Scooter and Riley Lesson 14

At this stage of my painting I introduced Sepia to the palette of colors to develop the shadow areas. Sepia is a cool, brown, which creates a nice contrast when using delicate strokes around areas that have been primarily painted in warm browns like Burnt Sienna and VanDyke Brown.

I also used a mixture of Sepia and Perylene Maroon, mixed with a little water for a rich application of deep, transparent color to the areas of black around the face.

If you remember that earlier, we painted these areas with an underpainting of Prussian Blue. To make them appear very dark, almost black, I apply a dark, warm mixture of color. The glazes of cool and warm colors create a beautiful black that does not look dull, but alive.

When painting around the eyes, don't completely cover the Prussian Blue area. Only cover the small areas of deep, intense shadow around the outside edges of the eyes, outer area of the nose, the nostrils, and the deepest shadows around the mouth and corners of the eyes. This will add depth and volume. You'll be surprised at how much detail this creates, just by leaving some of the previous glaze showing!