I took a day off work. And yes, I did mow the lawn. Then I greased my quick-release skewers & took the fork off of my bicycle intending to grease it and reinstall it. Instead I dropped a bunch of headset pieces (I think I recovered all of them) and managed to bounce one of them off of the concrete and dent it. Of course it was aluminum. Yeesh. So I went inside to look up how FSA headsets are supposed to go back together & confirm whether or not I need a new part (spoiler alert: Probably), but at some point I got distracted.
This one started off with a reference photo (below). Maybe in time I can get people to sit for me. In the meantime, thankfully the internet is full of nudes.
Here is the reference (sorry I lost the link & can’t find it)
And here is the result. It started out as a figure drawing sketch but it turned out so well (except that the feet are slightly meh) I thought I’d watercolor it. That made it even better. Is it exactly like the original? No. Does it look good? Yes. The buttocks turned out almost three-dimensional, which was pretty cool. Does it stand up on its own as an image? For the most part, yes — but if I were to add something I would work in at least some suggestions of the folds/crumples in the black draping that forms the background. Though subtle, I think that would add a lot (I didn’t do this because I find folds & fabrics a bit difficult). One thing I did do, was pick up some other colors here & there to put some subtle greys/mottling into the background. I’m not sure that idea worked out very well, although in principle and per the textbook it’s a good idea. Overall we have a watercolor piece that looks like a watercolor, and it shows a great deal of progress from where I started. I don’t know if it makes it to “sellable,” but I’ m pretty happy with it, and very happy with the progress.
Flesh tones are based on oranges/browns. I use mostly yellow ochre and tint it off with a bright high-chroma red, maybe a slightly bluer shade to muddy it up a little bit, then darken it up a bit with a little umber or sienna (whatever earthy brown I’ve got). Then maybe a smidgen of Payne’s Gray or black, if needed for shadows etc. I use Payne’s Gray almost like a black, its got that nice bluish undertone that works well for this application, but I mostly used lamp black here. Maybe a little Payne’s Gray too, that was left over on my palette from something else, now that I think about it.
That’s the thing with right-brained activities. It’s so much fun, so spontaneous, sometimes emotionally expressive, but it’s completely incompatible with rigid “proper” documentation, and next to impossible to reconstruct without a massive input of time and effort, and actually impossible to duplicate. Just go with it. Have fun. Do your own thing. Don’t worry about it. Tell the paint where to go, then go where it takes you. It can be amazingly relaxing.
And yes, it’s okay to indulge your inner lecher just a bit.
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