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Artwork (Traditional) / Animal related (non-anthro)
Species Bear (Other)
Size 1024 x 735
File Size 391.3 kB
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This has a long way to go, but I figured I would post a work in progress photo of one of the pieces I've been working on.
I've been working with watercolor on and off for a couple of years, but I had never tried to achieve any kind of believable, coarse texture with it. This is something of an experiment to see how layering of fur might work out if I really took a lot of time to try to build it up.
It's coming along, and I've already figured out a couple of things I would do differently next time. For one, I did not lay in the shadows early enough. I made that mistake on a still life I painted last year and thought about trying a different approach on this one before I started. I should have trusted my instincts. I think it may not matter in the end, but it will probably require more layering and blending than it otherwise would have.
This is 10 x 15 inches (25 x 38 cm) on cold press paper and about 12 hours' work so far (many, many brushstrokes on 4 layers, currently!), and I think I have at least another 8 to 12 to go before I'm going to be reasonably satisfied with it.
Some things I anticipate causing me some trouble:
1) Add more shadows and darken some of the existing ones. This figure is far from complete, is too flat, and doesn't have enough value range.
2) Build and texture the nose. This might be a little tough to make believable. I may try some natural sponge to apply the paint and give it a more random appearance. The nose also needs to be darkened, inside and out; the purple and pink are too bright and warm.
3) Highlights. I'm trying not to think this far ahead just yet, but white watercolor paint always needs to be treated very gingerly. My track record on this is poor, frankly!
The image itself is from a photo reference, though obviously the painting is my work.
Suggestions are welcome! I love critique.
I've been working with watercolor on and off for a couple of years, but I had never tried to achieve any kind of believable, coarse texture with it. This is something of an experiment to see how layering of fur might work out if I really took a lot of time to try to build it up.
It's coming along, and I've already figured out a couple of things I would do differently next time. For one, I did not lay in the shadows early enough. I made that mistake on a still life I painted last year and thought about trying a different approach on this one before I started. I should have trusted my instincts. I think it may not matter in the end, but it will probably require more layering and blending than it otherwise would have.
This is 10 x 15 inches (25 x 38 cm) on cold press paper and about 12 hours' work so far (many, many brushstrokes on 4 layers, currently!), and I think I have at least another 8 to 12 to go before I'm going to be reasonably satisfied with it.
Some things I anticipate causing me some trouble:
1) Add more shadows and darken some of the existing ones. This figure is far from complete, is too flat, and doesn't have enough value range.
2) Build and texture the nose. This might be a little tough to make believable. I may try some natural sponge to apply the paint and give it a more random appearance. The nose also needs to be darkened, inside and out; the purple and pink are too bright and warm.
3) Highlights. I'm trying not to think this far ahead just yet, but white watercolor paint always needs to be treated very gingerly. My track record on this is poor, frankly!
The image itself is from a photo reference, though obviously the painting is my work.
Suggestions are welcome! I love critique.
Category Artwork (Traditional) / Animal related (non-anthro)
Species Bear (Other)
Size 1024 x 735px
File Size 391.3 kB
I noticed that your focusing on painting with a stopping point shown by the white areas. In painting, the white areas isn't quite the best thing because it can cause the obvious separation of the color. I know it could be a bit hard but you need to try going closer to close the gap a bit. You can replace some areas such as the mouth with a very dark color so that there's a boundary along with a color that can absorb the other colors.
I also noticed that some painters draw with a slight pencil mark at first to create an outline so that you can find your boundary. I guess the next thing I should mention is that you slightly lack highlights. This is where the white areas could work because you simply leave the illuminated area alone.
I don't know what to say because I don't have much more time (going to see some red envelopes<3) but I say keep up the good work ^^ I love it!!
I also noticed that some painters draw with a slight pencil mark at first to create an outline so that you can find your boundary. I guess the next thing I should mention is that you slightly lack highlights. This is where the white areas could work because you simply leave the illuminated area alone.
I don't know what to say because I don't have much more time (going to see some red envelopes<3) but I say keep up the good work ^^ I love it!!
Thanks! :)
The white areas actually won't be there in the end; those are all pieces that haven't been added yet. E.g., I've done nothing with the entire muzzle yet except for laying down the yellow wash, so that will all go away in the end. The details there are finer and I didn't want to risk overworking it, so I opted to focus on the fur to see if I could get the kind of buildup I was looking for. Now that it looks like it might actually work the way I envisioned, I'm going to do some work on the muzzle; at this stage, it's at least ready to have some color blocked in.
And highlights are definitely coming! Those will be done after the fur is pretty much in place; I have quite a bit more work to do on that front before highlights come into play. Half of his fur is still missing, and I don't want him to be cold in the winter. :)
The white areas actually won't be there in the end; those are all pieces that haven't been added yet. E.g., I've done nothing with the entire muzzle yet except for laying down the yellow wash, so that will all go away in the end. The details there are finer and I didn't want to risk overworking it, so I opted to focus on the fur to see if I could get the kind of buildup I was looking for. Now that it looks like it might actually work the way I envisioned, I'm going to do some work on the muzzle; at this stage, it's at least ready to have some color blocked in.
And highlights are definitely coming! Those will be done after the fur is pretty much in place; I have quite a bit more work to do on that front before highlights come into play. Half of his fur is still missing, and I don't want him to be cold in the winter. :)
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