Project: Alaskan Fishing Village Week 4
In our last class we finally worked on the reflection. I left this for last mostly so I wasn't dragging my arm over it all the time.
Basically I used the same colors as I used above with the exception of the highlight colors. Reflections are a value or so darker than what they reflect and they are not mirror reflections. Water is moving all the time either from currents, tides, wind or something swimming or moving through it so there will be no straight lines or hard lines, everything will be slightly distorted. Also, you will be seeing some of the underside because water reflects what is above it and it is flat looking up, if you have any doubts, lay a mirror on the floor near a table, stand back and look in the mirror. What to you see? Same goes for the water, it is going to see what is above it like the underside of the front building and a bit more of the underside of the roof eves.
The other thing to keep in mind - and this goes along with the whole moving water thing - is to paint a reflection your strokes go in one of 2 directions: either straight down or straight across. You can make an angle, like the roof line or the rust patterns on the roof, by using a series of vertical lines. Most of the lines I used to create the reflections were vertical with a few horizontal ones usually because I was working on something small.
Now that you have the basics, I started with the green in the water, using my darkest greens along with my dark indigo blue to start, then adding some of the mid-value green for the shore grasses and a darker tone brown for the little bit of mud that shows. I put that all in before lightly blending, again my blending was straight down. When I had it blended I went gently straight across to blur the straight lines. I then added some lighter greens for lighter trees but not the real light color from above but one just a bit darker. Again, straight lines putting this color in, straight lines blending and lightly across.
The building color was added the same way, what you don't need to worry about is making it perfect especially the pilings it is standing on. If you miss a post or a board, that's okay, just blur the area a bit more. If the reflection is too detailed it will look wrong. Don't forget to blend straight down and lightly across.
Last but not least, I used my lightest blue and made a series of little marks all along the shore where the water and mud meet. There are usually rocks and sticks and whatever along the shore that can cause a sparkle as the water splashes over them, this also defines the edge of the water. Don't make it a solid line, think dots and dashes as you just skip along the shore line.
I then took the same light blue - take the paper off if your's still has paper - and on its side I very lightly went over the reflections just barely skimming the surface of my paper and I only did this once across, working my way down the reflection. This becomes the sheen on the water.
Check your house and trees to see if you need to do any more like put the rails in for the walkway in front of the red house, or add people or the boats. Highlights on the deciduous tree behind the red house, remember to follow the way the branches grow, it is not a pine tree.
This was the last day for me on this project. If you are still working on yours we still have 3 classes before the end of the semester so there is plenty of time to finish. If you have finished, bring something in that you want to work on and I can help you get started before we break for the holidays.
So keep painting and I will see you all in class.
Project: Alaskan Fishing Village Week 3
This week we worked our way down into adding the lean-to shed/garage to the main building, adding color to the red building and adding some simple detail, under painting the boats, the shoreline and the greenery around the base of the buildings.
The colors for the shed are the gray, cream and indigo for the light ans shadow. You might want to have a separate box to keep the color you have been using for a project in until you have finished it, I find it is a lot easier to find colors rather than staring into all my colors looking for what I hope is the color I am looking for.
The red building is a deep dirty red regardless of what it looks like here, it is just the contrast between the red and the green that makes it look like bright red. If you don't have a dark dirty red, use the darkest red you have and add in some burnt sienna to it (a brick color) and blend them together. I also added a person and some "stuff" in front of the building just to make it look like people actually live here. The ails cam last.
Before you get all panicky about the boat, keep in mind that it is made up with a series of shapes. The back of the boat has a curved shape, the sides are just broken lines and the cabin is a couple of boxes. I used a light gray, a darker gray, a light and medium gray/blue and the indigo, that's it. Don't over think this it is too small for much detail, it is just a shape.
The row boat again is just simple shapes, curves at the front, straight lines every place else. I used medium, warm gray, light blue/gray and indigo.
I also used that warm gray and a tan to add a shoreline around where the water meets the land, look at the photo, in the front only a little shows, in front of the red building it comes up behind the boat. Be sure that your chalk strokes follow the direction of the slope of shoreline.
The grasses and the bushes have a light yellow green, a medium yellow green and a dark blue green for shadows and some light sienna in it as well. I used the lither greens to blend into the darker green of the bushes using a scumbling (all directions) stroke, while I used a more vertical strokes for the grasses. Don't be afraid to pull the grasses up around the bottoms of the pilings and the boats, that will settle those things down into the grass.
