Scout portrait in progress 5 - Why did I switch the order?

Almost finished with Scout’s head. I am not going to do any of his neck and shoulders until I complete the two action poses - Frisbee, and barn-hunt. You can see part of them sketched in the lower corners.

Both of those will have background scenes: grass and straw bales, respectively. I’ll use a watercolor underpainting to create the green and gold background colors around those two figures.  Then add the grass and straw detail with colored pencils. I will fade Scout’s shoulders down into those scenes after they’re completed.

My followers know that I sometimes use a watercolor wash to tint the paper in certain areas. Usually that is the first step that I do before I start on the piece with any colored pencils. Typically I would have done that before starting Scout’s head study. Why did I decide to do it in a different order this time?

Because large areas of watercolor underpainting, like these two action scenes will require, buckles the paper. Canson Mi-Teintes is a pastel paper, it’s not made to handle water. That would have made big ripples and hills/valleys in the paper after it dries. Before I could do any pencilwork over that, I have to press it flat under weights for two days.

I didn’t want to take time out to wait for that. I was excited about this portrait and wanted to jump into Scout’s head study! So I’m doing it in a different order this time. The watercolor washes will be next. They will fade up into Scout’s shoulders and neck. So I am completing his face down to the chin, and then will lay down the underpainting next. The fur of his white ruff and black shoulders will be done over that with pencil, much later. Many steps to go before that point. 

I’ll share my underpainting technique in my next post.

Triple portrait of “Scout”.

Commissioned by Annette Riehle.

🎨 Prismacolor pencil on “Flannel Grey Canson paper, 20 x 26 inches.

Scout's head study is from a photo by Faith Lyman.