Brian, Watercolor In Progress

This morning the first thing I did was erase a few lines around the mouth and eyes. Color was lifted near his neck on the viewer's right so the neck area could be widen just slightly. Brian's left eye was narrowed slightly but now I see that the top lid needs to be lowered just a bit. Before doing that I will first lay a ruler or piece of paper across to see where the eyes are out of alignment. More color was added into the hair, in the whites of the eyes, and in the background. So far the palette for this painting consists of Burnt Sienna, used to create a neutral or gray, Fr. Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, a bit of Cerulean Blue, Raw Sienna, New Gamboge, Perm. Alizarin Crimson. Greens were mixed from the yellows and blues. The dark areas on and around the nose, the eyes, and on the chin is misket. Next, misket will be added to a few areas of the hair to keep the lights.


This first photo is where I stopped painting yesterday. I painted a light wash of Daniel Smith Raw Sienna (yellow) over the face, letting it completely dry, keeping the lights in the very lightest areas of the face. Then painted a very pale glaze or wash of Holbein Rose Madder over the cheeks around the eyes and parts of the neck. While that was drying, I painted in a pale grayish background, changing the grays to either bluer or redder then as it came down toward the shoulders, added green. It is at this point that I see some corrections need to be made to the left eye and to his neck.