Water Color Portrait

Water color paper is Strathmore cold press heavy weight. Actual size of art is 5 x 7 as requested per the customer. Water color paint brand is Koi Water Colors. Colors used are listed below...
Pale Orange #7 • Yellow Ochre #15 • Burnt Sienna #12 • Vandyke Brown # 17 • Prussian Blue #43 • Ultramarine #38 • Carmine #19 • Deep Green #30 • Purple #24 • Ivory Black #49 • Lemon Yellow #2

Brushes used: Winsor & Newton 1 round & Artise Monogram #2... Brushes were small and I could be wrong on the type and number... i've used these for so long the lettering is gone. I know you should keep brushes new, but man, when I break a brush in and get good results with it, I hate to find a new one lol.

Time it took: I have no clue really. I wanted to time myself. But with water color I'll do a wash... work in the color, then step away to let it dry. I usually worked on it before bed letting it dry over night. This reduces the paper wrinkles. Maybe I'll time it next time.


Of course the first step is to get your drawing on your water color paper. After I did this I then masked off any areas I wanted to leave completely white till the end. This included the white dot reflections in the eyes. Hair high lights on the left subject, and reflections on the glasses on the right subject.


I then painted the back ground with a bigger flat brush for scrubbing with water color. I wet the area I wanted to paint first.... wait a few seconds then added lemon yellow at the top and then deep green at the bottom areas... then I loosely just merged them into one another. I didn't really want a nice blend of the two... but wanted some over lapping lines as well.

After that you can see I used the Purple to lightly pain the shows in the face. At this point I don't touch the eyes... I don't paint the eyes till it really bothers me to see it without them. We lay down the purple as an under coat. The effect you want is the purple will keep the other washes darker in these areas, but not be purple. So you want to do this very lightly. You'll see how I started to go to dark with it on the subject on the right.


Next I added a wash of Pale Orange... it didn't do much, but just did it for my own mind I guess. After that dried I then did some washes of Burnt Sienna. Burnt Sienna worked really well with caucasian skin tone... but we'll have to add other colors to get it perfect. I guess the technique I use is known as wet on dry? Not good with terms. I basically don't wet the water color paper like you some people would. I first start at the dark shadows and once I take it to where the shadow ends, I will then clean my brush... get my brush a little wet. Make sure to dab it in the paper towel so it's not too much water... then I begin to blend back toward the shadow. Make sure you periodically clean your brush so the color doesn't stay in the brush and mess up the part you want lighter.

You can also see I started laying the under coat for the hair and I put in purple dots for the black pupils.


At this point I couldn't handle not having the eyes... so I did the eyes. For her light brown eyes I with a wash of yellow ochre I believe. Once that dried I then used burnt sienna for the ring of dark color on the edge of the eye. I also dab a dot for the pupil. Once it's down I'll completely clean my brush and pick up some of the color at the bottom of the eye to give it a reflection look.

I also did the eye lashes in Vandyke Brown and darkened the shadows of the face. I used a wash of Carmine(red) into the face. I then used more burnt sienna to darken the shadows. I also used vandyke brown on the hair and began adding some black. I never go straight black. I always want some kind of warm or cool color under the black. It gives it a better look. I also did an under coat of purple on the shirt and a wash of black once the purple dried.


Now I put a lot of black in the hair, but still leaving some of the brown showing. At the end you'll see why. I also added some prussian blue to the shirt to give it some color. At this point you can really see the liquid mask showing. I also did a light wash of Lemon Yellow to the face, as it need it because it was looking to red. I also did the lips using Carmine(red) and burnt sienna if it got to red / pink. I also used vandyke brown over some burnt sienna for the corners of the mouth.

I also began to put the undercoat on the right subject.


After a wash of pale orange and a light wash of burnt sienna, you can see that I kinda went dark with the purple. I got kind of carried away trying to match the tone with the purple.


So I worked with it doing washes of burnt sienna, Carmine(red), & Lemon Yellow so it didn't look as purple and red. I also got carried away and didn't take as much step by step pictures. But you can see I did her eyes in the same manner as the left subject but with blues. I also started the shadows of the glasses. And you'll notice in her hair I did very very light washes of prussian blue to give me the shadows in her hair. At this point I also used very light carmine(red) in the lips. I also added burnt sienna if it was too red / pink looking.


And here is the finish. I very very lightly used black... making sure my puddle was more watered down so it was grey and worked the hair. I also put in the shirt, but tried to not be as detailed with it. I saved the left subjects hair for last. I took off all the liquid mask I put on there. The white high lights on the eyes really make them pop. I also put more black in the hair and going over the highlights I left so they were bright white. I did the same for the dots on the shirt. I also saved doing her eye lashes and eye brows for the end.

