Vanitas 11 finished!

Well, finally it's done. I am happy about the way this piece looks. I did not need to do any compositing of multiple photos for the best composition like I had done for several other drawings. This is pretty much how the image was captured in camera. The only artistic liberty I used were streaky texture of the background to the right and the intentional flatness of the hair. I feel those little manipulations added an interesting play to the perception of space and increased an emotional impact.

Vanitas 11 update (07-25-2017)

The hair and the top 1/2 of the fabric have been rendered. Now I can do the rest of the fabric, make some minor adjustments and this piece will be done.

Vanitas 11 Update (07-23-2017)

I have been working on this drawing diligently. The rendering of the figure and the skull is pretty much done. Now I am working on the hair, then am going to move onto the fabric at the bottom. I am still not 100% sure how to treat the background yet...

Work in progress 07-23-2017.

Work in progress 07-21-2017.

Vanitas 11 update (07-12-2017)

I took a few months break from Vanitas series, but today I went back to work on this drawing I had started back in January this year. I am thinking about using an experimental technique for rendering this piece. Not sure if it actually works, but will see... I have so far shaded the part of the figure with 4H and 3H leads and ready to move on to darker leads now.

Bronzini finished

The drawing I started in mid April has been finally finished. I kept working on it whenever I had time. The scales were the most time consuming part naturally. I tried to bring out the "look" of the scales rather than photo realistically rendering each and every one of them. Bristol board works well with graphite and it does work with watercolor also but the surface is way more fragile than proper watercolor paper, so I was careful not to damage the surface by overworking with watercolor. I feel this almost monochromatic subject in the monochromatic background and this mixed media technique to add a touch of colors worked very well together.