Hi Ramesh and Diane...thanks for stopping by...
Diane , the use of complimentary colour is so important to giving your painting impact and making it glow... I learnt these techniques when I was painting in watercolour and my reference was Jeanne Dobie's book, Making colour Sing,, I think its available from Amazon.
I'm more than happy to post my next painting as a WIP.. Another very important lesson is that if you are painting from a ref image it must be a very good photo,, and if its a portrait you are painting then try to get the pic taken outside in morning or evening light... this way all the surrounding colours of the gardens etc will be reflected in the skin tones.. Indoor studio lighting floods the face with light and kills the skin tones.. I shudder when I am asked to paint a commission portrait from a wallet sized image or one that has been taken with a flash...its a bit like the saying you can't make a silk purse from a sours ear.. 
If you are painting from life pick your light and pose , this will improve your portraits a thousand percent.. Also shoot the pic with high rez then you can zoom in and see all the colours that are present..
I've just bought a video camera and will tape all my portraits from now on, eventually I will put them together and market it as a DVD. I hope to paint professionally in a few years, and classes will definitely be a necessity to pay the bills.  |