Black Swan

acrylics, watercolor, oils, pencil crayon

Painting in progress that I started yesterday. Back to the swing of things! Watched Black Swan on the weekend - good creepy movie. I could never quite figure out what was "real" and what was fantasy/delusion, and when I thought I had it figured out, it changed again.

With this painting I thought I would practice a technique we learned in illustration class last semester that I enjoyed. Involves layering of thin washes of paint, and then lifting out the highlights. Sort of working backwards from the usual light to dark.

And because I love seeing other artist's process work.... process pics!

Mid-tone color and starting on background. Not sure if my mid-tone was too dark? Natalie Portman has very fair skin, so I'm not sure if my colors reflect that.

Blue wash over red.

Drippys! I love drippy. They make me happy. :)

Lifting out highlights.


Thin oil wash for shadows.

Lifting out the lights again. One thing I like about this technique, it's a mix of painting and drawing, and you can work loosely and then tighten up later on.

Here I think I was adding more shadows, because I didn't feel they were dark enough with just the oil wash.

Adding details with pencil crayon, and attempting to blend the colors together better. Not done yet, still working on this stage. Will probably try to paint in the dress and feathers too. We'll see what happens....