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On the Easel Right Now I've been spending a lot more time daydreaming about the life of a reclusive artist, painting away in a filthy garret studio, sipping red wine and acting all sensitive and stuff.

Frankly, it's an unappealing sounding life.
Except for the painting part.
And the wine, I guess.

I've been doing a lot more portrait work lately and this is my latest venture. I found the photo online and absolutely loved the colors on this guy's face. Dark skin has always been a challenge for me to paint in watercolor because so many of the brown pigments lift right off the paper if you paint over them again.

So for this one, I tried something new - no browns. This is painted entirely (so far) from 5 paints: 2 blues, 2 reds, and a yellow. I also wound up using a very small amount of white in his beard (for the fine hairs on his cheeks), something I rarely use.

There's still a lot more work do do on his face before I even get to the rest of it. His lips aren't finished and I suspect there will be more work to do on the reflections in the glasses.

I have no idea how many hours I've put into this one so far, but I suspect I'm due for a few hundred more before it's finished.

Please pass the wine.

As a ridiculous side note, I really enjoy the contrast between this and the sketch I did in my sketchbook last night. Labels: flesh tones, portrait, watercolor



Click This Kid To Visit My Website: Do it. Now. Seriously. Do it. Click This GirL. Summer Stinks - The Super Cool Punk Rock Version The New Marty TV Groupies and Devoted Fans, or whatever Ooooh! Look Who's Been Here!