(I never really expected to make a video of this process, I was just recording myself [vertically ew] for my own curiosity -- but this came out!)
When my AP Studio Drawing teacher told us to create a project in colored pencil using an object as portraiture of a personal friend or family member, I completely disregarded all that and created a giant drawing of Bill Nye. I decided to film my work process and document the colored pencil techniques that I used to create the effects of the skin, hair, fabric, etc.
The middle part (finalizing the face, starting on the bow tie and collar) was done in school so sadly I couldn't rig my phone to film it. You can just imagine that you watched it happen and that it was great.
Hopefully you'll be able to tell that I start out with multiple layers of reds, blues, greens, and yellows, then begin adding the peach color of the skin over top. This is a technique known as underpainting. If you look at a real patch of human skin, every single color is in there -- but for whatever reason, people are afraid to add green, blue, and purple to their skin tones. All these colors create depth and reality.
Underpainting is kind of a general rule for having depth in drawings and paintings - using only a few colors will result in a flat-looking piece, so I tend to lay down light layers of outrageous, totally unrelated colors before blending the color I actually want. I've found that things look so much more real when you throw in colors that don't match the way things appear to your eyes.
The key to any kind of drawing or painting is **layering**. Many people give up hope on skin when they try one layer of blue and green and another layer of peach and it comes out looking muddy. The secret to creating anything great is to be patient, layer VERY slowly, build up values gradually and keep at it until it looks good. Each time add just a little bit of the color which will get you closer to your goal and blend it out with your peach. If you inch it there slowly, you'll have way more control. The only downside is that it can be discouraging when you've put a lot of effort into a piece and it's still not looking right. I've learned that it's important to trust your own abilities and just keep layering and adjusting until it looks good. Is it bad? Too blue? Too dark? Address these problems one at a time until you've achieved the color you're after. It's not complicated, it just takes perseverance.
I love Bill Nye for his work as a professional science communicator, his passion for science and his efforts to promote a full understanding of the world.
Completion time: ~10 hours
Song: Grammy - Allday
22 авг 2024
