Watercolor portrait

Hey guys,

so long time no post, especially nothing educational. But I have something for you this time.

I was invited on a birthday and I decided to do a painting as a gift.

Since I am big on learning on doing things right, I check the webs for a good tutorial on water-color-portraits.

(BTW did you know, John Singer Sargent was also  great with water-colors?)

And I found THIS

What I really liked was the step-by-step nature of the tutorial.

And since I was pressed on time, the grid method really helped me getting the proportions down fast. Usually that is the part I mess up most, spend not enough time on and in the end regret it. So after solving that puzzle I went into the (more) fun part of painting.

What I really loved and didn't know or used in my painting process before was the tip to mix a bit blue into the warm colors, to keep them from getting too warm and saturated.

I think that is way this painting turned out nice (not my words, but the words of the guy I gave it to...) and I will definitely keep doing it.

What I also noticed was that after having a solid foundation by doing the grid, I had more headspace freed up to focus on value/color/edges/brushwork. Which is in itself enough to be thinking about, without worrying about having the right proportions.

So maybe when you are having trouble with colors, it may be that you are also thinking about other stuff as well. Cancelling every thing else out, by using a grid, can be helpful in that regard.

In the end, using a grid isn't the solution to every proportion-issue (I messed out some proportions anyway) but I think it gives you a nice head-start. I think with time, the grid is something that is inside your head, instead of on the page. But until then, I think it is fine to practice and use it.

One last thing: I started a comission-page on Ebay-Kleinanzeigen.
So if you want a special birthday-present for your loved-ones, just send me a photo and I can paint a water-color-painting from it.

Here is the LINK

I hope to hear from you and wish you all the best,
Flo