Today I bring you the finished piece entitled "Devon". The details and final shading have been added with conte' pencil. Conte' pencils are similar to color pencils except that the pigment is more highly concentrated and the presence of abrasives allow for excellent toning and stumping qualities. Stumping is the process of using a tightly spiral-wrapped paper stick that allows the blending and smoothing of pigments and graphite.
I've been asked, do you ever mess up a painting!? And the answer is, "More times than I care to admit to!" Working with gouache it is very easy for a painting to become muddled and acquire a flat and lifeless feel. Sometimes it can be saved, other times it ends up in the recycle bin.
I felt this started to happen with this piece, the left side of the painting was becoming heavy and appearing dirty rather than the mysterious shadow effect I was striving for. To rectify the problem I cropped the piece down to a 5" x 5" and I believe it brought the piece back to life, placing the emphasis on the facial features.
I hope the process has been interesting and informative for you.
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