Sunday, August 11, 2013

Heads Held High - Part 6

The photo above is the finished painting. Now, let's get to work on finishing your painting!

First, let's work on the arms. The arms are covered in part by bracelets and decorative bands. There is very little actual arm showing.

How to paint the arms:
The arms are made up of various flesh tones, not just one "flesh" color. First, prepare a wash of the lightest skin tone. I used the following colors:

-Burnt Umber
-Raw Umber
-Van Dyke Brown

Using clean water and a round brush, wet the areas of the arms that you plan to paint, working around the bracelets and bands. While the paper is still wet, apply the lightest wash of flesh tone. While this is still wet, drop in a darker shade of the same paint to paint the shadows, allowing the lightest area to indicate the reflected sunlight. Allow to dry. If necessary, adjust the skin tone and shadow areas by wetting and applying additional paint.

Caution: Do not overwork this area. Practice the color skin tone you would like first on a scrap piece of watercolor paper. When satisfied with the skin tone, apply the paint and allow the colors to mix and blend together on the painting.

The arm bands and bracelets can be left unpainted adding a slight wash of Payne's Gray for any shadows.



Refer to the closeup photo above of the headbands.

How to paint the headbands:
Select a color paint to contract with the sari and prepare a wash of your chosen color. Paint wet on dry. Allow to dry and add any contrast details to the headbands. Do not add too much detail.

Look over your painting....if there are any areas that need some additional details, add these now.

Congratulations ! You have completed a wonderful painting. Sign your name and get ready for your next painting!

Until then ---
Happy Painting!
Karen

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