After the Neocolors were laid down on the paper, I brushed water over them and blended them over the paper.  For the darkest area on the right, I used a very small brush and meticulously evened out the tone.  For the hair, and darks on the right, I used a larger brush and more freely ‘painted’ with the water.  The result was fuzzy, and uneven, which is what I wanted.  It gave the periphery of the piece a softness that was in line with the mood.

The remainder of the piece was straight Prismacolors.  I spent the most time on the folds and lace of the gown, although it was the skin tones that I found to be the most difficult area, since there was a constant push and pull between going too far in one color and not enough in another.  I tend to end up with an unusual mix of colors in my skin tones, and this one was no exception with greens, purples, and creams.

Here’s a few photos of the work in progress progressing to the finished piece:

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When I started planning Bend, I had a few ideas about how to tackle all of the warm and cool colors on the Storm Blue Colorfix paper. I did some quick color sketches to see how the combinations would look on the blue paper. Attached is the small sketch which became the final color layout.

I’ve put together a progression of the drawing from start to finish so you can see how I tackled it:

The skin tones start with a base of Clay Rose, and then get multiple overlays of blues, purples, and a touch of dark brown. The highlights are Powder Blue. The warm light which catches the tendrils of her hair is Ginger Root, and overall her hair is a mix of blue and purple for the darks, pink for the midtones, and Ginger Root for the lights.

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I’d been wanting to do a draped nude for my next subject, and the idea of Wrapped came from a discussion of – I kid you not – toga parties. The fabric is white silk, and is transparent.

Once I got the composition I wanted, I just stared at the paper, having no idea where to start. There were so many intricate folds and wrinkles! After my brain stopped shorting out, I figured the best thing was to start at the bottom and work my way up. I decided an underpainting was a must – the picture was simply too complex to try and juggle color and value at the same time. I liked the sandy, antique feeling of French Gray, and chose that as my color. A perk of French Gray is that pencils come in 10%, 30%, 50%, 70% and 90% flavors, so it’s a little more like working with traditional graphite pencils (where the pencils come in different softness). Usually I just work the lights and darks in my underpaintings, but for this one I decided to thoroughly render all the mid-tones, especially since the French Gray will play a large part in the finished color of the white silk. Ten hours later, I think I’ve finished the underpainting, and I’m preparing to move on to the colors.

I’ve just updated this post with a quick digital photo of the colored work. Aside from a few tweaks, the drawing is done.