Maggie, A Lesson Painting, Part II

Here's where we left off yesterday - I had begun to lay down a range of values and then identified some drawing problems that needed attention before any more paint layers went down. (You can see yesterday's progress - including the inspiration photo - here.)   Yes, this is the same panel! I redrew Maggie, correcting her oversized bum, making her eyes a little brighter, and pulling her chin forward. I corrected the improbable angle of her shoulders and front legs, too.   And then I threw in underpaintings for the background that will be compliments to the ultimate final layers of color. This totally changed the painting, no?     Using those same hot colors as in the underpainting, I dropped in bits and flecks of color in Maggie's face. This is what will give her painting life and intensity.   I moved my attention to the back 1/2 of her body, and used neutralized versions of the same colors to begin pushing it back in space. Notice how I painted over the tip of her left ear? The brushwork wasn't cohesive behind the edges of her ear and across her shoulder, so I smoothed things out by going straight overtop it. And that's where I ran out of steam! I hope to pick the brushes up again tonite after dinner.   Thanks, as always, for sharing my artwork with your friends and family, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com       Letting off Steam (or Dragon Slaying)   I'm working up concepts for my new series of Dragon Slayer paintings. I've gathered some great props and am sorting through the Dragon Slayer candidates, matching the muse to it's dragon and building a painting around their relationship.   You probably can't tell, but I'm working really, really hard.