Portrait Confusion

 I’ve been working on these two cuties for awhile now.  I got a little side tracked with some
relocations!  But I’m ready to tackle this portrait again!



 I started out with watercolor!  Cuz I want to get better at watercolor.



But then once we settled into our house and I pulled this out, I was missing my colored pencils.



I switched back to watercolor for the hair.



I brought in my watercolor pencils to help add texture.



I’ve only used watercolor with this sweet girl.



It’s time to go in and add more definition.   I’m so confused at this point because he’s
done in mostly colored pencils and she’s done in watercolor.  If I can pull this off and make the
whole portrait look somewhat cohesive…that will be my lesson!

Portrait Pose…recognizable

I expanded the mouth…a hair wee bit.  And I tried to imply strands in the hair.  All different colors, all different shapes.



I am not comfortable with hair.  I feel clumsy replicating it.



Pulled out my exacto knife to create hair strands in the colored pencil wax.  Kinda cool effect.



Well…she’s not quite finished.  She’s still very model-ish looking.  And….I still need to work the hair in her part and her crown.  The hand passes, but could use a little more work as well.

And ….most likely…knowing me….To finish it up….I’ll pull out my extra-fine microns to clean up those edges!!  Haha

Portrait Pose….Returns

Well, she’s coming along.  Since I’ve hardly worked on this all week, I really can’t complain.  But when you leave your sharpener at home, it makes for slow progress.



The right eye was too slanted.  I had to bring that slant down a bit. What gets me, is…. I nailed the mouth in my first drawing…and I can’t seem to tweak it as well here.  Ugh!!  If only, I could cut and paste!  Haha



Worked a lot on the complexion and the hair.  Hair is such an interesting feature.  So much movement and color.  I’ve got a lot to learn!

Portrait Pose….Resumes

Continued on with my color-sketch on different paper.



I was told to build everything up to the same level….meaning…slowly…and to fill in the piece overall one layer at a time.  I like to color in portions….you know…do the arms…then the face…then the dress….then the hair…then the background.



Apparently my way of dividing up the sketch…isolating features, is not good.  Look at the hand here….then look at the hand in the next picture.  Nothing was done to the hand at all….the background build [of the top] really made the subtle colors in the hand stand out.



Because the colors play to, with and against each other.  They are constantly influencing each other.  I noticed this right away when I added the background blue grid.  My subject was too dull, a bit washed out.  I think that when there is a background we can’t get away with our comfortable color palettes.  The background will make us use colors that we hadn’t seen before.

Most likely….for me….it’s now telling me to use purples and greens! 

Portrait Pose…eRasing

It’s nice to bring up the image on my monitor to work out some kinks.



The mouth went fairly smooth.



Spooky image here.



I may have to just scratch this sketch on this paper.  This is happening a lot.
The colored pencil layers start to flake up….then the paper starts to come up behind it.  Joy….



Well, I made some eyes…but they’re not her eyes. 



Erased both eyes before I went to class. I had had enough!  The instructor showed me a technique to save the piece and we tried it here.  He also gave me a huge time saving tip for proportions that I tried out on a different piece.



I’ve since abandoned the Arches paper that I raved about a few posts ago.  Apparently that is good for illustrators…print makers.  I need a thicker stock.



If I didn’t love this kid so much I would not be starting drawing #3 of the same image.

I only get so much of my instructor’s time,  so I went straight to the face!  My nemesis!!  Didn’t want to waste precious class time on the body and clothes which I can handle fairly well on my own.



I am applying a lighter layer…evenly throughout.  Then once I’ve got the image pretty consistent, I can go in and apply more shading…details….and the like.  I cannot Wait!!  This is getting fun!!  Since I’ve taken away the hassle of proportions! 

Portrait Pose….Rendering

Adjusting, applying, and re-arranging.  This is different.  I’m really winging the clothes….I don’t much care if the folds are exact…just that they imply what they are supposed to.  Haha



I think I’m still in my Desktop View mode.  One of my favorite views!



I learned awhile back NOT to use graphite pencils to outline my figures when doing a color-sketch.  No matter how light the graphite…the lead will leach into the surrounding areas.  Just better to avoid it all together.



I am still amazed at how many different colors there are in a specific solid piece of clothing….orange is not just orange, ya know…..those folds split that light beam apart.  Who would’ve thought those shadows had that much purple?  Haha…purple my most neglected personal color!  I really should start to appreciate all it’s benefits because it is everywhere!

Portrait Pose….Repeat

Well…I scratched that last picture I started of this Portrait Pose.  Yes, I thickened things up a bit lot.  But the paper started to tear in spots! Not pretty!



I’m using the good Prismacolor colored pencils and I don’t know if it’s me [my technique] or the composition of the pencils/paper.  But I’m getting this freckling appearance.  Wish I knew how to stop that!



Not going to think too much about the clothes….clothes are so versatile.  I really don’t have to make them exact to look like themselves! Whew!  Plus, I’m more about people than clothes!



It is interesting to see the texture of the clothes up against the skin.  I kinda like it!

Portrait Pose

So….I arrive in class after missing it for 2 weeks in a row….and lo and behold, my instructor had other obligations.  Since they like having us around, they set me up in another room with a table and “great light”.  There was a newly graduated college art student leading the kids camp and it just so happens….her favorite art media is Colored Pencils!  My lucky Day!  She gave me a few quick tips on drawing the pattern of the shirt then ran off to attend to her excited students.

I only got about this far….when fear set in!  I really need to observe someone drawing a pattern.  They don’t have to go into a lot of details….but just enough for me to get it.  So…this sketch has been shelved.



I had not brought any extra paper to start on my next pose.  Thankfully….my college-teacher-helper-friend was available to show me her favorite paper in the store.



Cut down the big sheet into workable pieces.  Since I had already done the grunt work earlier I was ready to get started.



Apparently, I need to use more color when I color-sketch.  You know, more color, more wax….thicker! 



This is not what I’m used to doing….and I’m a little unsure if I can make it work. I need to see what these pencils can do…their limits.  Experiment time!