The Queen Painted

I did finish adding the gold highlights to her hair after this photo was taken...also the eye and details of the seahorse in her hand.



Next, some turtles.

And the Queen has a Tail Fluke

Base color, highlights and shadows done.



The spine of the fluke has a lime base color and then a darker green stenciled on top. Then accent dots of gold.



Tomorrow, a photo of the whole Queen finished...the painting, that is :)

 

 

Shadows

What  difference does adding shadows make in a painting ?  Visually, they add depth and dimension.

With highlights, but before shadows



After adding shadows



See how it visually separates and lifts each scale?

Many think shadows are added in black...not so.  Black makes them too stark.  A darker shade of the color being shadowed is much better...or a complimentary color.

In this case my scales are various oranges, so I used yellow for highlights and red for shadows.

 

Sunday!

And a beautiful day it is!  All my family in Virginia got through Hurricane Irene no worse for wear.  A few trees down, some without power, but damages to property are minimal and all the people are just fine!

So, I'm  off  to dinner and a Saints party, but I'll leave you with the "Queen"...almost to the tail fluke!



 

Some Work, Some Worry

Trying to work on the Queen of the Nereids... but it's going slowly.  I have lots of family in Irene's path, so it's hard to concentrate. As of last check, the ones I could get in touch with are doing fine waiting for the worst of it.

Having lived in south Florida for years, I know only too well what it's like... that's why I worry.  But I'm hoping all will get through the night unscathed.

So I'll leave you with some progress photos of the Queen's tail. First I used the dip pen to outline all the scales. Then painting the scales....I'm adding the highlights as I go. The darker shading will be added later.



 

 



For all in Irene's path, stay safe!

More Progress on the Queen

I always love watching my pieces come to life as the color is added. Every little bit makes such a huge difference. You can click on the photos to enlarge them.



And the shading makes the most difference of all.



And then my helpers...Chloe being silly



And Bouree thinking about climbing the easel



Who me???



In the end, he took a nap



Which enabled me to get lots of work done :)

And More...

skin...



and hair...