Friday, January 9, 2009

Leaf Details

I decided to share with you the step-by-step process I am taking with this painting. This is done on a 7" x 5" piece Stonehenge with Prismacolor colored pencils.

After drawing the outline, I took a Dark Green pencil and lightly applied it in the red shadow areas of the leaf. I am using Dark Green because it is the compliment of red. Putting these two compliments together creates a rich shadow color.



Next, I added Celadon Green in the highlighted areas that are red. Then I applied Black Grape over the Dark Green. I added Canary Yellow in the yellow highlight areas.


This took approximately 1 hour to complete these few layers. The other leaf that is almost finished took between 3 - 4 hours to complete. I usually wait until last to complete the background. I know, I know....it's a no, no. I will tweak the leaves after the background is complete.

2 comments:

Jo Castillo said...

Wow! I am always amazed by your work and the patience. I know that people that love colored pencil say it is relaxing to do. Not for me! I want instant things. Ha.

Anyway, this is just beautiful, thanks for sharing your process.

Hugs,

Oh, do you have goats? They are so cute.

Valerie Jones said...

Thanks, Jo. No, we don't have goats. If we had a farm, I'm sure we'd have them. My husband likes them because they keep down the brush.