Tangerine, Number 21 of 52 Portraits

-
This is another of the Weekend Challenges. As usual, I went my own way. Using the reference photo they gave, I started with a loose drawing with Lyra pencil using my left, non-dominant, hand (thanks to Ivy Newport for that tip), and then switched to my right hand to rein in some of the crazy lines and add shading.


Oh, and yes, there is leftover paint on this page. It's starting to become a trend. The dark shadows on the right hand side are binder clips to hold the page flat.

I craved lime green and orange, probably because I needed to brighten up my palette and my week. I used Naphthol Red Light, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Green Gold and Titanium White. Because the colors are all somewhat transparent, even in heavy body paint, the lines from the Lyra pencil (which is water soluable) showed through.

It got to a point on the weekend where it just looked awful, like, unredeemably awful, not simply the ugly middle stages. Sunday was super busy, so I couldn't get back to it until last night. I walked in, looked at it and thought, oh, it's not so bad after all, it's actually quite good! (if I don't say so myself)

However, the paint I chose, especially in leaving out any blue, didn't give me any real darkest darks, and if I'm honest, the mix of orange and green left me with, well, baby poo color. I added in more sketchy lines with the Lyra pencil (especially as you could see some of the original lines anyway), and used it to add a bit of a dark halo around her.

And here she is.

Do not adjust your screens, she really is this bright.

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.

Popular posts from this blog

Where Bloggers Create Party!

-
Image
My Desert Cottage Not much has changed in my art room since last year . I had a substantial to-do list this year and I didn't quite get to all of them. Here's what was on my "to-do" that got t'done: 1) I made pretty labels for my binders: 2) I cleaned out my closet. (There is no before picture: just imagine stacks of boxes, giant plastic containers and the like.) The closet now holds some stamp storage (off to the side behind the purple velvet dress that's hanging; a chest of drawers packed with fabric (now consolidated into one space except for another drawer in last year's pink chest of drawers); and a sacred space. The wall has book pages taped onto it. I got the idea and the technique from Aunt Peaches . Eventually, the small stained glass cross will move and be above the ombry that I have on permanent loan (currently holding my prayer books and a bible), which is a bit of a long story, but basically when I no longer have a use f...
Read more

"where there is darkness, light" - Prayer of St. Francis series

-
Image
Today's guest blogger is Joe Pote. As a s tudent of the Bible since early childhood, Joe was literally raised in church, attending multiple church services and Bible studies each week. Having also endured the devastation of a failed marriage, Joe combines a sound understanding of biblical principles with personal experience of the issues and concerns of believers who have experienced divorce.  He would like for you to visit his website .  I sat huddled at my desk, face pressed into palms supported by elbows propped on desktop, staring into the darkness of my own hands…feeling the darkness pressing in from all sides.   The work day was ended.  It was time to go home, a brief ten minute walk from the office.  Yet, I lingered, dreading home…knowing the unfixable problems waiting there…praying that God would show me what to do. My four beautiful children waited at home, bright lights in my life, who I was always pleased to see.  But their mother also ...
Read more

Where Bloggers Create Party II: My Room 2010 (with lots of pictures)

-
Image
I'm excited to be joining the Where Bloggers Create Party for the first time. I discovered it last year, ages after it happened and I literally spent the day looking through them all! I hope you enjoy my space. The sign on my door. I made it as a make-and-take a couple of years ago. Here's an overall view of my room. You can't tell because of the lighting but the walls are not pink. They're pale lavender. The bookcase I bought from Target a year or two ago. It's "Shabby Chic". The bottom drawer holds my German scrap and the "transparent" stuff. The bookcase from Target that used to be under the window is now vertical. The addition to the top of pink chest of drawers is a library card file that was gonna be tossed from church until I rescued it. It holds rolls of seam binding and millinery. I might paint it next year.... Next to it is a tiered holder of mostly lace, but some feathers and flowers. The chest of drawers holds glue, large photos, fa...
Read more