10 June 2009

trinity

watercolor & Arches CP 300gsm, 14" x 10".

i did this portrait because i liked the photograph and the pose, but especially because i liked trinity's luxurious, cascading hair.

the drawing is freehand, using a system of skewed guidelines i developed a couple of years ago. the guidelines assert a subtle distorting effect on the drawing, and the coloring is done roughly. the drawing resembles a portrait heroine from a graphic novel.

background is chromium oxide green and cadmium yellow deep, glazed with a layer of nickel dioxine yellow. flesh is raw sienna base, watermarked, with shading in burnt sienna, cadmium scarlet, and benzimida maroon. eyes are dioxine violet and green gold tinted with phthalo blue, phthalo green and cadmium scarlet. hair is transparent brown oxide and cobalt blue deep; the two give a granulating dark brown/gray black color that is tinted with phthalo blue and phthalo green.

07 June 2009

trinity

watercolor on Arches CP 600gsm, 16" x 12".

another figure study, this is a pose the model suggested from a photo she had seen of a movie star. i started this painting three times. the first painting failed because the background got out of control, the second because i spilled phthalo green on the face. this one turned out reasonably well but deserves to be larger size (probably half sheet). this is on an arches 600gsm block sheet, essentially a card stock with a rough finish.

the photo was altered in a few ways to make the image more appealing. for example, due to the optics of my position and foreshortening her left foot appeared too small: it's been enlarged about 8% so that it matches the (closer to camera) right foot.

background is several washes of phthalo blue plus iron blue, with a single top layer of cobalt blue deep. this dark granulation over the lighter gradations in tone gives the background a shimmery, radiant quality.

flesh tones are benzimida maroon for the darks, cadmium scarlet or burnt sienna for the volume modeling, isoindolinone yellow and raw sienna for the base (lightest) flesh tone, shadows tinted with indanthrone blue, cobalt teal blue or phthalo green. hair is sepia streaked with cadmium red and dioxazine violet.