1970's

I put in the 1970's flower colors.  I think they might be a bit too strong.  When its dry tomorrow I'll sand it down a bit and that should work.  Heres a detail image too.

final stain applications

The last stain applications will be put on this week.  Once these flowers are done, it will be time to varnish.  The flowers will have a fair amount of detail though, so I probably will need the whole week.  Im also having trouble finding a matte varnish around here.  I might have to get it when Im in the Twin Cities this Easter weekend.

Almost Done

The face is pretty much done.  Just some minor details left.  After I finish the 1970's sofa arm decorative floral print, This painting will be ready for varnish.

baby face

The lowlights and midtones are in.  Im going to put in the super darks tonight before I go home.  Tomorrow after work its sanding in the highlights.  I also have been working on a new one lately.  Nothing worth photographing yet.  In a couple days I'll have a photo posted of it.

face time

Gotta sand down the face then draw features with pencil.  Then use dremel and exacto to add line quality.  Then stain with walnut.  Then sand to bring in highlights. yada yada yada.  Will this ever be done!!!

I guess Im in control of that.

thumbs up

Working on the hands now.  I tried a new technique for shading and linework.  I put in my lines with the dremel and an exacto knife.  Then I'll sand out the walnut on the suface, leaving the stained grooves caused by the dremel and knife.  Basically, like an etching plate without the printing process.  After the sanding, I will try a coat of gunstock for a layer of warmth.  Then lightly sand it down in the shaded areas and sand it down completely in the highlights.  Then stain it all with puritan pine.  If the highlights are not good enough, I will have to do a coat of homemade white.  but I hope I don't have to go there because I want to treat the skin differently than I treated the sweaters.  The sweaters are almost completely home-made stain and the material has a residue effect.

Sweaters are pretty much done

Just have to put in some fine details yet.  Should be no probs.

gray tones

I added some gray mid-tones the big shirt.  Tomorrow I will put in the highlights for the big shirt as well as getting started on another painting.  Im excited to be able to work back and forth between the two.  Im off to bed so I can build the fixture tomorrow morning.

Starting in on the details

Shading turned out ok for now.  Not able to do the highlights yet because I want the shadows to be dry.  I'll tackle it tomorrow morning on the large sweater and tomorrow evening on the baby sweater.  With the highlights on the baby sweater, I should try to find a way to give them an extra shimmer.  Maybe I could give them an extra layer of white stain.  Then it will be time to get the armrest of the couch put in.  I made a mistake on the collar.  It encroaches way too far to the right.  I'll have to sand it back when I put in the armrest.  These are all nit-picky items, and it will be nice to have another painting started this weekend so I can keep growing in momentum.

Home-made stain worked out alright

I applied the home-made white stain for the baby's shirt and buffed out some of the shadowy spots.  Next step will be to put in the lowlights and highlights tomorrow evening after work to get the baby shirt fabric folds more defined.  If time allows I'll go to Fleet Farm to get boards for the next one.  Can't wait to start the next one.  

I didnt restain it.  I like the gray now.

This Painting is Kicking My Ass

OK, so this is what Im working on.  I have this 3'x3' section of oak flooring that I am staining images into.  Im also using sanding techniques to put in highlights and blend in different stain applications.  It may be difficult to see what the image is since a lot of it is covered with masking tape so I'll post the photo Im working off of.

Im at a crossroads with this one.  Im not sure what I think of the gray area.  It mostly sits on top of the wood surface and doesn't sink below like the stains everywhere else.  I think I might sand away some highlights and see how that looks.  Maybe after that I will use a white pickling stain.  However, before anything, I should put in the shadows.  I think thats what I will do.

Just put in the shadows.  I'll have to wait until the morning to sand in the areas where I want to apply the white stain.  Its wierd that I like the gray sweater in the pictures I take of the piece, but when standing in front of it Im not too sure.  At least its looking a little better with a bit more shading.

Tried sanding in some highlights with the mouse sander but was not very successful.  Im starting to hate the filmy gray.  I might as well get rid of it.  Its not that I think all areas of the painting need to have the same depth into the wood.  Its that Im not excited about the filmy home-made stain.  It sucks.  Im not feeling it.  Oh well, it was a nice experiment.