Continuing work on Cheri's face in the “Cheri and Larry” portrait. (Prismacolor pencils on grey Canson paper.)
FOR ARTISTS:
Lots of color and value transitions that are subtle, and they all blend from one into another. It's tricky to get that right. While maintaining the correct shapes of her face that make Cheri look like "her".
1
I put in the dark corner of Cheri’s mouth and the adjoining lip so I could orient myself with all those different color shapes that make up her cheek, the side of her face, and the area below her nose.
That helps me know where I'm at as I layer those colors and blend them as smoothly as possible. It’s easy to lose track of where all those patches of color go…as one color transitions into another. The corner of the mouth, which is such a clear shape, and the two vertical creases to the left of that, are like landmarks that help me understand what I’m working on as I add all the different colors that make up the skin shapes.
It’s important to always keep in mind the anatomy of a face also. The colors are not random. They are the highlights and shadows of the forms of Cheri’s face.
2
In the previous picture you can see I was adding the highlight that comes in a long curve down the front of the left cheek and around the side of the mouth to the left side of the chin, with cream pencil. That’s my base layer. Then I add the other colors in around that highlight, blending them into it as I go.
3
I continue working my way around the mouth, continuing the upper lip toward the right to the dark right corner of the mouth — another landmark. Then I can bring a similar cream-colored highlight down the right cheek and around the side of the mouth, blending all the skin colors that adjoin it. As you see here.
From there I work my way across the bottom lip. You can see I’ve added a highlight (her shiny lip-gloss in the reference photo) on the bottom lip. Another “landmark” that helps me know where I’m at with the big pink curve of the bottom lip….continuing to build colors that adjoin that landmark and “attach” them to it.
4
A close-up that shows the smooth blending of the pencils. Some colored pencil artists apply many layers, with light pressure. I use firm pressure, to completely fill the tooth of the paper. I don’t want any of that grey showing through these skin tones. There are times I use the grey paper as a color in my subject. But I didn’t want it in this face.
Double portrait of Cheri McNealy and her beloved late husband Larry McNealy, in progress.
🎨 Prismacolor pencil on "Felt Grey" Canson Mi-Teintes paper.
20 x 24 inches.
My previous portrait of the dog “Shasta” in a forest scene, is an example of how I used the color of the grey paper throughout the artwork: in the tree trunks, Shasta's coat, and the wooden bridge.
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