The African Headgear III, 8.5" x 11", Mixed Media on Card.

This is the third piece in my series of paintings and drawings to celebrate the beauty of the African Headgear.

This particular piece all started off without any preliminary drawing, I just decided to go into into it with the pastels used with the broad side.

THE AFRICAN HEADGEAR III, 8.5" x 11", Pastel, Crayons, Coloured pencil and Oil Pastel on Canson Card, 2013

 

 

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Because I started this way, I was left starting off without any accuracy at all and a long process of corrective drawing. But it was quite fun as I enjoyed watching the repair process materialize into a finished product I was satisfied with.

Below are some of the Stage Shot photos I took while working though it.

STAGE 1- That bold start that got me frightened, I thought, what am I doing here? No preliminary drawing, just broad strokes of pastel on the card.

STAGE 2- I blend the broad strokes together, just for some clarity.

STAGE 3- Introduce the darks, this changes everything, but I'm still timid, not sure how this will work out.

STAGE 4- I slow down and keep my focus on correcting the faulty areas, adding more rich smaller strokes of the pastel.

STAGE 5- Here I am a more confident, the corrective drawing helps and slowing down is a reward, as it is often said, "Haste is the Artists' Worst Enemy"

SPECIAL QUOTE

“A portrait can get awfully hot when the artist thinks in terms of flesh and blood, rosy cheeks, lips and ears. This is particularly so if there are cools surrounding the subject such as a blue curtain or blue shirt... don't forget that some of that cool might very well be bouncing into the face and figure”- Harley Brown