Over all I like what I did... given it's my very first water color portrait and it's only 5 x 7. The client is placing the painting above her poem she wrote to the lady on the right. The lady on the left took care of the lady on the right until the one on the left move... get it? lol.

Let me know if you have any questions or if I missed something. Hope this helps you out and you enjoyed it.

Dog & Cat Colored Pencils Finished WIP

This portrait was for my mom and her fiance for Christmas. The dog, Maxwell, is a cockerspaniel and the cat, named Cat, is a cat with an unusual extra toe on each paw. This was my first time drawing a dog or a cat for that matter. Most of my animal drawings consist of birds and mainly eagles. This is also probably my second portrait using colored pencils. The colored pencils used are Prisma and the board was just a plain tan colored board from Hobby Lobby. Hope you enjoy this new work in progress that I finished.


First I started with the cat. I usually always start left to right as to not smear what you've drawn. But I figured the cat would be the easier, so I went with that. As usual I started with the eyes. Colored pencils I used for the eyes were 1. Deco Blue, 2. Jade Green, 3. Marine Green, and obviously white. For the outside of the eyes I used 1. Indigo Blue, 2. Cool Grey 70%, 3. Black. I started by coloring(painting if you prefer) with the lightest colored pencil for the darkest area, which was the corners and outlines of the cats eyes. I also colored the white highlights in the cats eyes first. I used about medium pressure. You always want to put down a "wash" of color under the black. This gives the black a more real look and doesn't look as bad as just putting down plan black. It's always easier to do a dark color over a light heavy wash. White even works okay, but you have to work harder with it. You get nice blends the heavier you get, but obviously harder to correct.


Here are the eyes finished with the process I described above.


Here I finished the nose and started with the fur on the cat. For the nose I used 1. Deco Pink, 2. Terra Cotta, 3. White. After putting down a wash with medium pressure of Deco Pink I lightly used Terra Cotta in the shaded parts of the nose. On Deco Pink Terra Cotta can get dark and messy quick. I would then use Deco Pink to blend in the Terra Cotta. And use white to lighten the reflection area on the nose. I used the same steps with the outside of the nose as with the outside of the eyes.

On the fur I used 1. Cool Grey 50%, 2. Cool Grey 70%, 3. Indigo Blue, 4. White, 5. touches of Goldenrod on the snout. With White and Cool Grey 50 I mapped out the white fur areas and the dark fur areas using line strokes to mimic hair.


I would then use Cool Grey 70 to darken the dark grey fur areas. After I got those laid out I'd take the indigo blue and with medium pressure put washes where black would be. Then I go backwards with the Cool Grey 70 and use line strokes into the indigo blue... down to the Cool Grey 50.


And here is the cat finished. Next we'll move on to the dog.


For the dog I used 1. Goldenrod, 2. Burnt Ochre, 3. Light Umber, 4. Dark Umber, 5. Black, 6. White. I used the same steps as with the cat, starting light and working to dark. I believe with the nose and eyes I started with Burnt Ochre and worked to Dark Umber. Heavy pressure was used with each step getting darker. I left the highlight areas the board color and blended the white into the dark of the nose. After putting black in the nose I went back with Dark Umber to get some brownish color into it. I also used strokes of goldenrod to lay out the dark areas in his hair and obviously white for the white fur.


Here I worked to the left ear to the chest. I then show you the steps I took with the hair on the right ear. You can see I put a wash of Goldenrod where the dark areas will be. I used about a medium pressure. Remember I want heavy colored pencil on the board by the time I get to the darkest color which gives it the nice blending effect.


After laying out washes of goldenrod I did washes of white for the highlights. I will not keep these white at the end, as I don't want the effect of white hair in his ears. Also keep in mind the washes I do here are more strokes than washes, as to keep the look of hair going. I also started to add Burnt Ochre to the golden rod where the darkest areas will be. I then went back with goldenrod and used strokes on the edges of the Burnt Ochre.


Here I added Light Umber to the dark areas and used the Burnt Ochre and Goldenrod on the edges with strokes. I also start to use strokes of Goldenrod into the white colored pencils where the lighter areas will be.


And here is the finished piece. The final steps of the ear was adding Dark Umber to the darkest areas of the hair. Then going back over the Dark Umber with strokes of goldenrod to dull down the Dark Umber.

Hope you guys enjoy this as I enjoyed working on it.

Brian & His Dog

This portrait was done for a customer which was my sister in-law and was a gift for her fiance for Christmas. The only picture I could get for this was a small picture which she blew up at a wal-greens type of store.

