Painting Progress

In the picture above, I have added another layer to the chest and upper arm area. You can tell the paint is thicker now, and there is more variety in the hues and values.

I decided that I wasn't pushing the values enough. The figure is lighted almost from the front and above, so the light areas don't necessarily have the variety of values that I like. I want the upper arms especially to recede more than they appear to in this first picture. (See how they appear a little flat and perpendicular to the picture plane?)

To accomplish this, I lowered the relative values there, and used the background color (lamp black) as I darkened the flesh tones. Adding the background color is a great way to get something to recede, as it connects more visually with the background space, and gives a certain feeling of more air being in front of the object... if that makes sense.

You might also notice that I highlighted the chest area, which further increased the contrast. Certainly there is still much more work to be done, but it is coming closer to my vision.

This side-by-side black and white comparison shows the value differences more clearly. You may have noticed that I stopped painting at the hands. As I progress to that area, I will return to the higher values because this is an important area in the painting, and good contrast will draw the eye there.