I have now applied the first layer of color. Since I retained the value shift in the grizaille, matching the colors to the values went fairly fast. To match the colors I had my little
handy, but I also asked myself weather the color I am trying to match is a cool or warm shade? Is it one that needs to make a plane recede, thus be grayed down, or is it a more of high chroma color. I already knew based on the grizaille what the values were so all I now had to do was load the brush with paint, hold it against the face value I was trying to match and squint. If the color got lost, then it was right on, if I could see the color then it meant it needed value adjustment. The sudden jumps between the different values will be merged during the next paint application. I can already see that a missed a couple of things...
Although her color is a far cry from being correct, just having the values be fairly correct already helps to establish a nice turn of the head.
The sheer garment will be an interesting practice in restraint. First impulse is to just lay the color on, but I have a feeling that the transparency of the fabric will be better retained by doing thin washes or scumbles after the 1st layer is dry to the touch.
Painting is a process of tweaking here and there and with every other color application the painting will read as it should. I am also working towards building layers and giving this pretty girl a more translucent skin. So there is still a lot to be done...
While I let this painting dry sufficiently, I will be starting two new pieces, one of a little girl and the other of a beautiful bride.
View a
Slide Show of the work in progress.
Update: The finished painting can be seen below.
