Holiday Kids Part Two

The following is the second installment of a "How I paint" post located here. I wouldn't really say this a detailed tutorial of how to paint, but it's more a view of my process. I have more than this done but I'm showing them in baby steps for you all that want a detailed viewing. After the underpainting is laid down I basically start in the middle ground of the painting. I realize that is a little backwards, but I like being able to fiddle with the background slightly so I can decide how much detail I want back there.

So for this I am obviously working on the children first, laying down flat, realistic colors over top of the green. The reason I use green underneath is that the transparency of your skin over your muscle tissue actually causes a slight greenish hue in shadows. So there is a fun fact for you all! :) But that's definitely not the only color you can use, it all depends on preference. For shadows I really enjoy using a grey purple on skin tones, it seems to just work in most situations. But it definitely depends on the paintings setting.

After that I started putting in colors and shadows for the lighting, which will be coming at them through the window display. Even though the display is bright, or at least will be, the darkness of the night behind them will still cause some pretty dark shadows and over take the light from behind. Making the high lights small but bright on their faces and clothing. Keep in mind textures as well, since the clothing will have a duller reflection, than shiny skin, glass, or metal. I'm also not too concerned with making things super smooth yet, since that will come later after I have the lighting and colors the way I want them.

I'll make sure to show how to change and see less of the green underpainting on the coats of the second two children next, so they all don't look alike. Also, Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy the day and remember what to really be thankful for. I hope you all enjoyed the post, and let me know if you have any questions.