Work in Progress - Milestone Reached
Completing a colored pencil drawing can be a bit like running a marathon, and this has been especially true for this one. Today I hit a milestone, and in honor of it I have a perfect running clip:
One of my favorite parts of that clip is when Clark gets a bit winded and you can just see him realize this seemed much easier in his head, but he pushes past the thought and charges on.
So, here I am at my milestone on the largest and most complex drawing I've done. The entire work is drawn now and at a fairly high level of refinement. The next phase is my favorite: balancing color and values, which really adds life to the piece. I find it fun because the framework is complete, and I can loosen up and more freely put pigment on paper.
A few things on the docket:
- Incorporating some blues into the skin tones. Skin is very reflective and picks up local color.
- Incorporating some warms into the blues of the nightgown. The gown is reflective and picks up the brightly lit skin.
- Refining the left arm and hand. Values still need to be pushed a few steps, and mid tones developed.
- Refining the legs in shadow.
- Refining the wrinkles in the upper portion of the work. I learned a lot about drawing the wrinkles as I progressed clockwise, and I'll apply what I learned to the earlier wrinkles.
- Refining the hair. I love drawing hair, and there's always lots of color that can be added.
Here's the work in progress pic:
