STEP by STEP – day 2

I'm working from the top down with this piece, which is nice because I don't have to worry about bracing my hand in wet paint. I'll use a homemade mahlstick every so often, but I prefer to use a finger against the canvas, or hold the brush like a magic wand (which I'm sure has a name, and I think it's probably considered "proper"...but again, no school...).so this is going to get repetitive, but I'm following the same basic process a used for the face: 2 mid tones go down first, then darks and lights, then the gaps between them. extra darks and highlights to follow. Because of the model's flesh tones, I'm using a lot more burnt sienna than usual, and almost no yellow ochre.

the topography of this part of the human body, especially with this type of pose and lighting, is super interesting. it's easy to get lost in the different shapes and totally forget what part of the body i'm working on, and I actually get better results that way; not thinking about how it relates to the rest of the torso and limbs.

I'm going to try and get through the rest of the body in the next 2 or 3 sittings. back soon.