Next week we will work on the reflections and final details of this painting so try to have yours to this point, we - I - may finish this in our next class.
See you all in class.
Pastel Project: Alaskan Fishing Village Week 2
The first week or our project we did an alcohol and charcoal under painting. This established our dark areas and some of the middle grays. Last class we started adding color.
Just a note here: Some of the dark charcoal may show through and that will be a good thing. That dark becomes the deep dark shadows of the forest and other dark shadowed areas so it isn't necessary to cover it all. Let it work for you.
The first thing I did was to add in my sky colors. While I didn't want the gray, gloomy day the photo was taken, I also didn't want a bright blue sky. this is my personal preference, if you want your sky brighter, that is up to you but there are things to remember when painting skies - Skies are darker as the go up from the horizon so use your darker colors at the top and lighter colors as you go down. I used a mid value gray/blue and a very light blue and blended them to get what I hope is a clearing sky color.
You will have to paint around the tree branches but this is also a time where you can reshape your trees if you got them too solid or if you need sky holes. Remember to look at the photo to see how lacy the tops of the trees are and how they vary in size and shape.
The branches of the trees have about 4 different colors of green from very dark to a mid value color. Remember, these are the ends of the branches of the trees that are in the light, leave some of the dark and be very sketchy with your strokes so it looks like branches coming out from around the tree not just the sides.
There is a deciduous tree behind the red building that is a bit brighter, lighter green. Be aware that the branches come out from the trees a bit different and it has a very different shape.
I got started on the brown building using a cream color, an indigo (dark gray/blue), a light sienna and a darker sienna and the gray/blue from the sky. the key thing here is to be aware of the direction things are going. the roof slants down, follow the slant. The boards on the side of the building and the top of the front are horizontal, but the lower half of the front is vertical. I lightly blended parts of these colors but tried not to blend too much. For the lines of the boards, I used the indigo because it is a harder pastel, you can use a dark pastel pencil or other cool dark pastel .
This is where we left off but I do want to note that when I got home and was looking at the photos, I realized that the back part of my roof is too high, I will fix it in class so you can see how I fix something I don't like.
Keep painting and I will see you in class.
Project: Alaska Fishing Village Week 1
The first thing I showed was how to get the design on my paper using what I call "poor man's transfer paper" by applying chalk to the back of my design, then going over the lines with a pencil or the end of a brush to transfer the design to my paper.
Usually I use a color like a light blue or purple so I won't have problems when I'm working my painting but because I am going to be doing an alcohol wash over charcoal, I just used the charcoal for this step.
Once I got the design on my paper - I am using sanded Bristol paper mounted on foamcore that I made myself - I wanted to do a rather loose value under painting using black (charcoal) to get my trees in and to establish some of the values (light to dark) of my painting.
When I was doing the trees I was trying to keep the spaces at the top edge of the trees and suggesting tall and short trees. These are not Christmas trees, they are not perfect, they are not all the same height. These are things you need to keep in mind as you work.
The closer to the buildings I got the more I tried to cover the paper so I could get a dark background. On the right, there is a lighter tree so I did leave it blank.
In the water, I pulled the charcoal straight down going around the reflections of the buildings.
In the buildings where I wanted a little bit of a value change, I lightly skimmed the paper with the charcoal so there was only a little color to move around in the next step.
The next step is using rubbing alcohol to set the design onto my paper. This is just plain rubbing like you get at the drug store, nothing special, I used my watercolor brush to apply it to my paper.
I went over everything that I had charcoal on to set in so it won't come off as easily when I go to paint, this also establishes your dark values of which there are many in this project. Where I needed just a little color I used what was on the brush to do parts of the houses and roofs.
This is where we finished in class, try to get you paintings to this point before next class.
keep painting and I will see you in class.
Project: Apple Turnover Revised Week 6
Last time I mentioned that I had a couple things I wanted to do before calling my painting finished so here they are. First, I wanted to bring some of the background leaves down behind the table so it would look more natural. As you can see the previous image from last week the leaves look like they are avoiding the table in a nice little semi-circle around the corner of the table, on the left, a few extra leaves and problem solved.
I also wanted to add a couple more leaves to some of the apples but only did one. By adding a leaf to the apple on the left side and overlapping the basket, I tie the apple to the basket visually as well as create a better sense of depth, the leaf pushes the basked back just a bit.
