils for the shoes.

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I had to tone down the ladies orangey-ness.  (It seems she likes carrots!! Haha)



I didn’t touch this piece throughout February and most of March.  I finally realized I couldn’t avoid the hair any longer if I wanted this finished.  Studied up a bit on hair rendering.  Apparently, I need to pick at least 4 colors, one highlight, one low-light and the rest in between.  I am to make each strand go in the direction that it lays.  With the highlight areas, I just left the white alone.

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Don’t judge me too hard, I still have lots to learn.  But at least it’s passable.  Meaning…..you know that it’s hair.



As is my habit, I brought in my fine-point microns to finish the job. When I go over the colored pencil, the tip of the markers take up some of that wax……time is spent squiggling that wax off as seen here.

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With my skill level…this is as good as it’s going to get.  So I deemed her done.  Off to the frame shop. 
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Couldn’t capture the same light cuz I wasn’t up early enough. (Pic on left from Dec, Pic on right from Today)



Lessons learned:
  • Be careful with the amount of water used for the paper type.  I’ve since found some other sturdier w/c illustration board that I want to try next.
  • It’s ok to pop your colors….I preferred the ballet slippers brighter, but realistically the first color was more accurate.  Yea, for creative license!!
  • Bring in the colored pencils after the watercolor work is done. No one wants to go over colored pencils with watercolor…trust me!
  • Don’t expect perfection.




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And the image that started this….found her on instagram.…check out user @infinitylove231

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