Ended up I needed to take a day away before I could complete this illustration. Basically, I applied about 7 or 8 layers of various shades of blue to the shirt, after which I applied a light mineral spirits wash using a paper stub. Once I had allowed the mineral spirits to dry, I went back with a Prismacolor Soft Core black pencil and ever so lightly enforced the darkest part of the shirt shadows.
It seemed I should be done, but something just seemed to be a bit off. I didn't want to over work the drawing so I decided to add some more indigo blue and black to the back ground because it just didn't feel right. Figured if I correct the back ground, then maybe I'll find what is bugging me.
Once I had added the additional colors to the background, I took a Q-tip that been dipped in mineral spirits and delicately dabbed at those colors ... I wanted a bit of a smoky, shadowy look and thought this might be just the ticket. Too my utter surprise, once I had completed this the entire picture seemed to pop out at me and say "We're done!" ....
I then sat it on a small easel and settled back to watch a re-run of "Murder She Wrote"; wanted to distract myself from the work and kinda study it every so often. I become so involved in a piece that I really can't see it anymore, I see what I am intensely working on but not the whole piece. I find that by distracting myself with a good TV mystery I can slowly see what I have done and where I need to go next.
After about an hour, I saw his eyes needed just a "bit" of color added ... so I took the piece and went over to my area, added just a wee bit of black shadowing and then I was happy! I am very proud of this piece, still don't have a title but it will come, and pleased to share the final results with you at this time.
Take care, be happy, let art bring happiness into your life.
Karen Anne
PS ... The above scan just does not capture the colors, so I am adding another ... it would be great if I could show you the true colors ... but it is half way between the above and the following ...
It seemed I should be done, but something just seemed to be a bit off. I didn't want to over work the drawing so I decided to add some more indigo blue and black to the back ground because it just didn't feel right. Figured if I correct the back ground, then maybe I'll find what is bugging me.
Once I had added the additional colors to the background, I took a Q-tip that been dipped in mineral spirits and delicately dabbed at those colors ... I wanted a bit of a smoky, shadowy look and thought this might be just the ticket. Too my utter surprise, once I had completed this the entire picture seemed to pop out at me and say "We're done!" ....
I then sat it on a small easel and settled back to watch a re-run of "Murder She Wrote"; wanted to distract myself from the work and kinda study it every so often. I become so involved in a piece that I really can't see it anymore, I see what I am intensely working on but not the whole piece. I find that by distracting myself with a good TV mystery I can slowly see what I have done and where I need to go next.
After about an hour, I saw his eyes needed just a "bit" of color added ... so I took the piece and went over to my area, added just a wee bit of black shadowing and then I was happy! I am very proud of this piece, still don't have a title but it will come, and pleased to share the final results with you at this time.
Karen Anne
PS ... The above scan just does not capture the colors, so I am adding another ... it would be great if I could show you the true colors ... but it is half way between the above and the following ...
This one captures the vibrancy (somewhat) of the colors ... but not the softness of the real textures ... so if you can imagine the softness of the first and the vibrancy of color in this ... you might be able to see what I actually did...
Karen Anne,
ReplyDeleteWonderful! I love how the eyes and shirt colors match!
As for vibrancy -- if you have a program (like photoshop) which allows contrast, hue saturation, levels, curves and color balance, you can get it looking indecipherable to the original. Warning: it can sometimes take 15 - 45 minutes with trial and error.
Thanks for the information Lise ... I'll have to check that out ... Happy Day!
ReplyDeleteI remember "Murder She Wrote" ;o) LOL! Karen Anne, no words can describe what you have accomplished! This piece is truly amazing! A+++ You should be very proud of yourself! Can't wait to find out the title ;o)
ReplyDeleteHey Stacy, Thank you for the A+++ rating .... but it turns out I really wasn't finished with this.
ReplyDeleteGo to
IrelandBrady.blogspot.com
and you will find the update and quite possibly ... the title.
Happy Day dear friend!