Computer Issues

Just wanted to let you all know that I am having computer issues and will be posting again shortly. I have been spending time backing things up before it dies completely and my husband is trying to piece me together a frankencomputer. 

Ageing

I'm still trucking along. Its spring break, but the kids are home so my work time is strange this week.



I realized the portrait was looking like the model but he was starting to look like an older incarnation of himself so I sent him off to the fountain of youth. Above right is the before picture and left is the after. I desaturated them so the differences in the color cast won't distract.   I spent a lot of time rounding his face more from all sides. and unsquaring his jaw. I also enlarged his irises and even thinned out his neck a little bit. Now if I could make people look younger in real life.

If you like this post, I wrote a post a while back on how to drop 5-10 years in your reference photographs: http://nicolecaulfieldfineart.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-to-drop-5-10-years.html

Rendering the Shirt

Today's sneak peek is the shirt. I started with just finding the lightest and darkest big shapes, then brought them closer together with a wash of a medium gray, then started adding details and hard edges. I'll leave it at this level until I get the other arm in and know exactly how it reads. Of course in the book I will give you more information than this - I don't want to spoil it! 

This portrait will be in the back of the book where I show how I put together a full portrait and what order I do things in. The previous chapters are: Supplies, Making A Reference Photograph/Drawing the Cartoon, Learning the 2 Step CP Technique, Proportions of the head, The Eyes in Detail, Other Features in Detail, Hands and Fabric. After these chapters will be full portrait WIP, some cropped in on the face and some further out like this one with all the supporting elements. 

All the titles of the chapters have not been made yet so these are just descriptions of what will be in those chapters. So far I have 3 chapters in good shape and I am starting the 4th! At the moment it is 60 pages at 6" x 9" - a good format for an book. 

The Little Apprentice

My daughter is helping me fill in the background with black. Don't worry about it looking scribbly. It will all be finger blended together. 

New Portrait

I've been busy writing for my book, so I decided to take a break and make a work in progress, an example, for the book.

My coworker/friend was kind enough to let me borrow her sons for portraits, who I have in class as well so I do know their personalities. For this one I wanted to keep the nature theme of the Zen series, but have it say something about him. Well, he loves animals and has a put lizard of some sort.  So I won't give away what the things will be in it, but you can guess it is lizard related!

The size is 16" x 20" Polychromos on Fisher 400 paper.