In today’s video clip, Jan Kunz demonstrates her multi-step process for accurately painting the shadows of the face.
She starts off with a detailed drawing and base skin color, then uses a value scale to assess the skin. After finding the value, she mixes a color that is four “value steps” darker to get the correct shadow color, and then adds the shadow color to the portrait, taking care to blend in a lighter hue wherever there is reflected light.
If it sounds complicated, she still makes it seem fairly easy. Take a look.
NOTE: You can get the full watercolor tutorial on DVD at Creative Catalyst.
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In today's video clip, Polly Hammett explains how she makes use of several small value sketches prior to starting on a large painting.
As you'll see, the question is not WHAT to paint, but HOW to paint it. Polly has already decided on her subject (a woman) and has even drawn the shape of the woman's outline and many other details.
Before starting with any color, however, she wanted to visualize how her painting would look with different areas emphasized. To that end she created several small value studies in black and white, then compared them to see which one she preferred most. Take a look:
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