Step 1: Background

Getting that radial gradient down! the background is usually a "race against time" and an upper body workout. With acrylic paint, you can't work with it if it's dry so, when blending and creating a gradient, you need the paint to stay wet. Sometimes, I will use a paint retarder but sometimes I just stick with a good amount of paint and water. Don't use too much water or then, you'll have to wait longer for it to dry and possibly use more layers. It usually takes me 2-3 layers of the same thing to make it solid (when it comes to the background).

Step 15: wall ready

I'm going to admit... This wan't the finished product. I added some layers of resin, a thick pour-on gloss. I felt like it "had to be done" for the art show. Don't worry, I'll post up the image from the Zombie Art Show on Halloween. As far as finishing goes.... it is a challenge when to really call something "finished". In this case, this could have been finished....

Step 10: The Hands, part 2

This is where we overlap the white with a base skin color. Since the white is down, we can paint this layer as if it's on fresh canvas. Starting with a base color and letting it dry before applying the shading and highlighting works best for me. That base color will be used again to create gradients.

Step 1: Background

A good reference is picked out first. After that, handling the background comes next. Getting the right gradient makes all the better.