Layering Tutorial
I thought it might be useful to show you how l layer pencils up until pretty much the final layers.
This was a good piece to demonstrate as there is no real detail on this bird’s chest. Normally l would start adding feather detail at layer 20.
Layer 20 is nearly finished on this piece which doesn’t have real detail. At this point l will look at the piece and then use hard pressure to really ramp up the vibrancy.
But all the underlying layers still show through and add to the complexity of the finished color.
My apologies because to take so many photos l had to do it in funny light.
This was a good piece to demonstrate as there is no real detail on this bird’s chest. Normally l would start adding feather detail at layer 20.
Layer 20 is nearly finished on this piece which doesn’t have real detail. At this point l will look at the piece and then use hard pressure to really ramp up the vibrancy.
But all the underlying layers still show through and add to the complexity of the finished color.
My apologies because to take so many photos l had to do it in funny light.
As you can see there is very little obvious difference from one layer to the next and it can feel as if you are getting nowhere. The trick is to keep layering long after you think you are done. I added more layers after photo 18. And actually more after layer 20 that you see in the bottom photo.
Layer 20 is shown below.
For those interested here is a list of what l did on all twenty layers.
1. Pink and darker red shadows.
2. Yellow all over
3.Ruby red all over.
4. Violet shadows
5. Scarlet all over
6. Yellow all over
7. Scarlet all over
8. Geranium Lake all over
9. Violet shadows
10. Pale pink highlights
11. Geranium Lake all over
12. Violet shadows
13. Light red all over
14. Coral pink highlights
15. Grey feathers around the neck
16. White feathers
17. Light red in the lighter areas and dark red in the more shaded areas
18. Luminance orange red for vibrancy
19. Luminance dark red in the shaded areas
20. More Luminance orange red
For those interested here is a list of what l did on all twenty layers.
1. Pink and darker red shadows.
2. Yellow all over
3.Ruby red all over.
4. Violet shadows
5. Scarlet all over
6. Yellow all over
7. Scarlet all over
8. Geranium Lake all over
9. Violet shadows
10. Pale pink highlights
11. Geranium Lake all over
12. Violet shadows
13. Light red all over
14. Coral pink highlights
15. Grey feathers around the neck
16. White feathers
17. Light red in the lighter areas and dark red in the more shaded areas
18. Luminance orange red for vibrancy
19. Luminance dark red in the shaded areas
20. More Luminance orange red
So l go back many times with the same colors each time increasing the depth of the color.