FLYING THE FLAG... |
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This time I didn't have to do a thumbnail – my great niece Lindsey did it for me, and much clearer than mine would ever be (just look at my thumbnail sketch for any other letter if you need proof). Click on any illustration for an enlargement. |
| The sketchbook drawing using the F outline template. It's not quite the same, but Lindsey couldn't have known about the "rules" I've developed throughout the years. Because every letter must be able to sit next to any other letter (from several different alphabets), it can't be too different – it has to look like it belongs (in this case, it will be especially important when this F is next to another F, as in Cliff or Daffy). One rule, for instance, is that I don't have any background that can't fit inside the letter outline, so I couldn't use the water, lily pad, etc. Overall, though, I didn't really have to change Lindsey's sketch, I merely made a couple of adjustments. Her basic idea is still very evident. |
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The final drawing, ready for transfer to the final painting surface. This time, the sketch didn't need a whole lot of refinement. That doesn't often happen, but it isn't all that surprising considering I had a reference photo that happened to be lying there while I sketched the letter. Normally, the reference material doesn't come out until this step. |
| In this step, water-based
dyes (Dr. Martin's) are applied to the drawing to serve as an underpainting for the colored pencils to come. |
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| The colored pencil stage where most of the work is done. As I've stated in many of these step by step demos, the colored pencil can be wonderfully transparent and aggravatingly transparent. This time the transparency was used to advantage for the many layers of color applied to give form to the flat shapes. | |
| During this final stage of painting with acrylics, I added the whites and yellow-whites to punch up the highlights. |  |
| TECHNIQUE page | |
