Step 3: darks on hands

Your darks should be looked at as abstract shapes. In order to get things in the right place you have to look at the shading not only as shading on an object but, as an object all in itself. I'm trying to get the main areas where those darks are.

Step 4: hands, color and shading

After laying down dark colors, I wanted to smooth things out (blend) and then let that dry to complete this phase of thinking. A lot of the time, I will paint a layer and that layer or that color is a single thought.

Step 5: Color and shading

On this hand, after the darkest parts have been painted, I went back and created gradients with lighter colors. There's a lot of "back and forth" in the painting process (with acrylics).

Step 7: Shading and details

I'm going by color. the darker I get, the closer to final details I get. After the darks get figured out, it's easier to see where your finishing highlights will go.

Step 8: the sconce

I didn't have any reference for the sconce. This was a situation to where you know where the light is coming from and depending on the shape of the object, you use what you know as to how it will be shaded and highlighted.

Step 11: reference(s)

A lot of the time, things will never be perfect. In order to get the zombie female exactly how I wanted in my head, I needed to look at 3 images for reference all at the same time to create what I visioned. I had to take some shots of my friend, a shot of my hand against the wall, and a shot of another woman, in costume.

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 2: Solid Color

Now, the color over the white looks solid. All that needs to be done in this step is applying the general color... or the color "in the middle."

Step 3: Shading and Highlights

This is where you want the paint to stay wet. If it's not wet, you can't blend. The shape of the general skull is still being figured out as well.

Step 1

Grabbed an old skateboard and sanded it down a little, preparing it to be painted on.

Step 2

The Background: This was done using a layer of black, not totally covering the shape of the bullet. A layer of splatter was also added, reserving the space for the bullet, as well. This splatter technique was done with more action, using the motion of throwing a ball with the paint brush.

Step 3

Painting the bullet on the board: this required a good reference with a little bit of alteration. the only thing really changed was the perspective and angles of the bullet. The lighting and shading was perfect. This started by using a layer of white paint to make the layer solid.

Step 4

A mask need to be placed on top of the bullet to protect it from the white paint that will be splattered as the finishing touch. I wanted to add another element of "light" and "speed" and "smoke."

Step 5

After taking off the mask, we now have added "light" to the "smoke" and the "speed" of our bullet.

Step 1: White Paint

The first thing that was done was the background. After the background dried, white paint was used to paint the entire image of the peacock. White paint is used to refer back to the canvas. It is an opaque color, as opposed to the primary colors. When you place other colors on top of the white paint, it helps that layer be more distinguished from the others. In this image, paint has been added to the head of the peacock (on top of the white).