Mixed Media Illustration on Illustration Board, 12 x 12″.
I recently finished this illustration of Keith Richards. To concentrate the focus on his face I added color only to this area. I kept the saturation low because otherwise the contrast of his colored face and his black and white hand would be too extreme. Besides it gives the painting an older appearance like an old photograph that is faded. Streaks of tears are colored black. I figured that all the black eyeliner probably would run in black streaks. I might have exaggerated it a bit…for effect. The painting shows Keith reminiscing about some good old times with the Stones.
While I was painting this illustration I took numerous shots of the painting in progress:
- sketch transferred onto illustration board
- adding prisma colors to show dark areas and outlines of his face
- adding “little Keith” in the bottom corner
- acrylic wash – covering the whole image
- watercolor wash – covering the whole image
- lifting off lighter areas/ uncovering the acrylic colors below the watercolor by using a wet brush
- oil wash – covering the whole illustration
- lifting off oil color by using a kneaded eraser – leaving only the dark areas covered
- adding highlights by using prisma colors
- layering prisma colors and acrylic colors to add detail
This was me right after doing a painting demo on “Focus” TV show. It will be broadcast 2-23-15 @ 8:00pm on the NASA channel (Florida). I was really nervous and kind of surprised how fast time went by. It is only a 30 min show and that isn’t a lot of time to show how to create an illustration. I did my best and just hope people will like it.
