There is only one step left to finish the ‘Sisters’ painting: the hand.

This first image is a combination of sequential images detailing the process I used to paint most of the flesh tones in this painting. First, I mix all of the colors I will be using. I used to mix these based entirely on the reference material. The problem is that cameras can do some seriously weird things to colors. These days I mix the colors according to a continuously refined formula based on the type of skin tone the model has. I will tweak the colors slightly to reflect unique conditions in the reference material and to suit the color scheme of the rest of the painting.

This second image shows a typical palette of mixed flesh tones on the left side.

The second step is to block in the mid-range colors with a relatively large brush. I say relatively large because a large brush for me is still pretty small. You can see the ‘large’ brushes near the large coins. (I can’t seem to get away from these little brushes. I actually broke out the one on the bottom while painting Asher’s bedroom. I may need counseling.)

Then I blend the colors to smooth out the surface.

The third step is the refinement of the shape through the addition of the deeper shadows and the blacks.

Last, I use a few of the lightest colors and pure white to add the final details and the highlights. This is the point where I have lately been employing the custom disposable-adhesive-palette-technology I mentioned in the last post . (This palette is shown on the right side of the palette image.)

And there you have it: a finished painting. If it seems like this one has taken an unusually long time to complete, it is because I took a break in the middle to work on an exciting little commission that I will discuss later. Until then, enjoy this most recent piece (there will be a better quality image in the portfolio section soon). It is one of my personal favorites and one of the few paintings I will probably keep.

That’s it for now, I have some robots to paint.

Yes, robots.

The last couple of weeks at work have been just a tad stressful. Annual reports and other such stuff. People seem a little bit more on edge, with the exception of one fellow, who has a proven market on poise in such situations. Today I found out why.

I think I’ll call it Dirt-Therapy. Who knew that grading a parking lot could be so totally engaging? The fellow who set me up with this altogether too brief interlude had to come out back and pull me out. Maybe it’s the toys (okay, ‘tools’ for all you folks who use them) one gets to work with - those things are awesome. Ho hum….. back to the office.

It is time for a rather large update on the ‘Sisters’ painting. I last posted on this piece on the 6th of December, at which point I had only just finished the faces of both figures. Well, not that my sparse blog updates would show it, I have actually been working on this painting, and am very close to completing it. As you can see in the first image, all that remains to be painted is the hand of the older sister. The second image illustrates a little trick I have been employing lately that really seems to amuse Sara. This radically advanced palette technology may look silly, but I can’t believe I didn’t think of it earlier. Once I block in the mid-tones, I only need a few colors to refine and finish the area. This keeps the paint close by and, more importantly, out of Asher’s reach. Kudos to 3M for designing a tape that stays put, but couldn’t pull the paint off an 80 year old barn.