This is a little watercolor of a young woman with a dark brown complexion. I did it on a 9x12 paper. It was inspired by a photo in a catalog.
I sketched her a couple of times before attempting to paint the picture. Using a lightbox, I traced the best sketch onto the watercolor paper. First, I used a little blue, lavender, and violet in the background to break up the white. The underpainting of the portrait began with a wash of orange mixed with sienna for a reddish-brown color.
I ran out of time, so I let the first wash dry and returned to it a few days later to add another wash of burnt umber and ultramarine blue for the shadows. I kept deepening the shadows with more blue of the blue-brown mix and began to add some Payne's gray to the darkest areas.
I wish I had done the blue highlights earlier than I did because I inadvertently washed orange into the highlights areas that needed to be lifted out with clear water but left the paper stained, which muddied some highlights. It is probably more realistic that way anyway.
I often overdo the darks and found I had to go back to lift out some color. The color was not looking rich enough, so I added some more sienna with some red mixed in. There was more need to lift out some of the colors since I kept overdoing it.
I always leave the hair for last. I started with a wash of brown-black. After the first wash dried, I went back over it with Payne's gray for the darker areas. I had to build it up a bit.
I hope you enjoyed seeing my work. Thanks for taking the time to look.
Use the search box to find more of my work you might like or see one of the favorites in the sidebar.
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(c) Adron
I sketched her a couple of times before attempting to paint the picture. Using a lightbox, I traced the best sketch onto the watercolor paper. First, I used a little blue, lavender, and violet in the background to break up the white. The underpainting of the portrait began with a wash of orange mixed with sienna for a reddish-brown color.
I ran out of time, so I let the first wash dry and returned to it a few days later to add another wash of burnt umber and ultramarine blue for the shadows. I kept deepening the shadows with more blue of the blue-brown mix and began to add some Payne's gray to the darkest areas.
I wish I had done the blue highlights earlier than I did because I inadvertently washed orange into the highlights areas that needed to be lifted out with clear water but left the paper stained, which muddied some highlights. It is probably more realistic that way anyway.
I often overdo the darks and found I had to go back to lift out some color. The color was not looking rich enough, so I added some more sienna with some red mixed in. There was more need to lift out some of the colors since I kept overdoing it.
I always leave the hair for last. I started with a wash of brown-black. After the first wash dried, I went back over it with Payne's gray for the darker areas. I had to build it up a bit.
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| Watercolor Portrait of a Young Woman Looking Down |
I hope you enjoyed seeing my work. Thanks for taking the time to look.
Use the search box to find more of my work you might like or see one of the favorites in the sidebar.
Use the buttons below to share this with your social networks.
(c) Adron
