Shadow play

I've taken all the shadows to the next level in this picture. Still trying to retain the "glow" that you acheive from multiple layers of translucent pencil. Still need to complete the bottom two thirds of the face and the shadows in the headress. Happy with the warmth in the cloak I need to pay attention to the pleats that fall just behind the midline of the shoulder.

Details,details

Here we go with the more detailed colour. I have added Prismacolour Light Cerulean blue to the headress and Burnt Ochre to the headress face and lighter areas of the coat. Some way to go yet

but we are starting to get a feeling of depth. The largest amount of work left to do involves accentuating the shadows. It is amazing exactly how great the contrast is in this picture.

A Refined Lady

More Peach and umber have been added to the face here. I also took the opportunity to refine my edges with Cool grey( not as harsh as the black ). I have worked on the shadows a little on the uppermost third of the face and have added more cool grey to the head dress and the shadows beneath it. I have started to colour the eyes. This is just a basic fill in because I want to judge the tones of the face as a whole in order to tell how dark the shadows need to be.

So...tightened edges, eyes and some umber in the face....

Onwards and upwards

In the Pink

Well here we are again! I've started to warm her up a little with Deco pink and Peach. You will notice that I have added the same colours to the face,head dress and cloak. I have also continued them into the shadows in the good old Flemish tradition. She is starting to come together. I will have to go back into the face with a warm orange because I have underestimated the depth of that colour in the original.

One point to note, I have found that an umber under drawing can be very granular. You can cover it eventually but it does take a considerable leap of faith to believe that the pencils will do so. At the moment the face seems a little dark but that is only in relation to the head dress that I haven't yet finished. When the picture is complete the face will be attracting all of the attention because of its comparable lightness.

Still a long way to go but progressing nicely.

Back to the drawing Board

After the Madness of AML week I am finally back at the drawing board. My thanks and best wishes to those who helped at the show and " Hello! " to all of you who stopped by to see us.

Gloria should be making a return appearance soon with the addition of pinks and browns to the colour scheme.

A Short Break

There will be a short break in my progress whilest I am busy organising the UKCPS stands at the Art Material's live show ( NEC Nov 13th - 16th ) If you happen to be in the neighbourhood drop by and say hello. I think I am the only Portrait Artist there this year.

Work on " Gloria" should resume next week.

I'm looking forward to the finishing layers because I have decided that I want to look at
Sfumato drawing skills next and I can't wait.

Back In Black

She may look paler. She isn't!

I have added more Goldenrod and Limepeel to the cloak. More Slate blue to the head dress and of course black to the background.

The background has been covered with quite a close cross hatch of prismacolour black. To produce a smooth covering I then took a piece of kitchen roll with mineral spirits on it and with a circular motion spread the pencil around the paper.

Then taking a small brush and the mineral spirits I carefully tidied the outline around " Gloria ".

This isn't the final black layer but I need to get the initial layer in here so that I can judge the tone of the picture as a whole. It is always a good idea to complete the background before the subject . Now that I have the black layer in place I can see where I need to deepen the shadows.

I think I am nearly finished with the oranges and greens. The next layers will probably be the browns and pinks. Hopefully we should see her miraculously brighten up and become more lively.

Well...that's the plan ...