Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Portrait During a Sushi Lunch

"You don't need to pose. I'll just sketch you in whatever angle you're in."



Here's a quick sketch I did of Jeanette at a Japanese restaurant yesterday. (Link to YouTube) The donkey is Jeanette's good friend Jezzy.


I'm using a super-limited palette of gouache, just raw sienna, brilliant purple and titanium white (with just a touch of watercolor red for the ears) in a 5 x 8 inch watercolor sketchbook. For most of it I'm using a synthetic #6 filbert, which is ideal for stating the big planes and shapes, without worrying about the details of the features.
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2 comments:

gyrusdentus said...

Do you manage to cover the darks completely with white and raw sienna (assuming that those were the lighter parts on the left).
Is that a matter of the quality of the white or how much chalk is in it?

Always an inspiration that you work so much to hone your skills.

James Gurney said...

Gyrus, Thanks, glad you're enjoying. The lights here are transparent. They're the light tone I brushed over the whole surface with a big brush. The light side of the hair, too, is transparent. You could have painted them up from a middle or dark tone. When using white opaquely, titanium white is a bit more opaque than zinc white. Experiment with it and see what works for you.