Painting in Progress-Week 4

Well, this is the last week of my painting in progress-it's all done! Where did the time go?

Materials Used:
Acrylic paint (mostly Liquitex, Golden fluid and regular)
Shiva Oilstiks
Portfolio Water Soluble Oil Pastels
Pencil
Pitt Artist Pen (black)
Collage materials (newspaper, sheet music, patterned paper)
Gesso
Matte Medium
Canvas (gallery stretched)

                                                      This is where we left off last week.

I don't want the white patterns in the upper left corner to stand out so much so I use Golden Acrylic fluid in Burnt Sienna and Payne's Grey to "push" it back a little. These 2 colors are faves of mine, they come in so handy for just about everything! They give form, dimension and add the most interesting color variations. You can still see the patterns but they are a little more subdued.

 I decide that I don't want the music on her dress (too busy) so I cover with gesso and let dry.

I paint over the music with Golden fluid acrylic (Payne's Grey) and wipe some of it off for variation. I add words and...

 I work on her eyes  a little. I really try to bring the eyes to life (the most important feature on the face). I don't want to overwork the painting-sometimes it's difficult to stop but I try to even if there are a few more things  I want to do. That way it has a little bit of the "undone" to it. Once a painting is overworked, it's hard to bring it back.

                                                                 Now it's all...DONE!

                                                               Trusting in HerSELF

Some tips I have learned along the way:
1. I work on a lot of paintings at one time-this way, when I have to let something dry, or I get frustrated with something, I can move to another piece.
2. I try to fix all technical problems with the figure in the drawing stage of the painting. It's much easier than trying to fix it later once I start painting!
3. While I have an idea of how I want the completed painting to look, I am still open to the painting taking on  a life of it's own.
4. I use bold rich colors right from the start. This gives the painting immediate depth, texture and interest.
5. When painting the face, I try to think as if I am applying make-up. This helps with telling me where different colors and tones should go. I know my own face and where I would apply different colors/tones so I transfer that knowledge to painting the face.  Of course if you are painting photo realism then lighting affects a lot.
6.. I use my journal/sketchbook a lot for writing down my ideas. I find that writing collects my thoughts about a painting or  a whole collection. Painting is  a holistic act-everything that is in my head, heart and soul..I really try to bring  all of who I am to my paintings. Thanks for looking!
* N.B. I will add the whole process to a page in my sidebar (when I get  a chance!)