Newborn Portrait - Drawing the Hair
I started drawing the basic strands of the hair using light umber. Then, I applied brown and dark brown to deepen the shadowed areas. Next, came some highlights, using jasmine, and, then, I enriched the lowlights with terracotta. Further applications of brown, dark umber and, even, a little black increased the dark tones, and a layer of beige sienna was used to blend the strands together and improve the salt and pepper colour of the hair. The photo showed the hair to be a lot darker than in real life, so I used more highlights than shown in the reference photo.
Further improvements will be made, during the last day or two of work, when I reassess and add the final touches, but, for now, I am finished here and am ready to move on to the clothes and the last arm.
Is the hair tied back? The picture will look so much more finished when you start putting the clothes in. Are the clothes easy to draw?
ReplyDeleteYes, the hair is tied up at the back. These clothes should be easy to draw because they were both wearing plain white - no fussy patterns or difficult textures to consider. But, I will have to think about balancing the picture out. I want the clothes to be simple so that attention isn't drawn away from the figures but I don't want the overall picture to look bland. I've been planning blue-grey shadows for the white fabric and a pale blue background to balance. It seemed to fit, especially as the baby is a boy.
ReplyDeleteAs always, I'll keep standing back from the picture and assessing as I go. Unlike a lot of other artists, I tend to make a loose plan and, then, finalize these sorts of decisions as the portraits unfolds.
Thank you for your comment, Immy:)