Finished project for now. I do like to live with a painting for a while just to be sure that when I can look at it with fresh eyes nothing jumps out at me but overall, right now I am satisfied with the outcome.
Because what I had to do took all of 5 minutes - if that - I did a demo on how to create your own sanded paper by using the Ground for Pastel by Golden. There may be other manufactures with their own product but I use Golden.
It is a simple procedure and takes a bit of time, but in the long run you can save money and have more versatility - in my opinion - than constantly using manufactured sanded paper.
I do want to say, that this is my opinion regarding, not just making the sanded paper but also, using sanded paper. Every artist has their preferences and it is up to you as an artist to explore your options and find out what works for you. I had used regular pastel paper for many years and was satisfied with the results but once I used the sanded paper I was hooked, mostly because I didn't like having to spray it with workable fixative all the time. Again, this is your preference.
The first thing I did, and this is something I just recently learned from attending a Pastel Society meeting, was to mount the paper to a support, in this case some foam core presentation board that I got at the local drug store (you can also find it at office supply stores and art stores, just be careful that the sheets are not near the party stuff with all the glitter or you will never get rid of it). You can use any kind of paper you want, from pastel paper to watercolor paper to mat board to whatever is handy, I was using Bristol paper because it is a heavy paper as well as having a smooth surface.
I cut the foam core down to a size that was a bit larger than my paper then I used and archival spray glue (Scotch Supper 77 but there are other spray glues that will work as well) to mount the paper to the foam core. Smooth it down well so that there is good adhesion between paper and board and to be safe, let it dry for a few minutes. I was rushed to get the demo done before people had to leave but would have let it dry for several minutes otherwise.
Next, I mixed up a combination of the Ground for Pastel and water. I usually use about a 3 to 1 ratio (3 water to 1 ground), this is an approximate measure, you want a thin slurry of the ground. This will give you a smoother surface and you can go over it a second or third time if you need more texture. Yes, you can use it right out of the jar but you will get brush strokes showing, which is okay if that is the look you are going for.
I was using a flat bristle brush that you would use in oils or acrylics but I have used softer brushes when I am doing this at home. The key is to use a big brush so it will go on quickly and smoothly. I try to first get some of the slurry on the paper then with lighter pressure on the brush, spread and smooth out the ground while it is still wet. This will help prevent lumps and missed areas as well as giving you a smooth surface. Let it dry.
When it has dried, feel the surface to be sure that you have an even coat of ground and if it feels like it has enough "tooth". If it feels like it needs more, repeat the above.
This ground will go onto almost any surface that it will stick to so feel free to experiment once you get the hang of it.
We have one more class to finish up or to look ahead to new projects. Keep painting.
Project: Apple Turnover Revised Week 5
When I started out the class, I thought I had one more session after that class to finish up the project, but as I got closer to the end of class I realized that I was basically done! Surprise! Surprise! This happens with most paintings, you get to a point where you are circling the painting with either brush or chalk and looking for a place to land, that is usually the best place to stop at least of a couple of days then look at it with fresh eyes. This will keep you from over working a painting and ruining what was making it work.
When I got it home, I found a couple places I could improve but these things are minor and won't take more than a few minutes. If you are to that point in your's of if you just feel a bit frustrated, set your painting aside for a while, you can always come back to it if you want.
I started the class by adding shadows. Shadows are always darkest closest to the object that is casting them and get lighter as they get further away so most of my color was near the bottom of the apples or basket where they touch the table and I blended the color out from there. I also lightly blended the bottoms of the apples as I was blending the shadow on the table to give a "lost and found" look to the apple. I was using a dark indigo which is a dark blue/gray.
Once I had the shadows on I went back in with light colors for the table to add more light around the shadows and the apples.
After I had gotten the shadows and the table where I wanted them, I decided to breakup that big area of negative space behind the table with some branches and leaves.
I used a teal color for the leaves and brown for the twigs, and just quickly based in the shapes of the apple leaves. You don't need to be too exacting at this point because the leaves are not the focal point of the painting they are there to make that area less obvious. This is one of the areas I need to work on in class next time, see if you can figure out why.
This is about midway through the class. I have my shadows in and more table highlights and I am starting the leaves in the background. I also used a lighter indigo to add shadows to the table from the leaves.
Next I have to start adding the highlights on the apples and final touches on the basket.
The highlights on the apples have a couple of steps. The parts of the apple that are in the light but do not have the light spot can be lightened using a light orange color. If you try to use white, you will just turn your red apple pink. On the green apples, you can use yellow.
