Shania step 12

I think this one is finished. I've signed it but I'll look at it again over the next couple of days to decide if there is anything else I want to change. Then I need to get a good photo.

Shania - step 11

I'm almost finished. I have finally gotten most of the values correct so now I just have some finishing details to add. I'll do that tomorrow. The photo shows her hair a little darker than it is in the real painting.

Step 10

Two days at work interrupted work on the painting but I will be putting lots more time into it these next two days. This morning I did another couple of hours on the hair. It's tedious work but not as exacting as facial features. Once all the values are correct and fine hairs are added I will soften the whole effect on the hair so it is not so sharply defined.

Shania step 9

The face and skin tones are pretty well finished. I'll check them at the very end for corrections. I worked some more on the hair finding where a lot of the curls lie. I have to make decisions about if a curl goes over or under every time it intersects another lock of hair. The first washes of colour have gone on the strands that lie on top of her neck but I'll be adding to them again. I am just starting the blocking of the colours right now.

I am more confident of making the deadline now that it is mostly just the hair left to finish.

Shania step 8

I've done another hour but because I painted more glazes of colour all over her skin tones and most of her hair, I have to let this dry before I do more. I now have to go back and even out the skin tones and lots more work on her hair. You can see that the masking is still on the curls that are overlapping her skin. That will be taken off next and I'll start to add colour to those.

Shania step 7

I worked a lot on the hair and also adding the darker values on the skin tones. These will be covered with more washes of skin tones overtop in the final stages but these darker values are needed to be added first to mould the features. I think I'm about half done at this stage. Still a lot of slogging through the larger washes before I get to the fun part (in my opinion). I love doing the last 10% where you add all the dark details and final touches that bring it to life. Once the watercolour painting is all finished I will get a good photo of it before I start varnishing over top. The varnish makes reflections and it's harder to get a good photo.

Step 6

This morning I added more washes of colour and worked on the values in the shirt. I also added darker values on the skin on the arms and neck. Still have to go darker. To keep the darker shirt colour from affecting the hair on top, I added masking fluid to those curls. It is confusing the camera and I had a hard time getting a photo. It still isn't great. I wish we had some sunshine instead of these grey days lately.

Shania step 5

I managed to do a few more hours on this today. I must be getting older as I find I can only work 2 or 3 hours at a time on a large painting like this before I get too sore to do more. I think the next few paintings will be small enough to work flat on a desk again. :-)

I worked all over the painting darkening values and moulding the features. I am purposefully not adding more skin tones until I get the shading finished and then I'll put on the final colouring on the skin. I added another layer of colour on the shirt. I think I am going to leave this part fairly loose. I still need to correct the values however. The other thing I worked on was the hair. It will take many glazes of colour to build that up.

The photo doesn't show the subtle variations in skin tone that are there in real life. Still a lot more to do and the deadline approaches.

Shania step 4

I worked another couple of hours on this and have now added a first wash of skin tones. Lots more subtle layers to add but I will have to be careful not to make her skin look heavy or dark.

Step 3

I started the day working a couple of hours on this. More washes were added on the eyes (correcting angles and darkening some areas), features and hair. The first wash was also added to the shirt to start working out position and features.

Shania step 2

I worked some more on the eyes and started finding features lightly around the face to position them before I start applying washes of skin colour. Sorry for the bad photo. The sun was going down and getting a good photo with all the white of the paper is hard. This is the full size of the paper I'm working on so you can get an idea of the composition.

Shania Twain step 1

First I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year. The holidays were extremely hectic around here and things are just starting to settle down. To top everything off, I bit down on something Sunday and my front tooth broke completely off. Thank goodness for dentists and after a visit today I have a new tooth to fill the gap.

To fill you in on the background on this next painting, the Portrait Society of Canada is having a show in March in Toronto at the John B. Aird Gallery. The theme of the show is "The Art of Canadian Music". Members were asked to contact a Canadian musician for permission to paint their portrait for the show. I chose Shania Twain because were are both from Timmins and I admire her strength and determination. She was kind enough to allow me to paint her portrait for this show.

I finished drawing it out larger than life (2 x 3') and today finally started applying the first washes. I always start with the eyes because it brings the whole painting to life. It also lets me know if I have captured the likeness immediately. I tried to show the whole painting here but none of the light pencil lines showed up so here is a close up of the face so far. The whole painting shows her head and shoulders. I only have three weeks to get this done so the steps should come fairly quickly.