When it comes to my colour pencil portraits, the common question I get asked is 'how do you see all these colours?' - and the short answer is that I love to exaggerate colour. In my previous post, I mentioned how blind drawings can lack colour and how it differs from my colour pencil artwork. At the moment, I'd say that colour pencils is my favourite medium as I find it easier to incorporate details within features such as the nose and lips; and I am able blend multiple colours.
The images above demonstrate the stages of one of my favourite portraits. Within this portrait, I have been able to include just over 20 colours! The photograph I used as a reference is packed with happiness and warmth. I was immediately drawn towards the huge smile that rippled over the face and the crazy, beautiful hair, which somehow allowed the smile to shine brighter.
It was important to me that I use colours effectively to translate these emotions into my drawing and ensure that you all experience that same wave of happiness. I exaggerated warm colours such as orange and yellow; since, they have connotations with the feeling of joy and help to enhance the enthusiasm seen in photograph.
Whilst colours play an important role in reinforcing emotions, light can also help to emphasise facial expressions. In this portrait, light burns brightly onto cheeks and this contrast between bright colours and patches of light help to illustrate how the mouth curves outwards and the cheeks lift when you smile.
Now onto drawing the hair... this was definitely a challenge. It required me to step out of my comfort zone and experiment! Look at the two sections below and see if you can spot any differences...
Yes, I did end up rubbing out this section of the hair and redoing it! At first, I used heavy lines with the intention that it will emphasise the short curls - but something looked off and I wasn't happy with the outcome.
I was unsure of how to go about it but I kept going with the rest of the hair anyway; that was until I started using smoother lines to create patches of small light brown swirls. This acted as a base for the hair. With the use of overlapping lines, I was able to build the texture of the hair and I knew immediately that I was working towards a better outcome.
I also wanted to change the way I applied contrasting colours such as purple and red within the hair - as I felt it didn't blend well and was not as subtle as I would have liked. So, when redoing this section, I kept this in mind and applied hints of navy, purple, red and bottle green. This allowed for a balance between the bright colours used within the face.
Comment below if you have had a similar experience with your artwork and let me know how you overcame it!
To expand my work on colour pencil portraits, I think it'll be great to experiment with different facial expressions. It'll be interesting to see how the colour palette changes with each facial expression. For my next drawing, I'm thinking to do a portrait illustrating sadness - as the expression itself will be completely opposite to the one shown in the portrait above.
Should I develop a series of portraits focusing on facial expressions?
Check out my latest work on my Instagram account (@pavey.art) and let me know
if this portrait is also one of your favourites :)