This is for the overall color in the light areas. Look at the reference photo and look at the areas around the bright spot, that is the area I'm talking about. Follow the direction of the apple so you can keep the curves of the apple, it is easy at this point to make them look flat by using straight strokes either vertical or horizontal so be mindful of your strokes.
Once that part is done, now comes the bright spot. You can use white if you don't have a very light cream color (being a bit on the yellow or orange side will make it look warm, white is a cold color). LOOK at your photo to see where the bright spot falls on each apple, add that warm white or white to that area then lightly tap the color you just put down. This will soften and blend the color and the edges. Then use pure white to the very center of this spot you made and leave it alone, do not blend. Do this for all the apples that the sun is hitting. You will be doing very little blending at this point.
I added a few stems to some of the apples and a leaf to one in the basket. Look for places you can add detail like the tops and bottoms of the apples to suggest the direction they are facing. Finishing up a painting is personal so do as little or as much as you feel comfortable with (I can get a bit overboard).
Don't forget your basket at this point. Be sure you have highlights where you need them and that you have followed the weave of the basket, this is important so you get the twist of the handle and the texture of the weave of the basket.
I brought the leaves across the page and behind the basket. I also took a darker version of the first color - you can use the indigo or a blue if you don't have a darker color - to add some suggestion of shadows and shadowed leaves as well as some of the apple green to suggest apples on the branches.
Last, I took a light blue and hit some of the edges of the leaves with this color to help separate some of the leaf shapes from others and to highlight a few of the leaves. Don't get carried away adding detail to this area it isn't the focal point and too much busy work can draw the eye away from the apples.
This is where I stopped in class because I was looking for something more to do and couldn't find it. As I said at the beginning once I got it home I fond a couple places I think I will touch next class but basically I could call it done at this point.
You do not have to get your's done by next class we still have a couple of weeks before the semester ends so if you are still working on you project take the time you need. If you are finished, bring in something else to work on and I can help you get started.
Keep painting and I will see you in class.
Project: Apple Turnover Revised Week 4
We only have a couple more weeks to work on our project but the pace does start to pick up from here as we get into detail. If you aren't at this point yet, please try to work on your's at home so you aren't too far behind.
This week I stared on the detail of the basket. Be sure that you have your reference photo where you can refer to it often because it is the best source of information to finish this up. I used 3 different values of the light tan, if you don't have a very light tan you may need to ad white to what you have and lightly blend. There is a medium tan color and a darker, more orange tan color as well as the indigo blue that I use for the shadows.
The orange tan can be used on the inside of the basket and in some of the outside shadow areas again, look at the reference photo BEFORE you start adding color.
Really LOOK at the basket weave BEFORE you start adding color. The reeds or straw that is used has a shape as it is woven around the basket. Some appear as lazy "s's" others as "U's" on their side. Your chalk marks need to mimic these shapes to make your basket believable. It is important to remember that all of your marks are just quick shapes be they highlights or shadows, it is okay to start out slowly as you make these marks just don't labor over them. I lightly blended with a color shaper to soften transitions between colors and shapes but tried to leave as much untouched as possible at this point.
Once I had the basket pretty much under way, I started on the apples. I wanted to shape them a bit better, clean up edges, reinforce dark areas and start adding some lighter colors.
For the red apples, I used the dark cool red, the medium and lighter reds I used last time as well as the indigo but I also added a light orange color to start on highlights. The green apples were the same greens (dark, medium and med. light) plus the indigo but to make them lighter still I added a light yellow. Again I was getting my shapes better, making some a bit bigger, cleaning up edges but I did blend in most cases.
Last but not least, I started working a little on the table. I added more colors like light green, light blue, some light gold, any of my lighter colors but I did not blend these colors. I used my indigo to suggest the divisions between the slats of the table and started a bit of the detail, I will do more in our next class.
This is where I left off in class, if left to my own devises, I could probably finish this up in our next class but I don't want to lose you so it may take an extra week for the class. Be prepared to work, keep painting and I will see you in class.
Project: Apple Turnover Revisited Week 3
I started this week by finishing the background around the basket and table. I wanted it to look like out of focus bushes so that the back ground didn't distract from the subject.
I used 4 different colors: 3 greens - a dark, a medium and a light green - and my dark indigo blue which is a dark gray/blue color as opposed to a bright blue. If you only have a bright blue, add some dark brown as well.
