Starting to add tones and set form with values.
Reply
Tag Archives: watercolor and color pencil
Oil painting, portrait painting
I painted to this point. The hands are wrong and letter, but it will be okay!
Oil painting
I painted to this point. There are several areas if not all areas that need attention. At this point of realism I need to set the weight of the object or person, correct perspective, and form first before I fine tune the details. I like it so far. The think next I will paint the hands and letter in and then regroup, reevaluate and then details. The background will be damask in contrast eventually.
Oil Painting
Here is a portrait of an artist friend’s wife I am repainting for him. He did a good job for his skill level and ability, but you need a strong drawing foundation for best results.
It is also hard to paint a loved one you miss dearly. When you look at the photograph a flood of memories come rushing back and it’s hard to paint through dry tears or flowing ones. That’s a challenge in itself for any artist on any skill level.
So, don’t ever stop trying to improve your portraiture painting, drawing abilities, just maybe wait and start with someone else, not a loved one.
I have about 20 hours in painting this, but I made the mistake of working over his work, where I should have just started over from fresh. Portraiture in any medium you need a strong awareness in tone, form and how to set forms in paint. Very importantly you need a stronger foundation in drawing and drawing elements. There is absolutely no way around that fact. I am sorry to say, unless you are God blessed artistically beyond measure you need to do the base work. Along with Life Drawing and MORE Life Drawing.
There are NO LINES on the face drawn in black or brown. The color black or rarely is ever used in flesh tones. Wrinkles on a face are Hills and Valleys in form and shapes; go back to drawing ruffles and shapes as well as material. If you think you can SKIP this process you are wrong.
.
Another huge mistake is to add darkest hues and tones found around eyes and glasses that you’d find in a photograph; painting and photography are two separate mediums which need two different approaches to create. Lighting is key when using photography as your resource.
You must paint complimentary to the figure. Yes, likeness and the essence of the person are required, but do not emphasize disorders. Women don’t wear makeup to highlight their concerns and either should you. Have you ever heard, “Flattery will get you everywhere?”.
If you need help with your portraiture painting and drawing realism I can help.
Two of my favorite artist!
Becky and Hannah.
working with Inktense pencils
Just fabulous color pencils slash watercolor medium capability. Here are two examples of new artwork by Becky and Hannah. So far so good. Starting to work with Inktense is a learning process. Here is a color chart to help explain how each color does change when wet. A chart is needed and very helpful to understand the colors and how they react and change to water.
There is an entire value range in each color. Note that each color has the potential to and range from very light to intense darks. Not shown on the charts each color can be used to produce an extremely light shade of the color when using dry. When using water you can spread the color out with water to produce a light hue. 
Becky and Hannah’s start of an Inktense project.
Notice how you can use the colors to stay as solids and wash the others to blend. As well as the butterfly, just a wet brush through the black to shadow the yellow.
self portrait
This is how far I was able to paint. Two colors Ivory and Lamp black; warm and cool tones. I have a lot going on at the moment and haven’t had the time to sit down and work, but I will once I get things out of the way first. I am really enjoying the process of this painting and the strong light source with-in the composition.
The absolute best way to improve your artwork is to create a self-portrait! I know that can be scary and you may even think you can not because you don’t know where to begin. Start photographing yourself at various times. Set up a tripod with camera and when the spirit moves you just take a few pictures. Don’t worry about how you look and all of that, just shoot pictures and then regroup.
In the header of my website houses the first watercolor composition I ever painted and who knew? I see many mistakes now…..lol. The material is cool and painted well for the first time. I started a new watercolor from the original picture in a much larger size. I wanted to see how much I have grown as a painter in skill and technique since the first painting was created. I have about four hours so far, I hope to be able to make some time in the near future So far the foundation of watercolor is solid. 
acrylics
So far Rose was able to get this far. The wall needed to be separated or to look as though there are two walls. Painting the wall coming towards you in a few darker tones allows the bend to take place. Adding purple to gray paint will allow a natural recess in distance space.
The problem with acrylics is they dry extremely fast. Unless you are looking for fast drying paint then you are in luck, but for artist that need more blending from the paint then try to use a blender extender in the paint. The extender has a shine to it though even when dry. So, play around first to see the results for yourself. In the following pictures these are Rose’s acrylic painting she wants to finish from years ago. The problem can be in matching tones and values of the colors used in another time. It can be done if you can read value and tone in color. I suggest using glazes to add the realism. Use this technique for oils as well. If you try to match existing colors you most likely will be repainting the painting. This is where I can teach you to improve your artwork.
Okay, lets break it down:
1. Use the blender extender to equal parts to a paint color you want to use. You can use water but the color will dry flat and a value lighter. For example;
We worked on the bottom of the urn. we added a thin layer of a terra-cotta color with blender mixed in a shade darker than the urn. You can even use two shades darker to start to shade and develop depth to create more form or realism. So the darker color went into the cracks and around the sides of the urn. The value of the lightest will be on the highest closest part of the form and the values will reverse in paint; lightest to darkest in value and color.
REMEMBER: the dark values are towards the back/sides or the parts of the forms that are the most far from you. Anything cool tone color will sink in space and appear away from you. Light values will come towards you in space. This is physics, law of the universe and the way God designed it!
In the above picture you can see a shine which is the blender. It does settle a bit once completely dried, but you can steal it once dry with a protective acrylic spray and the blender wont be seen. In the picture below look closely at the bottom two leaves against the urn. These two have been glazed with paint and blender to start to create form and shape of the leaf itself. Look at the upper leaves they are flat and need realism. Stay continued to see this painting develop.
TIP: You can place a wet paper towel over the paint, cover with tin foil and place in the refrigerator. Should last a good twelve hours.
TIP: If your canvas becomes rippled because of being sketched from leaning on something all you need to do is water the spot on the back and use a hair dryer to tighten up canvas. That should work, may need to do twice.
Derwent Inktense pencils
Derwent Inltense color pencils are amazing and worth exploring. Here I included two quick get to know sketches of cat eyes.
I just bought the largest set available and once I actually have the time to sit down and play I will create with them. What I have noticed so far is they feel like a B graphite pencil as far as texture and softness. The color crushes and goes on very easily; stays where you put it. The colors are vivid and bright in comparison to other color pencils and more intense than color pencils needing less product and less effort to achieve a solid rich color. In comparison to all the watercolor pencils I have worked with I prefer Inktense, because with the other wc pencils leave the first mark you put down and takes longer to reach a rich solid color. Even with water the first mark stays and doesn’t wash out or disappear in my opinion this has been my experience.
What I love about Inktense is that you can push the color around with literally a split-wet paint brush tip. In the golden color eye there are a few darker lines made with a barely wet tip. Really cool for extreme realism! I am in the mist of a huge watercolor painting, so in between drying of watercolor layers I will see what these Fabulous pencils can do! The cheapest place I found is Dlick Blick’s art on-line.
Set of 72 runs about $130.00. Worth every penny. Here is a color palette.
Painting glass study.
This is Becky’s glass watercolor study. Great job for the first time painting glass. Tip: when drawing eclipses {oval shapes} on any glass shape such as a vase, can or any cylinder shapes draw the oval eclipses first and then connect the vase for example together.
Roxanne 