Color Study and a Mysterious Reference

Working on color studies- I think this one turned out pretty good; Ty Carter has some great insight into color relationships and painting from observation.

On a similar note, I've heard from dozens of sources that Alla Prima by Richard Schmid is an excellent reference book to have on hand- however, since it's been out of print for quite a while copies are selling for hundreds of dollars (seriously, look at those prices!) However, on Schmid's website it's been announced that an updated edition will be released sometime in the near future. I can't wait to get my hands on it, if it really is the "Holy Grail" that everyone says it is!

Teatime!

Hello! It's been a while since I put up the process for this illustration, so I figured I'd give you an update on what's going on.

 

Okay, so here's the original drawing- I had a huge roll of Saral Graphite Transfer Paper that I couldn't remember why I never use until I used it again- it's terrible! I don't know if I just got a crappy roll or what, but it barely transferred at all! Typically for these sorts of things I'll either use my lightbox (if it's a thinner paper that's not on a block or anything) or I'll just scribble a bunch of graphite on the back of the drawing and trace over it, which seems pretty reliable, but also screws up the original drawing. This was done on Arches Watercolor Board (CP), which has a slightly softer texture than Arches CP Paper.

Here are the initial stages. I attempted to use the acetate cut-outs for the first time, but as I left no border on this work (I really liked the space that this composition had and didn't want to change it), it was difficult to tape the acetate down without it buckling. It still helped to give me a masking for the sponging, which was one of my favorite parts of this, since I haven't really done a lot of sponging before. 

The white bits are always the most irritating part, especially if layering over a darker color.

"Teatime" - 8"x10" on Arches Watercolor Board

And here is the (pretty much) finished work. As you can see, I made several adjustments from the original color study. As I moved along I quickly realized that the background wasn't as dark as it should have been, which would have resulted in Lady Mouse being lost in that white dress, so I changed it to a darker grey color. One of the most helpful things that I can think of to improve a painting is to get a different perspective on your work - Empty Easel has a terrific article on this, and I use the mirror trick quite often (as well as the "put it away and see if I hate it later" method!)