The first thing I did was to add the dark green and blue together. When adding the colors or when you are blending, you aren't trying to create leaves as such, you are just trying to get the feel or suggestion of leaves. Look at the reference photo to see where the patches of shadow are in the back ground, that was roughly my guide. Next add the medium green into all the empty spots that are left and when you finish with that, in spots add some of the brighter, lighter green and, again, look at the photo to find the lightest areas.
Only after I have all my color down do I blend the colors usually starting in the lighter area and working to the darker areas. If I need to add some color to make it lighter or darker you can do that as you blend, just be sure to lightly blend the different areas together some so thee are no hard lines or distinct shapes, at least not yet.
Next I worked on the table. I need to get the table close to finished so I can start working on the basket and apples.
First I wanted to be sure that the under painting for the table had enough dark colors so that highlights would show up. In pastel, we work mostly from dark to light and I felt my table needed more darks and more color. I added some darker blues, greens and reds by streaking it on then lightly blending so you could still see the streaks but they had soft edges.
When I had the under painting where I thought it should be, I added tome lighter streaks for the grain of the wood using a peach, a light blue and a light gray.
I had realized when doing the acrylic version on Monday that I needed to add some lines for the slats of the table so the table would make sense to me, I used my indigo blue to suggest the different slats of the table to see if I was liking what was happening and when I did that, I could see I was headed in the right direction. The lines may need to be redrawn because I don't think I got the spacing right and I still have a bit of work to do but having them in there right now isn't going to hurt anything.
We had several people playing catch-up in the last class so this is where we ended the class.
I hope that you can get your own painting to this point before next class so we can move on and start getting into some of the detail.
Keep painting and I will see you in class.
Pastel Project: Apple Turnover Revised Week 2
This week I finished under painting my apples. The red apples were 2 values of red: and alizarin crimson which is a dark, purplish red and a medium cad red color as well as an indigo blue which is a dark gray/blue, if you have it otherwise use the darkest blue you have. The indigo is a color I use a lot in my shadows so you might want to add the color to your collection when you are shopping for supplies.
The green apples were 3 values (dark, medium and light) of green. I have a very dark blue/green, a medium yellowish green and a light yellowish green plus the indigo in the darkest shadows.
On both the red and green apples, I first laid down my colors then blended with my fingers starting in the light area and working to the dark, following the shape of the apple. Look at your reference photo to see where the light and dark values are and the different shapes of the apples.
Remember that this is just the under painting. once we get all the under painting complete we will start the detail, this is just the start, not the finish.
Next I wanted to under paint the table. I need to get the table in before I finish my apples so the apples look like they are sitting on the table. However, I really am not fond of the light gold table the apples are sitting on so I am going to use my artistic license and create a more rustic looking table like a old redwood type table. That is why it is called a "reference" photo: You just use it for reference for color or design or lighting but you are not enslaved into following the photo to perfection, you have the right, as an artist, to change whatever you want to make it into your vision.
I take lots of photos of very strange things just so I have other reference photos when I wan't to change things and need so study to get the look I am going for such as these images I took of an old bench I had before it fell apart. While I want a warmer color than the silver gray, I want that rough and worn look of the wood.
I used 3 different colors of a warm brown to start my table top. The first layer was a dark, reddish brown almost a dark brick color. That color I filled in the table top pretty solid. Next, I used a similar color but it was several shades lighter in value and streaked it on rather than going over the whole thing again. Last, I used a very light warm red again streaking it on so I have 3 values of color showing. I was also adding these colors very horizontal to the table looked flat. Your strokes and the way you blend matter in creating the ting you are painting.
I then lightly blended these colors together with my fingers again following the grain of the wood. This blending also fills in the areas that the chalk might have missed as you were laying it on.
Be careful as you blend around the apples mostly so you don't lose your shapes. My white chalk lines are still visible at this point but will disappear in the coming weeks.
This is where I left off in class. Next time I will be working some more on the table and adding the background bushes and at that point our under painting will be done and the detail begins.
so keep painting and I will see you in class.
Pastel Project: Apple Turnover Revised Week 1
I started my project on a 19 x 14" gray, sanded paper, mounted to foam core. While this isn't necessary I do suggest that you have some support to attach your work to even if it is temporary, because it will give you a good solid surface to work on.
