Step by Step 2010 – day 6 & 7

Now to fill in the painted parts of the figure. I do generally actually paint my models with black acrylic paint so I can portray it accurately, but I often end up changing the placement and quantity in the painting, since I usually have enough reference to improvise. I really love the way the black paint reacts to the harsh highlights -- and if painted limbs are placed correctly, the paint will reflect the flesh tones and really do some neat stuff.

I try not to use any actual black paint if I can help it. my blacks are generally a mix of van dyke brown, raw umber, ultramarine blue, and alizarin crimson. the highlights here are done unbleached titanium pale and a little titanium zinc white. again, i'm trying to keep things very loose, especially with this "painted" part. It goes against my inclination but I'm generally much happier with a looser approach on this first pass.

I forgot to take progress shots of this first pass on the hands, but it's more of the same.  the flesh tone reflecting in the models right hand is my favorite part of this piece so far.

now that I've laid in a first pass on everything, I'll generally spend a few hours (on and off) staring at the painting and reference photo in order to understand and plan where I want to take everything with additional layers and glazing. the next few days on this piece will essentially be just adding detail, increasing contrast, and fixing anything I didn't get right the first time through. while things can look pretty far along at this point, I'll look a lot different after next few days.

more soon.