Blue Moon Atelier Journal

Getting down to all the fiddly detail bits now. The dress is mostly finished now - I have added shading to the folds by way of mixing Thalo Green and Indigo Blue. I also used the Thalo Green/Indigo Blue mix to deepen the shading on the green ribbons and bows (on her dress as well as the staff). A mix of Alizarin Crimson and Paynes Grey was used to deepen shading on the red ribbons. Gold-ish ribbons were made using the same mix as was used on the bodice and I added some more Rose Dore and a smigden of Thalo Green and Paynes Grey to create a deeper colour for shading the gold ribbons. Paynes Grey was used on the wrought iron detail of the staff and on the lantern. I have finished her hair except for the holly and pearl tiara, and have shaded her lips and started detailing her eye. The next steps will involve finishing the lantern, bells, and staff details, finalizing the detailing on the dress, sorting out the snowy bit, and I will likely punch up the shading on her skintones as she's meant to be lit by the lantern and needs some brighter highlights and deeper shadows.

Another layer of Rose Dore followed by a layer of Raw Sienna and the skin tones are mostly complete. I've got a few bits of touch-up I'll want to do, but nothing major - just some shadow and shading touch-ups and lip colour and such. I've started defining the dress a bit more, adding some Paynes Grey into the dress colour for a nice burgundy shade, and some red and green detailing on the bodice which has also had a few more layers of the gold-ish mixture. I've worked on the hair a bit more as well, and have started working on the staff and ribbons using a brown mixed from Cadmium Yellow, Rose Dore, and Paynes Grey, and Cadmium Red for the ribbons. The white band area in her hair will be an adornment of holly and pearls. Treading a bit close to the 'Mess' end of the scale, with some of the red of the dress smudged into the snow beneath her. I also see that I missed out masking the very back of her dress as it billows out, which means I'll have to scratch out the red with my craft knife in order to keep the decorative pattern flowing.



My original plan was to have some shadowy mountains in the background - I'm not sure it needs it at this point - but I will likely edit and add them with Painter X when the rest of the painting is finished to see if I should go back and add them on the watercolour original.

Sorry for the delay in posting the next progress step! I have added a wash of Rose Dore to the skin areas and have begun laying in the first washes of her dress. The red shade is a mix of Alizarin Crimson and Dioxazine Violet. The green shade was created by mixing Thalo Green and Indigo, and the goldish shade on the bodice is a mix of Cadmium Yellow with a wee bit of Rose Dore and a tiny smidge of Thalo Green. The yellow bit on the bottom of her skirt is masking fluid.

I have continued to layer in background washes of ultramarine blue and cerulean blue, ultramarine violet, and payne's grey to darken the night sky. I have also begun laying in the shadows on her skin using the ultramarine blue and cerulean blue mix - yes, I know it seems a bit odd now, but once I layer some other colours over it will look like skin - and have placed some shadowy bits in her hair!


MORE WASHES




It will be next week (probably Wednesday) before I'll post the next installment.

I should like to do a bit of a blog feature, and I shall call it "Masterpiece or Mess?"

Here's how it will work.  I have completed a sketch that is intended to be a Yule-themed artwork for 2008 (yes, a bit late, I know - blame it on NaNoWriMo).  I will be posting my progress as I go, this will serve as a bit of a tutorial sort of thing, as well.  Now, this will be either a tutorial on how to create a nice piece of art ("Masterpiece") or how to NOT create a piece of art ("Mess").  Can I finish this artwork without making a mess of it?  Will it turn out to be my best ever?  Will it be a Masterpiece, or a Mess?

We'll start with the original sketch, and the early progress:

SKETCH


This is my final sketch for the piece.  Working from the pencil sketch, I'll paint this with watercolour.  No ink linework this time.

1st WASHES


The initial washes of cadmium yellow, and ultraviolet blue mixed with a bit of cerulean blue have been applied.  I used a wash brush initially to lay in a clear water wash around the figure. This was done by making a watery mix of cad yellow, and a moderately watery mix of ult blue/cer blue and applying these colours to slightly damp paper.  Salt was applied to add texture and variety in the colour and the painting was allowed to dry overnight.  Next, I will be building up the background a bit more by adding in more of the blues wash to darken the sky.  I will also lift out a bit of the cad yellow (dampening the paper with clear water and using a tissue to absorb the wet colour) if necessary.