As many of you found out, working larger is a better way to work but getting that larger design on the paper isn't as easy as it sounds. While I strongly suggest that you practice your drawing skills no matter what medium you end up working in, there are other methods to get a design on your paper such as using the grid system, or a projector or finding a computer program such as the two listed in Lerri's Links in the side bar (Poster8 for PCs and PosteRazor for Macs) that will enlarge your design to the size you need using regular 8 1/5 x 11 printer paper to print it out. Depending on the paper, you might be able to transfer the design using either a light box or, what I do, tape it to a window with good sunlight then tape you paper over that for a poor man's light box. You may also want to try transfer paper but be sure that it is the non-waxy kind. Whatever way works for you, this sketch is your guide, it doesn't need to be perfect and you can make needed changes as you work but it does give you the basic idea of where you are going with your painting.
Once you get your design on your paper you have to figure out where you are going to start. For me, I usually start with the subject of my painting when I am working in pastel so I can make adjustment to size or shape to my subject with the background color before I head into finishing up my painting. This is just the way I work, other pastel artists may work a completely different way so don't think that anything I tell you is set in stone, everything is ope n to interpretation.
The under painting for the outside of the basket I found several colors ranging from a middle burnt sienna color to a medium gold, using the darker sienna color in the shadowed part of the basket, switching to a lighter sienna or gold color, then to the medium gold color. You are going from the darker color to the lighter color to give it shape, same with the handle. In the darkest part near the bottom of the outside of the basket, I also added some dark blue (indigo, its a gray blue), then blended all the colors together. Wipe your fingers often if you go from dark to light.
Be sure to have your reference photo in front of you so you can see where the light changes on the basket.
The interior of the basket was done with a medium dark, cool brown, the middle gold color and the indigo, then blended together.
I am not working on detail yet or any final highlights or shadows, I am just getting my under painting in which is the foundation of my painting. I can, and probably will, make changes as I go along but this under painting is probably the most important part of your painting, don't try to skip it or you finish piece could look flat.
Next, I started under painting the apples. I was using a dark, cool red for the shadow parts of the apples, like an alizarin crimson, and a medium red for lighter areas, and the indigo for the darkest areas between the apples. I then blended the colors together.
All I am trying to do here is to establish shapes and suggest shadows, this is not the finished form of these apples by a long shot this is just the base where I start to work from over the next couple of week, these apples will (I hope) look good enough to eat.
One thing about the indigo, I really like it to add dark into shadow areas rather than black. Black, across the mediums, is a color killer though I do occasionally use it in pastel if I have no other choice, then I use it carefully. I would rather mix to a dark color because it has more life and it doesn't dull the colors around it. Indigo is a blue/gray color but you can also use any dark blue with maybe a bit of dark brown for a similar effect.
I only managed to get one of the runaway apples done before end of class and yes, I am outside the lines but not to worry, I will fix it later. Again, this was done just using the 2 reds and the indigo and looking at the reference photo but you can already see shape and that is important. The red delicious apples have a different shape than the green Granny Smiths and that is important.
This is where I left off in class and where I will pick up when we meet again. I don't like to do things at home because I don't what anyone getting lost. We have the hard part done, getting the drawing on the rest should go quickly.
Keep painting and I will see you in class.
Pastel Project: Pink Umbrella Week 4 Final
In the last class, I finished up my version of Pink Umbrella working mostly in the foreground adding flowers and the woman.
I was using - where I could - my softest and brightest colors for the flowers. I did have to go over the yellow several times to get the right brightness and used a couple different chalks to find a softest, I was also looking to find places that were dark to add the brighter colors over some of those areas. It is always a good move to use contrast (light against dark) to bring impact to your painting. I used a light warm tan color to add the suggestion of rocks and pebbles into the dirt path areas as well. I left these strokes alone, I didn't blend the flowers.
As you can see in this close-up of the woman, there is no real detail, just suggestions. I used white for the sunlit parts of her dress, a very light lavender blue and indigo for light shadows and deeper shadows, respectively, I also used the indigo for her hair color as well.
The umbrella and purse were 2 colors of a cool pink almost to the purple side and white to make it softer. The hat was the warm tan I used above and indigo for the ribbon around it.
Her face and hand holding the umbrella is a soft cool brown the sunlit had is the warm tan and cool brown blended together.
I did some light blending with my color shaper on the dress, hat, umbrella and purse.
Notice how I created the distance between the woman and the background using softer, grayer colors and soft edges in the background and used brighter more colorful colors with detail in the foreground that almost give a 3D aspect to the painting.
This is the final week I will be working on this painting, I have fun doing it. Keep painting and I will see you in class.
