Hey all,
So, I've started on Babe's initial pass of color.
At this point, my main concern is to cover the canvas as much as I can, but that covering isn't necessarily super-precise. It's just important at this point to deal with a general value structure - separating the light plains from the dark plains. You'll notice that there's really not much detail work put into the thing, as I'm just focusing on general shapes. The dugout behind Babe is a good example, as before I can really start fleshing things out, I have to treat it as a simple dark shape. The same kind of thinking applies to Ruth's jersey, as it's also shown as very simple bright form. The thinking behind this is that I want to have the entire thing mapped out properly with those larger shapes before jumping into any detail of any sort.
Usually at this point, I have to put the painting aside for a day or so to start drying. That is, once it's all covered and I'm pleased with what's there in those initial stages. When I return to it, I can start getting a bit more precise with my color choices, which now since they're going to be sitting on top of these initial tones, are going to have a lot more punch to them. And, since the more passes that go on this thing, the more I can play with the opacity of the paint to get certain dimensional effects.
It's also then that I can start thinking about some more detail-work. And that sort of thing doesn't mean that I'm going to focus on an eye or some fingers...well, it does, but I don't think of it that way. Still at this point, it's all about basic light and dark shapes, and then as more goes into it, the smaller shapes within those shapes. Of course, specific areas will have certain properties that I'll need to pay attention to such as warmer tones in cheeks; cooler tones in jawlines; delineation of edges within the lips, and other things like that. But that sort of stuff becomes more important as we get further along.
I'm rambling. Sorry.
Anywho, hope y'all are enjoying the process. If you have any questions or would like something explained further, just chime in!
Thanks for reading,
Graig