Walkthrough - Light of Eärendil

I've actually had some very, very vital time to think, grieve, heal, and actually come to terms with a lot of things. Coming to terms with my poor eyesight is easier now that I'm on holiday and have no obligations other than taking care of myself and my family. I've had a few good talks with my parents over Christmas, and today, I actually woke up feeling ready to put 2018 behind me. I'll have to deal with a lot of things it left me, but as far as I am concerned, it's over. 

I decided that I could put in some more here on Patreon, starting with a walkthrough of the Galadriel piece, and possibly livestreams etc further down the line. 

Here's the first stages of the walkthrough! I'm going to update this as I progress. I will probably not send a notification every time I do, to keep from spamming you. 

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After my first attempt, when the colours in the top half ran together too much and almost none of the yellow glow was left (to be replaced by some ghastly green), I set out to avoid that mistake in the next go. 

I started out by making the yellow rather stronger than it's supposed to look in the final, but experience shows that a subtle yellow glow put under layers of other colours often becomes no yellow glow at all, so I need to bear with the rather glaring yellow here for a while. I also add yellow to the waters of the fountain, and a hint to Galadriel's dress. 

As opposed to the last attempt, I let this dry thoroughly. Then I re-wetted the top half. This will not work with every paper - I'm using Stonehenge, which will hold on very firmly to anything you have painted on it, so you can pretty much lay a new glaze over existing ones without disturbing the first. 

I used a small brush to paint the swirls of blue into the white areas, to avoid any too strong green mixes. With the yellow already dry, I had much more control over the colours and the shapes they form. 

I then drew out the blue paint - some Ultramarine, some Prussian blue, some Turquoise, and some Moonglow - around the entire piece, varying the mix of colours as well as how much water I used, leaving the water untouched. That way, I now have a "shadow map" in place, which will help me navigate my way through the values and light/shadow levels.

I initially left Galadriel free, but then she shone too much, so I added a soft touch of blue to her (below the basin).  

I then decided that the colours weren't calm enough, with too sharp lines between water and background, so I once again put the paper qualities to use and used a large brush and very clean water to just glaze over the entire piece. This would not be possible with some other papers, as it would lift off too much colour. On Stonehenge, that is not a problem. 

I'm now set up with my groundwork. From here, I can happily lose myself in details (and audiobooks) because my course is so clear and the groundwork so neat that I can pretty much paint on autopilot without running any danger of ruining things. 

I start with the rocks behind her, keeping it loose.

The ground beneath her, cutting a clear diagonal through the piece, gets some more contrast and shape. Until a few years ago, I'd still "colour in" things, choosing separate colours for shirt, dress, tunic, shoes, etc. Since then, and particularly here, I pull things together by how much I want them to stand out or blend in, rather than wondering, "What colour did [character] put on this morning? 

Here's where I'm at with the rocks. 

Time for skin and hair. I used to leave those for last because they're the most fun, but now I want to see how they tie into the overall piece. 

Next, detail in the dress, water behind her, and some more in the rocks, always keeping a balance on the overall values.

I had a weird moment again while I painted this - I kept at it almost all day, with few breaks. (It seems school is harder on my eyes than painting, haha.) When sit in fornt of a painting for hours on end - and I haven't done it much in years - I often lose touch and suddenly start to hate what I've got because I'm so caught up in it. Then I leave the desk for a while - today, to make dinner - return and stare at that thing sitting on my desk, without a clear recollection how it got there.

That's a good thing. XD

Detail work continues on the bowl... 

... the rocks behind her... 

... and, a very fun part, very lightly in the trees and leaves overhead. 

As a very last step, I lay a very light wash of yellow (coming out as greenish) over parts of the background, to break up some of the uniformity of the blue. As you can see, I did that even after putting in my signature. 

Painting's still drying... when it is, you'll see the finished piece! ^___^