The portrait was done on Strathmore Bristol Vellum(heavy weight) and is 11x14, But the actually drawing was 8x10. The pencils I used were Derwent Graphic pencils. I used different hardnesses for my shading which were... well to tell you the truth I didn't recall. You'll find with this work in progress that I was not very organized. Hopefully with the next one I will be.


Here you can see I started just as normal. This is my line drawing and basic layout of the drawing.



Like most of my portraits I start with the eyes. I usually start with the left eye and move on to the right eye. Once I'm done with these I'll move onto the nose. At this stage the portrait looks kind of goofy because the whole face isn't complete. I always get my wife's opinion at this point to see how it looks. All I get is "i don't know, I need to see it done cause that's when it always looks good" lol.


Once I get the eyes & nose two where I like it I move on to the mouth. At this point I gradually work out to the rest of the face as I do the mouth. I just kinda go with the flow.


I usually save the hair for the last thing on the head. For the most part it will be where the darkest shadows are in the drawing. First, as in the image, I layout the dark shadows lightly.


Here I completed the hair. Once I have all the dark areas shaded I go back over them with a dark/softer lead and go into the highlights with it a bit. This gives me the illusion of bright high lights.


And this is the final drawing. I know, you are like "WHERE'S THE DOG'S WORK IN PROGRESS!!!" Like I said I was unorganized with this WIP. When I got to the dog I got into it and was determined to get it done fast. So I didn't even stop to snap a few pictures. This is actually my first time drawing a dog and I think it turned out pretty nice. It was hard to tell what direction the hair was going in the original picture. So I used my artistic license(you can buy them off me for 10 bucks each) and tried to guess. The dog is a short haired dog so it wasn't all that big of deal, but I wanted to give it some hairy feeling to it... since... dogs are hairy lol.

Any way I hope you enjoyed and I will really be more organized and more detailed in the next one which should be soon.

Portrait of Richard

This is a portrait I did for a senior who attends St. Henry High School in Kentucky. He has cancer and is going through chemo and such. A guy I work with is his baseball coach and I offered to do this portrait for Richard and his family.

The portrait was done on Strathmore Bristol Vellum(heavy weight) and is 11x14. The pencils I used were Derwent Graphic pencils. I used different hardnesses for my shading which were 4H, H, B, and 5B. Now lets get into those images!


As with all of portraits I get a detailed line drawing. I usually do this on my sketch book because I tend to erase a lot from being a perfectionist. After I get a line drawing I want, I then trace my drawing and apply it to the board or vellum I am using for the final. This way my erasing won't mess up the surface. I use measurement that were taught to me. The distant between the eyes are an eye's length, the distance from one eye to the other equals 3 eyes. The distance from the middle of the eyes to the bottom of the nose is roughly an eye and a half. The width of the nose on both ends usually extends to the inside corners of the eyes. A book I recently bought goes into GREAT detail about this... "Dynamic Anatomy" by Hogarth.

I then detail the eyes to the tones I want.


Next I layout the shaded areas lightly with a H pencil. Usually I'll start with the eyes, to the nose, then to the mouth.


Here I begin to darken the shadows with the H pencil and use the B pencil for the darker spots. I'll also lightly shade in other shadowed areas around the face and hair. And use my 5B pencil for more detailed eye brows. Getting these darker areas like the pupils, eye brows, etc will help with the other shadows in the face.


At this stage I put more detail in the mouth and teeth, also in the hair as well. This helps the portrait look more complete. I can then darken the shadow on the right side of the face to a shade that pleases me. I'll use the 5B pencil in the darkest shadows, but not to heavy.


Now I do some more detail shadows where the hat is over the face. I also put detail into the neck and ears.


At this step I complete the hat. This really makes the portrait pop out. I used a 5B pencil on the whole hat... I was trying to match the tone of the red color.


At this stage I have finished the shirt. I used a 4H pencil in the shirt and 5B on the under shirt, as it's the same color red as the hat. I also take the 4H pencil to finish up some of the shadows into the really bright areas of the face. This cleans up the shadows and causes them to be more smooth in transitions. Next is some final touches.


Here is the completed portrait. The upper left corner is a little logo the baseball team wears on their shirts to honor Richard. The bottom right corner is a little quick shading of a clip art image of Babe Ruth. My plan on this was to put three stripes at the bottom... the top and bottom using the 5B pencil and the middle using the H pencil. Then I was going to use Illustrator to print out "St. Henry Crusaders" to place at the far right of the portrait, centered with the stripes... but after realizing how much work and how it would probably turn out messy... I decided not to do it.

And here is a close up of the portrait for giggles.


Hope you enjoyed!