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Monday, August 8, 2011

Bloodhound Jesse's Portrait - Step 3

Jesse - step 3

Needing to relate him to the background, I painted in some cool grass with a mix of Golden and Matisse full body acrylics and my new golden open acrylics that leave the paint wet enough to blend like oils, but dry much quicker than oils.  I love them!  If they dry out I just give it a touch of satin acrylic glazing liquid.  This prevents glare when I photograph it. 
Greens are many mixes of mostly ultramarine and cad yellow, but mixes of cobalt and cerulean blues with yellow and white.  Love mixing greens! I wanted a cool soft background to contrast his warmer coat to come.

Brushes are synthetic flats of many brands....mostly size 8's and 10's.  A friend told me to try Royal Safe-Grips...loves them, so I may try them out.  The canvas is 1 1/2" deep Windsor & Newton wraparound canvas 14x18".

Jesse grayscale cutout

Another helpful tip is to put the photo through photoshop elements, make it grayscale mode, go to artistic filter, and cutout the levels of values.  A bit tricky at first, but it can help simplify complex value changes and allows you to play with color temperatures and intensities.  It's a suggested guide that you can bend to create depth and draw the eye where you want.

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