Basking

I have wanted to paint this model for some time, but it wasn't until I did a search for her under "Redhead" (I have a bunch of those) that I realized I had actually already painted her, about a year ago—a quick and somewhat crude watercolor for the annual July "30x30 Direct Watercolor" challenge. That challenge is to paint 30 paintings in 30 days that are direct to paper, that is, no underdrawing at all, just painting what you see.

Now that I have started painting with acrylics, I thought it would be fun to try her again, in the ground-as-skintone method I learned from Flo Lee, and since I had just received a shipment of thin birch boards from Dick Blick, this seemed like the time. I was inspired by the light, and by the orange sherbet-colored background from which she emerges.

I realized, in looking at the watercolor, that I didn't do a great job of catching the angle of her head tilt, so I tried to do better at that when I got to the charcoal portrait, with the result that I painted over the face a couple of times—I have as much trouble with these weird face angles as I do with architectural perspective! and even with a grid, it was tough. But I finally got one that satisfied me, and started painting.

It's weird how not painting for even a week hinders your abilities. I was at such a loss for where to start that I went back and re-watched part of Flo's lesson on LFI 2022 to remind me how she went about it. But I was soon back in the groove, and staring at all the small details, deciding which to include. I'm really happy with parts of this and, as usual, it's the parts that weren't intended that are my favorites. I planned an entirely different treatment for her tank top,
but when I put in the highlights with Naples Yellow, it felt both distinct and organic, so I went with it.

I was less sure about the varicolored background behind her—I was afraid it was too busy. But I got positive feedback from two different people to whom I showed it, so I left it. That flat colored background on the "Flo method" is the one thing that occasionally bothers me, because the foreground is so nuanced, so I decided with this one to vary it a bit.

"Basking Redhead"—charcoal and acrylics on 12x16-inch thin birch board.