Another Flower Girl

I recently finished a portrait commission of an actual person. All of the people and things I draw and paint come from photographs, but they rarely to never have to look like the inspiration once I'm done. And, since I'm self taught and haven't been watercolor painting for very long, I often have no idea what I'm doing. This is definitely the case with painting portraits. Those things are hard.

I discovered masking fluid, life saver, and I got a hair dryer. Both of these things are going to be a major part of my future practice.

Before I began this one, I was excited and a little nervous. Instead of painting blindly and hoping it turns out ok, like I normally do, I read some articles about painting skin and hair. (If you'd like to read them, go here and here.) The thing I enjoy about watercolor is that if I make a mistake, I can pick up the color with a paper towel.

Picking out the embroidery colors was quite a feat with this one. 

Here is the finished product. I'm pleased with her! And, for once, I know what I did to achieve these results and am confident I can repeat them in a future project. I had a hard time picking out the embroidery colors, matching grey and coral is not easy.

I've already started my next project and I'm trying out gouache. A similar process, but different enough.