Penny & Octavia portrait in progress 3 - Pale-peach girl on pale-peach paper

In a previous post you heard me wondering about the wisdom of choosing a paper color that is the exact color of Octavia's skin. Which is why I chose it. It helps me capture that creamy "peaches and cream" look of her fair skin. But would I be able to make Octavia stand out on paper the same color as Octavia? Her skin colors are very delicate. The highlights of Octavia's face are barely lighter than the paper color, and the shadowed areas that form her features are barely darker.

This close-up shows what I was talking about.

The way to make a subject stand out when it’s the same color as the background, is the edges. The edges of the subject have to be darker or lighter than the background color. As you can see, the edge of Octavia’s forehead, eyebrow and eye down to her lower cheek, has a darker edge. (Not very dark as colors go, but darker than the paper.) I exaggerated that. Her nose is lighter. To be lighter than the pale peach paper, with colored pencils I had to use white. Then below her nose, again we have a darker edge. Just barely darker than the paper color…but enough to make her lower face stand out. And again white or nearly-white on the chin.

If not for those darker and lighter edges, there would be no way to tell where Octavia’s skin leaves off and the background color begins.

I knew when choosing a paper the same color as her skin, that making those edges slightly darker or lighter than the background would be critical. I will have that same challenge again with her arms.

🎨 Prismacolor pencil on “Honeysuckle” Canson Mi-Teintes paper, 12 x 16 inches.

"Penny & Octavia", in progress

Portrait of Octavia Stensen and Penny

(Grand Champion Connquest Best of Both Worlds - Westminster Kennel Club Best in Show 2026)

Commissioned by Greg Chan and Theresa Conners-Chan.

From a photo by Claudia Bibaud